Memories of the Sydney Tram

Memories Of The Sydney Tram This fabulous road transport vehicle had it's humble beginnings in the 1880s, were horses pulled the double-decker trams along the various streets of Sydney, they moved pretty slow and the people wanted to move at a much faster pace. Soon to follow was the steam tram, although a faster alternative it would cause all sorts of problems, especially the black soot which came from the smokestack, this would never do. It was approaching the turn of the century, in the 1900's along came the cable tram, were the cable ran through a slot in the middle of the lines giving the tram it's available traction, although a lot faster than the horse and more than a match to a steam tram in clean street running, it was not until the first of the electric trams came into service, that people were satisfied. Trams had a marvellous ability to move large numbers of people from the racetracks and the showgrounds where they had the Royal Easter Show, they were environmentally friendly and the people loved them, all except the Government and the Oil Companies of the time, they envisioned the future of transportation to be made up of fossil fuel burning cars and buses, yes it would seem there was no room on the streets for the people's friend, the humble tramcar. Trams came and went until the 1950's, when plans were made to scrap Sydney's greatest asset, the trams, when 1960 approached there was hardly anything left of our great tramway system, and in 1961, Sydney's last two trams made their final run into history, it would appear the Government and Oil Companies had won the battle or so it seemed until the late 1990's when a move to bring trams back was achieved and they now run from Central station like their early predecessors, running around Darling Harbor almost like a parody of what they once were, still who knows what role the tram may have for Sydney's future.