Invercargill tram
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|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| city | Invercargill |
| opening | March 26, 1912 |
| Shutdown | September 10, 1952 |
The Invercargill tram was a tram system in the New Zealand city of Invercargill . Driving began on March 26, 1912; until the closure of the last line on September 10, 1952, it was the southernmost tram in the world. The tram served as the city's main means of transport for 40 years, until it was replaced by the newly emerging omnibuses .
Lines
The tram network consisted of four lines: Waikiwi, Georgetown, North Invercargill and South Invercargill. In 1935 the only network expansion to East Road and Kew Road took place, in which a new hospital was opened. In 1947 the recruitment of lines began, beginning with the shortening of the Waikiwi Line to Gladstone. In mid-1951, the lines to Waikiwi and Georgetown followed; one of the tram cars was later used as a voting booth. At the beginning of 1952 the South Invercargill line was discontinued, the last car had to be pulled into the depot by another because it broke. In September the last remaining line to North Invercargill ended. Here, too, one of the last cars had to be towed to the depot due to demolition.
history
The Invercargill electric tram was preceded by a horse-drawn tram , and the Southland Tramway Company began operating in the city center on wooden rails in December 1881. In 1886, the newly formed Invercargill and Suburban Tramway Company took over. In 1908 the horse-drawn tram was discontinued in favor of an electric tram that was decided in 1909. The company had built a coal-fired power station to generate the electrical drive energy .
On January 14, 1911, the laying of the appropriate rails and contact wires for the electric tram began in Dee Street. This first line was inaugurated on March 26, 1912, the Mayor William A. Ott drove the first tram. The first ten railcars came from Boon and Co of Christchurch . In 1922, six Birney trams were used from the United States . The operation became unprofitable over time, from 1937 the tram lost about 5,000 NZP annually . In 1945, the Invercargill city council decided to gradually replace the unprofitable tram, which was no longer worth maintenance due to its cheap construction, with omnibuses . Until 1951, operations were largely maintained because there were not enough buses available, and the last line was discontinued in September 1952.
In 2009 the former Birney tram number 15 was restored and is used in the Christchurch tram museum .
See also
literature
- Graham Stewart: The End of the Penny Section: When Trams Ruled the Streets of New Zealand . Grantham House, Wellington 1993, ISBN 186934037X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Brief History of Invercargill Tram Barn Complex , accessed February 3, 2017.
- ↑ Flashback: Removing Invercargill's tram tracks , accessed on February 3, 2017.
- ↑ a b Invercargill trams a lifelong passion. In: Southland Times. August 4, 2007, accessed February 3, 2017 .
- ^ Rebirth of a Birney Tramcar