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The Brisbane Tramway Museum is an Australian transport museum that has preserved a collection of trams and trolleybuses most of which operated in Brisbane from 1897 until 1969. The museum is located at Ferny Grove.
The Brisbane Tramway Museum Society was established in 1968, when it became apparent that the Brisbane City Council was preparing to close Brisbane's tram system. In 1972, a site at Ferny Grove was made available and a museum built, opening in June 1980. [1]
As at 10 November 2005, the museum has a collection of 25 trams, 24 of which formerly operated on the Brisbane tram network. The 25th tram in the museum's collection ran in Sydney. The museum also has two single-deck Brisbane trolley-buses built on MF2B chassis by Sunbeam of Wolverhampton, England; fleet numbers 1 (of 1951, with a body by Charles Hope of Brisbane) and 34 (of 1960, body by Athol Hedges). [2] These are on static display.
A number of trams in the museum's collection are operated on a short length of demonstration track 250 metres in length. The oldest operational tram in the museum's collection is No. 47, a "California Combination" or "Matchbox" tram, built in 1901. The newest tram in the collection is No. 554 a "Four Motor" tram built by the Brisbane City Council after the Paddington tram depot fire, and which entered service in 1964. Other operational trams include a 10 bench "Toastrack" tram No. 65, a small centre-aisle or "Baby Dreadnought" tram No. 99, No. 341, a "Dropcentre" tram and another "Four Motor" tram No. 429. A selection of these trams operate each Sunday afternoon, although operations are curtailed in the event of wet weather. [3]
The museum's collection of support vehicles are all former Brisbane City Council Tramways Department vehicles and include a tower wagon used for repairing overhead wires, and a Scammell breakdown recovery truck which was formerly used as an artillery towing truck in World War II.
The museum houses an extensive photographic collection of Brisbane's tramway and street transport heritage, together with tickets and uniforms worn by staff of the tramway operators, a feature of which were the unusual "Foreign legion" caps (more correctly called kepis) worn by drivers and conductors until 1961 and inspectors until more recently.
The museum is also notable for other elements of the former Brisbane system in its collection. The museum's depots (garages) are composed of bays from the former Ipswich Road tram depot. The museum's direct current substation has been built from equipment retrieved from former Brisbane tramway substations. An elevated signal cabin which stood at the corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets, Fortitude Valley has also been preserved.
The museum's very short section of track has been recovered from Ipswich Road depot, Gregory Terrace and Ipswich Road between Moorooka and Salisbury. In keeping with the practice of the Brisbane City Council Tramways Department, the museum has constructed its track in mass concrete, that is, the track is laid in concrete, rather than on sleepers and ballast. The cost of such mass concrete trackwork being one the reason why the museum has been unable to extend their length of track after numerous efforts. The museum also houses a unique three-way set of points that was originally located at Light Street depot. These points can be found outside the museum's main depot shed.
Brush Traction was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations.
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a transport and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles. An ongoing programme is in place to restore and conserve items in the collections. This work is largely managed by volunteers but, since the passing of the Museum of Transport and Technology Act in 2000, has been supported by full-time professional museum staff. New public programmes and facilities now promote the collections.
The Paddington tram depot fire occurred on the night of 28 September 1962, and was one of the largest fires in Brisbane's history. As well as the depot, 67 trams were destroyed, 20% of the city's fleet. The destruction of the depot is generally seen as the beginning of the end for Brisbane's tram system, providing the justification for the subsequent closure of four tram routes and the gradual encroachment of bus operation on other tram routes, with the final closure of the tram system occurring on 13 April 1969.
Sheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs.
Ferny Grove is an outer north-western suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Ferny Grove had a population of 5,871 people.
Paddington is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Paddington had a population of 9,063 people.
Birmingham Corporation Tramways operated a network of tramways in Birmingham from 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, and was built to a gauge of 3 ft 6 in. It was the fourth largest tramway network in the UK behind London, Glasgow and Manchester.
The Brisbane tramway network served the city of Brisbane, Australia, between 1885 and 1969. It ran on standard gauge track. The electric system was originally energised to 500 volts, and subsequently increased to 600 volts. All tramcars built in Brisbane up to 1938 had an open design. This proved so popular, especially on hot summer nights, that the trams were used as fundraisers and often chartered right up until the last service by social groups.
Ipswich Road is major road in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The road has been an important transport route since the 19th century when it connected the towns of Brisbane and Ipswich. In the 1990s, the section from Moorooka in Brisbane to Riverview in Ipswich was replaced by the Ipswich Motorway.
The earliest trams in Australia operated in the latter decades of the 19th century, hauled by horses or "steam tram motors". At the turn of the 20th century, propulsion almost universally turned to electrification, although cable trams lingered in Melbourne. In cities and towns that had trams, they were a major part of public transport assets.
The Brisbane trolleybus system was part of the public transport network in Brisbane, Australia from 1951 until 1969. The Brisbane City Council operated 36 Sunbeam trolleybuses on a 28 kilometre network.
The Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad operated a tramway service between Blackpool and Fleetwood from 1898 to 1920.
The city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia, operated an extensive tramway system from 1912 until 1956, when the service was replaced by buses. Unlike Victoria's other major regional cities, Ballarat and Bendigo, which have kept some track and trams as tourist attractions, no trams or tracks remain in Geelong.
The Tramway Historical Society Inc. is located at the Ferrymead Heritage Park in the Christchurch, New Zealand, suburb of Ferrymead and operates the standard gauge Ferrymead Tramway. Trams have operated at Ferrymead since 1968, with progressive extensions built between 1970 and 1984 allowing trams to operate within the boundaries of the Heritage Park. The Society also operates and own a collection of historic trolley buses and diesel buses.
Windsor Town Quarry Park and Tramways Substation No. 6 is a heritage-listed former quarry with electrical substation at 356 Lutwyche Road, Windsor in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1926 to c. 1928. The park and substation were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 31 May 2005. There is another, larger substation building, Tramways Substation No. 13 which was designed by Frank Gibson Costello and became operational in June 1949.
Brisbane City Council Tramways Substation No. 9 is a heritage-listed electrical substation at 97 Wynnum Road, Norman Park, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1935. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 August 2003.
Brisbane City Council Tramways Substation No. 8 is a heritage-listed electrical substation at 134 Kedron Park Road, Wooloowin, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1934 to 1937. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 August 2003.
Old Cleveland Road Tramway Tracks is a heritage-listed tramway along Old Cleveland Road in Camp Hill and Carina, adjoining suburbs in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1948 by Brisbane City Council. It is also known as Belmont Electric Tramway. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 March 2000.
Paddington Tramways Substation is a heritage-listed former electrical substation at 150 Enoggera Terrace, Paddington, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Roy Rusden Ogg and built from 1929 to 1930. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 March 1993.
A network of Brisbane tramways substations, supplied from the Brisbane Powerhouse, were developed by Brisbane City Council after they took over the Brisbane Tramways system from Brisbane Tramways Company (BTCo). The new powerhouse and substations were needed, as BTCo had not adequately invested enough into the electricity network to keep the system running efficiently. Brisbane City Council maintained this electricity network from 1927 until 1969, when the decision was made not to have Trams in Brisbane, and the network was shut down and decommissioned.