Sydney Tramway Museum

Sentimental Saturday
Sydney, Circular Quay c1906. A typically sharp and clear Kerry & Co image, this postcard was sent to a sailor aboard HMS Prometheus in Sydney Harbour, however there is no postmark or handwritten date on the card. 'Prometheus' was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1901 and was attached to the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron between 1905 and 1913 when the Royal Australian Navy was formed. By that stage the vessel was considered obsolete and it was sc...rapped in the U.K. in 1914.
The image shows Circular Quay around 1906; note the tramway centrepoles are still in place - these were removed during 1908. At left, F Class tram 360 has almost completed its journey from Sydney's inner south western suburbs. It displays "Circular Quay via George St" in the end dsetination box, but the conductor may have already set the roof mounted side destination box which shows "St Peters". Meanwhile on the adjacent track, sister F class tram 246 has paused to pick up passengers before setting out for Enmore. Also in the view is F 170 (following F 246) and at least another three more F Class trams as well as a N Class crossbench tram. All are operating on services via George St.
But this isn't all the tramway action; a coupled set of E Class can be glimpsed in Alfred St, outside the Farmers Building and another F Class tram and the front section of an E Class tram can be seen in Young St. These trams are operating services into Sydney's eastern suburbs via Philip and Elizabeth Streets.
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What do we get up to when we aren't running Trams?
Apart from tram & track maintenance, we also spend our Saturdays training new Drivers & Conductors!
Here we see one of our new Drivers Laura being instructed by our Operations Manager Mick on the finer points of operating 249 on our National Park Line.
... If you think you have what it takes to join our ranks, send us a message or visit us on any open day and have a chat to our Traffic Crew!
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Sentimental Saturday
Sydney, George St c1910. O Class tram 964 follows an N Class down George St North around 1910 while on an inbound service to Circular Quay. The tram is in near original condition with the windscreen fully dropped to allow driver maximum ventilation during the warm summers. The windscreen were later fixed in the closed position.

Did you know, that while Sydney had a large network, Newcastle also had a tram network that served the people from 1887 to 1950.
Now after 68 years trams are returning to Newcastle in the from of a light rail from Newcastle Interchange to Pacific Park close to the former Newcastle Station.
Testing is currently underway and one of member's was on hand to capture these photos of CAF tram 2151, NSW newest tram undertaking trials at the depot at Wickham,

This years ‘must see’ movie with scenes (and sounds) filmed at the Sydney Tramway Museum.

Some news from our friends at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine.

The restoration of Freight Car 24s was made possible by the generous assistance of Transport Heritage NSW.
24s will now join her colleagues; Scrubber Car 134s & Ballast Motors 42s and 99u in maintaining our Museum Infrastructure.
The next item of Tramway History to benefit from the Transport Heritage grants is our Railway Square Waiting Shed.

One of our amazing volunteers! Meet Shane, one of the volunteers at the Sydney Tramway Museum. Shane manages to get to the Museum a few days each year to crew our trams and lend a hand with our restoration activities. Just a few days a year? Not much you might say! But considering Shane lives in Perth, Western Australia; almost 4000km from Loftus, then we think that is pretty damn amazing! Thanks Shane for efforts.
Now, do you still think you live too far from the Museum to volunteer? Become a Museum member today!

Wow! Look what arrived from New Zealand yesterday! The repatriated and now fully restored Sydney No. 9 bogie and two new build Sydney No. 9 bogies.
These three bogies along with another original will be used to restore Sydney P Class 1729 and Sydney PR1 Class 1573 to operating condition. The arrival of these bogies significantly advances the restoration of these trams and particularly the ability of the Museum to run a coupled set of P Class trams! A big thank you to th...e Heritage Tramways Trust (NZ), the Christchurch Tramways Ltd and Ferrymead Heritage Park for undertaking this exceptional job on behalf of the Museum.
The final push to full restoration is up to our supporters! Please think about a making a Christmas donation. You can donate at the Museum, by direct deposit or online via our website! Remember, give what you can and help make these worthy restorations possible (all donations above $2 are tax deductable) .
2019 - 90th Anniversary of the North Bondi extension, opened by P Class 1729 on 16 February 1929.
2019 - 70th Anniversary of the entry into service of PR1 1573.
2019 - 60th Anniversary of the closure of the Alexandria via Redfern tramway. Closed 2 May 1959. In later years, the Alexandria line was synonymous with the PR1 Class.
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Melbourne Z2 111 returns from the Royal National Park after a lunchtime trip. The tram has been returned to its original livery of Orange and Marigold as worn by these trams when they entered service in the late 1970’s.

Sentimental Saturday.
Sydney, Paddington, Oxford St c1907. Two sets of coupled E class trams pass in Oxford St, Paddington near Paddington Public School. The outbound set, 479+480 is headed to Bondi Beach, while the inbound set, 559+560 is heading for Circular Quay via Elizabeth St. The E Class were an unusual but successful design. They were four wheel (single truck) trams permanently coupled in pairs but wired as a single bogie tram with driving controls on the outer ends only and a trolleypole raised to the wire from the trailing car only. They essentially gave Sydney a high capacity 'articulated' tram long before any such trams were a reality.
E Class trams 529 + 530 await restoration at the Sydney Tramway Museum.

