While the bulk of the photographic material deals with Sydney and Newcastle, the written material focuses in detail on the Launceston Tram network describing aspects of the trams in detail including the main colour used (Dulux No 388/64 57). Below is a copy of one of the drafts for the document.

Index of the archive

• 6 photographic development envelopes, consisting of printed photos and negatives (6×9 and 120 format
• Blue spine folder- 53 photos and 1 postcard, photos of sydney and surrounds trams
• gray folder – 24 photos of Ballarat, Adelaide Melbourne trams. 3 printed items related to trams and 1 reply letter to David Ritchie relating to enclosed photos and there cost
• 1 manila folder titled “Launceston Municipal Tramways”, consisting of 2 draft copy’s of the article, hand written and typed letters from David Ritchie to numerous people in regards to tramway information

A draft copy of the article

Launceston Municipal Tramways

as remembered and rediscovered

by David Ritchie

For hep in the preparation of this article i wish to particularly to thank Mr H.L Cole, the Launceston superintendent of transport, who answered most comprehensively a string of questions which i summited to him; and Mr Kenneth Flood A.E.T.A member, of Wellington Street Launceston, who answered some questions i had forgotten to as Mr Cole, provided some additional useful information, and furnished me with photographs, diagrams and a tramway map of Launceston all hard to obtain, which have proved indispensable. Any mistakes are my own and very little else is.

I was born in Launceston and lived there until 1936. A far greater part of my preschool years was spent sitting outside the front gate on my tricycle watching the trams go by than in any other occupation and this activity did not entirely cease with the advent of scholastic constraints.

The Launceston system was and is an ideal one for the youngster to cut his teeth on: the layout and track work are simple and yet embody important basic principles which may be much more difficult to isolate when they are repeated and overlapped in a complex system; and the trams themselves are in some ways exemplary

Track

The ricer Tamar divides at Launceston into the two prongs of a fork (the north and south esks), and the city proper and many of the suburbs are contained between these widely curving prongs. the exceptions are the large Invermay-Mowbray area, which lies beneath the left prong along the left side of the handle, and the Trevallyn area which lies under the right prong in the angle formed by the South Esk and the Tamar.

The pattern of tramlines is correspondingly forked, four branches spreading through the area between the two tributaries, a fifth crossing the South Esk to Trevallyn by the Cataract Bridge which, with tram approaching, is subject of the “View of Launceston” photograph, favorite of school atlases and tourist ‘literature’. The line from the city to Mowbray crosses the North Esk and passes through the Invermay area in a long straight stretch reminiscent of Harris Street, Sydney.

The system really comprises three main lines: Newstead-Trevallyn, High Stree-Hillside Crescent and Sandhill-Mowbreay in my time. Shortly before I left, the High Street line was extended from Mary Street to Talbot Rd, and thereafter the Hih St destination sign was dropped and Talbot Rd used, and Hillside Crescent was discontinued in favour of Basin Rd, the route actually terminating at the junction of Brougham St and Basin Road. Shortly after i left, the Newstead line was extended a short distance, from Hobler’s Bridge Road to Wentworth Streen when the area was undergoing rapid development; and the Mowbray line was continued for about four blocks to the City Boundary at Newnham. The Trevallyn line was bustituated on March the 23rd, 1947. The track was in bad condition. It involved a steep curved grade. i Have heard of a tram slithering when resinous substances dropped on the rails from nearby trees, but it sounds like a busman’s tale. The buses run from the junction of Abbott and Wentworth Streets to the junction of Gorge Rd and Bald Hill Road. The King’s Wharf route (see map) has also been abandoned.

There are now 7.949 miles of single track and 4.808 miles of double track (=12.757 street miles) covering 13.787 route miles; the total length laid reckoned as single track being 17.565 miles. The Newstead line is double track from Brisbane Street (city) to Olive Street, the Mowbray line from Tamar and Cameron Streets out to Pleasant Street, the Sandhill and Carr Villa line from Brisbane Street to Thistle Street. High Street, Basin Road, Trevallyn and Wharf routes are single track except for passing loops.

Trams

When I left Launceston there were twenty-nine trams, and there still are. none has been scrapped, as was once rumoured. Indeed the services being operated now require twenty-seven out of the twenty-nine cars daily! Twenty-six of them are combination six-light-centre-saloon single-truck cars, with a corridor running the length of the car. 27, 28 and 29 are bogie drop-centre saloons with three centre entrances on each side; the end saloons are each eight lights. The windows of all Launceston trams are much wider than those, e.g., of the old Sydney ‘C’ class. No’s 15 to 20 and the bogie cars have transom windows, and in 15 to 20 I think these are of yellow glass.

There are a number of notable minor variations in the single-truck trams. No’s 1 to 14 had wooden cross seats in the saloon in my day, but all cross seats have now been removed and replaced with longi tudinal seats to provide more standing room “which is needed”. No’s 1 to 14 have open toast-rack ends; the others have them glassed, 15 to 20 with transoms; all are furnished with roller blinds.

No’s 15 to 20, indeed are apparently conversions, but this happened before my time and I haven’t looked into it yet. 15-and 16 were high ‘Black cars’ (?), 17 a two-saloon centre-doog dog car, and 18, 19 and 20 Radiax cars with open fronts. No 26 was rebuilt from a water car.

Couplers have been removed in recent years.

