Burwood (NSW) Trams
Lambing Flat
amount of work in Burwood Rd where it passes through the
shopping precinct. As part of this a large amount of
asphalt has been removed from the road, exposing the
tramlines that once carried trams from Ashfield to Mortlake
on one of Sydney's "isolated" systems. I understand that
the last tram ran here some 50 years ago? I suspect that
very few passers by would even notice these rusty lines in
the pavement, let alone realise their significance.
--
DPC James McInerney
STOP! In The Name Of The Lore!
David
What was the history of the Mortlake service? Did it go right down to the
punt that is still running to this day to putney? Was there another service
from Putney at all and if so to where? Fasinating all this past history. And
what a great service that Mortlake punt still is, a real relic right in the
heart of suburbia and a wonderful way to cross the Parramatta River.
David
Lambing Flat <Lambi...@my-dejanews.com> wrote in message
news:364A2588...@my-dejanews.com...
Chris Stratton
>Hi,
>
>What was the history of the Mortlake service? Did it go right down to the
>punt that is still running to this day to putney? Was there another service
>from Putney at all and if so to where? Fasinating all this past history.
And
>what a great service that Mortlake punt still is, a real relic right in the
>heart of suburbia and a wonderful way to cross the Parramatta River.
>
>David
>
According to the book by David Keenan the Mortlake line terminated at the
intersection of Northcote St and Tennyson Road which is a little bit short
of the punt. The service was originally provided by steam trams beginning on
Sep 23 1891. Electric services commenced on Feb 3 1912 and the system closed
on August 22 1948.
The most dramatic event in the history of the lines occurred on Nov 11 1907
when a tram from Cabarita to Burwood hauled by steam motor 82 had pulled
into the Stanley St loop at Concord to cross an opposing service hauled by
motor 25. When the two motors were immediately abreast of each other the
boiler of 82 exploded. Both drivers were killed.
--
Regards,
Chris Stratton
Wollongong, NSW, Australia
David
Was that bad luck or what? The very time a boiler had to explode was when
two trams were abreast. Murphy was alive and well back in 1907
Chris Stratton <stratton...@bhp.com.au> wrote in message
news:72e93v$3e...@atbhp.corpmel.bhp.com.au...
Ron BEST
opposition, and the local council refused to alter the level of Burwood Rd
to allow double-deck buses to pass under the railway bridge (the electric
trams had their trolleypoles almost horizontal when they went through).
Eventually, the trams were taken off but the buses had to make a major
detour via the Shaftesbury Rd overbridge!
Rgds
RON BEST
Lambing Flat wrote in message <364A2588...@my-dejanews.com>...
Hubert Lam
the stretch from Livingstone Street to Belmore Street).
Trevor Edmonds
<<I live in Burwood and don't see tramlines down the road after the asphalt
has been excavated! Where is it anyway? (I'm referring to the stretch from
Livingstone Street to Belmore Street).>>
The Ashfield to Mortlake tramway started in Hercules St, then Liverpool Rd,
Milton St, Georges River Rd, separate right of way to Portland St, Tangarra
St, Punchbowl Rd, Liverpool Rd, Burwood Rd, Crane St, Majors bay Rd, Brewer
St, Fredrick St and Tennyson Rd.
The Cabarita extension followed Cabarita Park Rd to the park.
Trevor
Lambing Flat
Hubert Lam wrote:
> I live in Burwood and don't see tramlines down the road after the asphalt has been excavated! Where is it anyway? (I'm referring to
> the stretch from Livingstone Street to Belmore Street).
They were barely visible as a rusty set of parallel protrusions in the middle of the road, and were very hard to see unless one knew
exactly what one was looking at. (They have been rusting away for fifty years or so, so there is not much left of them). The section
between Livingstone and Belmore Sts has now been resurfaced, and they have disappeared again. I expect that more of them will become
(temporarily) visible as the road work moves north. I have seen a number of sections of tramway rails "resurface" in various parts of
Sydney during road works over the years.
Geoff Lambert
>I recall in my cab driving days, seeing the rails at the old tram terminus
>opposite Manly wharf.
>I suppose they're long gone now (it was 1976 after all!).
They lasted until the early 1990's when the depot area was torn up for
a hotel, although construction was suspended and the area used as a
car-park for some years. The remains of the tramway bridge at the
lagoon went at the same time. I believe rail still underlies parts of
the roads in the area, especially at Narabeen.
Tramway rails are still intact in Moore Park, outside the Murdoch
complex.. Pitt St still has rails under the tarmac. Outside my place
of work, Prince Henry Hosp., the reversing loop, but rail-less, is
still quite discernable in the bush.
Intertesting to see last week, in plush Beverly Hills, that old rails
from the Los Angeles tramway system are still in place in Santa Monica
Blvd.
Geoff Lambert.
David & Jan Winter
opposite Manly wharf.
I suppose they're long gone now (it was 1976 after all!).
DW
Ron BEST
1879-1961 system) is in O'Dea Ave, Waterloo(?) off South Dowling St. The
rails are set in mass concrete and just keep having asphalt laid over them
every now and then. Anybody know why?
I used to walk over the exposed tram track in Manly every day (I now have a
slice in my collection, also a section of slot rail from the San Francisco
cable system). Because they used two lengths of "railway" type rail side by
side with a gap to form the flangeway, I used to think Sydney trams must
have had wheels with central flanges! (I think it has been tried,
somewhere.)
When they were constructing the Pitt St mall, they were grinding the asphalt
down to form a low, flat surface to lay paving blocks. I asked them, "what
happens when you reach the tram rails?" They said, "we'll stop!".
Anyone noticed some square, steel plates in the road, just outside where the
tramway was, with "bumps" on them? Many are still there, after 40 years or
more since the tramway closed. Apparently, there are still some track drains
in use!
Rgds
Ron BEST
Geoff Lambert wrote in message <73cnpr$ptj$1...@mirv.unsw.edu.au>...
>"David & Jan Winter" <win...@icenet.com.au> wrote:
>
chris 'fufas' grace
Ron BEST wrote in message <3659e...@139.134.5.33>...
>For some reason, the most visible tram track left in Sydney (from the
>1879-1961 system) is in O'Dea Ave, Waterloo(?) off South Dowling St. The
>rails are set in mass concrete and just keep having asphalt laid over them
>every now and then. Anybody know why?
Ahh... This is the length of track I referred to when Dave McLoughlin
claimed (from his vast peak of knowledge) that there was no mass concrete
track in Sydney.
I think this was known as the Daceyville Industrial Line, and it connected
to the Botany Rd Lines which were also relaid in mass concrete not long
before abandonment.
But then, what would I know?
Ron BEST
if it carried any passenger runs.
"chris 'fufas' grace" wrote in message
<1998Nov24.1...@transdataco.nz>...
Bill Bolton
wrote:
>It was used for working empty cars to & from Dowling St depot. I don't know
>if it carried any passenger runs.
There were some workmans/industrial services that used the line.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton
Sydney, Australia
Ian Jelf
writes
>I used to walk over the exposed tram track in Manly every day (I now have a
>slice in my collection, also a section of slot rail from the San Francisco
>cable system). Because they used two lengths of "railway" type rail side by
>side with a gap to form the flangeway, I used to think Sydney trams must
>have had wheels with central flanges! (I think it has been tried,
>somewhere.)
It has. Kingston-upon-Hull, England.
--
Ian Jelf http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk
Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide
for the Heart of England and London