“Shooting Through!” That was the title of an excellent video about Sydney’s tramway system. Today we explore the legacy of the Tramway Terminus.
Sydney’s tramways were once the largest in Australia. They were also the second largest in the British Commonwealth. Only London had more trams. Around 1500 trams served Sydney at their peak. The Sydney tramway service was a world class undertaking. It operated 1535 tramcars at its peak. In 1944 to 1945, it carried over 404.6 million passengers.
Let’s talk about the P-Class trams. Between 1921 and 1929, the NSW Government Tramways bought 258 of them. These were numbered 1480-1737. Meadowbank Manufacturing Co. built 175 of these trams. This included tram number 1700. Meadowbank built No. 1700 around 1925. The company was based in Sydney. It produced agricultural machinery and trams.
P-Class trams operated on most of Sydney’s lines. One route served Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. This generated immense demand. To handle the crowds, P-Class trams had 8 compartments. Each compartment seated 10 people on wooden cross benches. There was no center aisle. Each compartment was accessed from running boards on the outside. Each compartment had folding canvas doors. Conductors had to walk along the outside running boards to collect fares. This was a dangerous design. In rainy weather, conductors wore heavy oilskin raincoats. The conductors’ union unsuccessfully campaigned against the footboard trams.
The trams often operated in two car trains. General Electric, of Schenectady, NY, supplied the multiple unit equipment. Sydney representatives inspected the Bay State Street Railway’s 4300 class cars. They were impressed with the control system. These Australian cars had an American feel to operators. The cars had almost flat roofs with raised ornamental parapets. They featured tight cabs and narrow running boards. From the 1930s, many P-Class trams carried illuminated advertising panels. These panels were mounted on the roof line.
Sydney retired the last P-Class trams in 1960. All tram service ended in 1961. But in 1997, Sydney opened a modern light rail system.
Australia’s oldest tramway museum was founded in 1950. It is located in Loftus a southern suburb of Sydney. The Sydney Tramway Museum has an extensive range of Sydney trams in its fleet.
The Sydney tram system was Australia’s largest. It spanned 290 km in 1933. Because the system had isolated sections, it was easy to close it piece by piece. This started in 1939 with the Manly system. The last Pitt St. and Castlereigh St. tram ran in 1957. Within minutes the overhead wires came down. The next morning, the tracks were paved over. This prevented any return of the trams. By 1958 the North Shore system closed. In 1961, the last line closed 100 years after the first tram ran.
Today, we remember the heyday of Sydney’s trams. The Tramway Terminus stands as a reminder of a bygone era. It highlights innovation and public transport history.