Sentimental Saturday
Sydney, Paddington c1905. A coupled set of E Class trams 567-68 travel past Paddington Town Hall on a late morning service to Bondi Junction. The passing tram doesn't even rate a cursory glance from pedestrians in the street. However, the almost new tram is noticed by the driver of the horsebus at left and he is probably cursing the wonder of the age as patronage falls away from his cramped and bone-jarring horse carriage in favour of the smooth and spacious electric.
E class trams 529+530 are preserved at the Sydney Tramway Museum and are on display while awaiting full restoration.

Sentimental Saturday
Sydney, (possibly) Ultimo Tramway Powerhouse c1904. This image supposedly shows workers at Sydney's NSWGT Ultimo Powerhouse at the turn of the century, although the card does not contain any specific details of the location, only the names of those pictured. The central sign in the image "Daddy of 'em all" is also unexplained. Identified are: (back row) N. Lucas, W F...s, F Mullins, H. Collins; (third row) Stan Lambert, Bob Bruce; (second row) H. B. Edw...ards, J. Crichton, Geo Forster, G. Worth, W. Cameron; (front row) H. Weelis, J. McIntosh.
David Wison has noted that H. B. Edwards is probably Harold Bertie Edwards 1887 - (11.6 )1959. He was Manager Randwick Workshops by late 1920s and notionally replaced Orlando W Brain in 1932 (as tramways electrical engineer) after the formation of the DRT&T. He retired as Chief Engineer for Tramways and Buses during 1952. Nicknamed "Hacker" and was known for strict discipline at Randwick Workshops.
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At 6.23 this morning, the Sydney Tramway Museum’s newest exhibit, former Sydney Light Rail ‘Variotram’ 2107 moved under its own power at the Museum for the first time. The tram will not be available for inspection in the short term as it requires some work to make it presentable and fully operational in the Museum environment.
The tram arrived following a complex delivery run from Penrith that started at 12.15am, with arrival at the Museum just after 2am.
2107, which was ...built in 1995-96 is believed to be not only the longest (28.9m) but also only low floor tram in preservation in Australia and the Southern hemisphere. It is the last of the original seven trams that opened the Sydney Light Rail System in 1996; 2101 to 2106 have now all been scrapped. The tram is being preserved at the Sydney Tramway Museum on behalf of Transport Heritage NSW.
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Battery power is on - 4am

Cleaning off graffiti started immediately. 3.45am with Ian Saxon, Sebastian Critchley and Harry Newton

Didn't want to go there , got dragged by my nieces I was baby sitting . I really enjoyed the day and so did the girls . Volunteers so enthusiastic

Such a wonderful place. The volunteers are so helpful, enthusiastic and generous with their knowledge. You really are transported back to the old Sydney you never knew, but your parents and grandparents did. The ads on the trams are a SCREAM! They deserve their own 5 star rating!!

Ride with 1014 built by the St Louis Car Company in 1948 to Royal National Park.
I am sure kids will love the tram ride.
The Museum has preserved a range of former Sydney trams and trams from otuer country too. Unfortunately, many dust on preserved trams, and I hope they could ergonomically optimize the trams exhibition space.

Went for a day visit with a friend of mine. It's a great place to visit for a day. Fun for kids too and great exhibitions of the train history in Australia & the trains.

The tram rides were fun. They don't really go anywhere as mentioned, it's for the heritage ride of the trams! You get to ride refurbished, fully functional 60Y old tram.

All in all a good experience, I would rate my visit highly

Great museum but I don't think the staff should give up their day jobs......

The exhibition of old trams was very interesting. My young daughters enjoyed the tram rides. I'd rate the museum higher if the tram rides went to some sort of destinations instead of empty patches of bush.

Brilliant!!! Kids loved the tram ride and getting to stop the traffic whilst crossing the Princes Highway is a bonus. Lots of trams for the kids to explore in the sheds. Great staff too and very friendly.

The Sydney Tramway Museum is a great experience for young and young at heart with a great exhibit of Sydney's historic trams. Plenty of information on each tram too. Make sure you take a ride on the tram to and from the Royal National Park and grab a few things from the souvenir shop.

Had a fantastic time! Kids loved it!
I only hope the State Government provide funding so it can be further developed to a living Sydney Transport Museum.
Especially, as dare l say the Victorians are flogging us with Bendigo Tramways!!!

Great place for a day out, there is a display hall for the maps, old vehicles and you can actually ride the old trams to the boundary of the Royal National Park and "Sutherland" (you'll understand if you come). Close to the Loftus Station (less than a 5 min walk) and has on-site parking. The admission fees are not too heavy, $10 for school children, free for the toddlers and preschool children and $18 dollars for the adults and assuming around $12 for pensioners. I love how volunteers give up their time to run the place. The Museum is not a for profit as mentioned before, it is run by volunteers.

Would come again.

Want to introduce your children to the "olden days" (as they are wont to call them)? Well go no further. We loved our visit to the Tram Museum. We also brought the grandparents for added commentary! My favourite part was climbing on the old carriages and buses and getting the feel for them. Sometimes it felt like an old movie (Murder on the Orient Express?). The Museum is situated close to Loftus station, so not much of a walk. There is parking outside. And a little souvenir shop inside. Well worth the visit.

Great experience for the kids and history buffs alike. Big selection of trams from around the world plus paraphernalia from the ages. Some pretty stunning photos from old Sydney!