Launceston trams are elegant jobs of coach painting. The main color is a deep dark red (Dulux Maroon no.388/64 57); the lower side aprons, window frames, &c., are pale yellow, and the immediate window frames are varnished. The red parts are still lined out with a gold dark-yellow band with a simple internal fret at each corner which i used to find very difficult to reproduce when making trams out of shoe boxes in my early days. This refinement has unfortunately been abandoned by most other systems which once employed it. There is a beautiful L.M.T. monogram in the centre of each side (which I found quite impossible); and the yellow aprons are finished with plain red bands. The number is painted large and clear above each headlamp, but is not shown on the sides. The bogie cars look particularly fine in this livery.

Years ago the window frames were all painted. Yet, again, I remember about 1931 seeing the persistently different No’s 15 to 20 with the window frames and sill all varnished, front and side.

The services open in August 1911 with six cars. They were built in the tramway depot by Messers J.&T. Gunn, a big Launceston firm of Contractors, under the supervision of a departmental clerk-of-works. Messers J. & T Gunn contractacted to build two extra cars immediately on completion of the contract for the first six. Thereafter, body-builders were employed by the Department, building continuously, the cars being put into service as they were completed. The first bogie car, No 27, went into service during Show Week in October 1929. Living in Elphin Road near the Show Grounds I remember being deeply stirred one afternoon, in what must again have been October, 1931, on finding a grey-violet bogie tram standing sombrely at College Street corner at the head of a long line of cars. I thought I had seen the birth of a new era of two colors – like Sydney in its last transition period. But this was the advent of 28, specially take out with only a priming coat to cope with the show crowds. 29, similarly caparisoned, appeared during the same period. They went back to the shops afterwards and were both completely finished early in 1932.

Trucks and electrical equipment fot the single-truck Launceston trams were supplied by the American General Electric Co.; those for the bogie cars by the English Electric Co. No cars have been built during the last seventeen years.

The bogie cars were confined to the Sandhill-Mowbray line. I was always hoping to see one come suddenly flying along Elphin Road – but it never did – except very rarely at Show times or for Saturday trotting meetings. When I left Launceston they were still the only trams with air brakes, and the sound of the compressor was set music to the ears of the enthusiast.

Destination Signs

Up until about 1934 the Launceston trams had wooden destination boards. they were about 4 feet 6 inces long by about 9 in. wide, with a metal lug at either end which fitted into upright pegs to hold the board in position beneath the headlamp just above the bumper. Some Newstead boards were almost twice as wide, as the words “GORGE TREVALLYN” had to be fitted in on the other side. The names were painted in white letters on the black boards. They altogether very similar to the boards on the Sydney steam trams. About 1934 colored boards appeared: green for the Newstead-Trevallyn line, red for High Street-Hillside Crescent, and white with black letters for Mowbray-Sandhill. These colors were in conformity with the destination lights which had been in use before and are in use still; they show in a little square immediately above the top pane of the driver’s window, and are now

• Mowbray to Carr Villa – white
• Talbot Rd to Basin Rd – Red
• Newstead to City – Green
• Cars returning to depot – Blue

With the introduction of the new boards, some destination names were dropped and some new ones adopted Black boards with white letters retained for shorter working on the main routes and for the King’s Wharf line. Red on white was used for the NO PASSENGERS board.

Supplementary destination boards were also employed, and these are still in use. They are places in the driver’s near-side window. They are white with black letters; the dimensions vary slightly but the average size is about 23 in. by 9 1/2 in. OLIVE ST ONLY was used with the short-working board ELPHIN RD on the Newstead line; MAYNE ST ONLY is used on the Mowbray route; and PEEL ST ONLY on the Carr Villa route. Supplementary boards are also used on some through cars at peak period, with EXPRESS to the above mentioned streets. These cars run non-stop from the City terminus and then continue in the usual way to the outer termini. VIA WELLINGTON STREET is used on Sandhill and Carr Villa cars.

But since 1936 the colored destination boards have, in turn, been abandoned in favor of elevated roller destination signs nearly built on to the rood above the driver’s window. They must be a great improvement for peak-hour working and for nocturnal strangers; and the add considerably to the appearance of the trams. The rolls are of vuluna cloth or lined, 23 feet long, with approximately one sign per foot. The signs are all in white lettering on black, and, in spite of their small size – they are much shorter than the old boards – are faily easy to read at night. Colored route discs were also used once upon a time, but they have been abandoned in recent years.

Various Usages

Among other Launceston customs of the 30’s was the use of bars oh the off side. These were solemnly raised and lowered as the terminus was reached, and people generally did the right thing. Oddly enough, more over, one could stand in the back compartment or sit on the little driver’s seat there, without any fuss being made.

Fares after 6pm were 3d minimum for adults and 1 1/2d for children for the first section. Just now we notice that owing to payment of penalty rates, weekend fares have been increased to 3d for the first section and 1d for each additional section, from 7-2-48, 2d and 1d respectively still being the ordinary fares.

Visitors from Sydney have noticed in the past with a mixture of pleasure and amazement the habit of Launceston conductors of waiting until passengers are seated before pulling the bell

Another institution of my day was ‘the man with the “shovel”’. Often on a warm afternoon, crouched over the handlebars of my tricycle lost in distraction, i would find myself watching a dot on the road in the sunny distance, which gradually grew into a man pushing before him a peculiar implement with a long handle, which looked as if it had been beaten out of ploughshares. It came to a point and had a metal prong which fitted into the groove in the tram line. As the man pushed, the prong scooped up the dirt out of the hollow, and it fell back into the shovel. Every now and then he would light it out and empty the accumulation. I missed this when i first came to sydney, but, as has been observed, the small systems can afford refinements.

February the 17th, 1948, DR

Reference

Electric tram lines at Railway Square

David Jones – Tyrrell Collection – 1880-1923