Historic Photo of the Day: 2024-04-02

Today's historic photo of the day: Fifty years ago (give or take a week or so) Adelaide A type tram no 1 runs a trip late in the afternoon of the opening day of the St Kilda Tramway Museum, at Mangrove Loop, St Kilda, SA, March 23 1974. Adelaide once had an extensive electric street tramway system. Operated by the Municipal Tramways Trust, lines ran in all directions from downtown Adelaide and also on a separate smaller network based on Port Adelaide. From the very beginning in 1909, most of Adelaide's electric trams were built by local Adelaide manufacturers befitting the city's strong manufacturing and coachbuilding industry. However, by the 1950s, patronage was falling, the system was losing money and much of the network and rolling stock was in need of renewal or replacement. A common story across the world. Although the isolated Port Adelaide lines had closed in the late 1930s, from 1952, one by one, electric tram routes on the main system were closed and replaced by diesel buses or trolleybuses until by 1958, just one route remained: that from Adelaide to Glenelg. Thankfully, that Glenelg route has survived to this day, and has in recent years been extended, modernised and joined by a second route meaning that Adelaide is today served by modern light rail and is one of the few nations in the English speaking world to have retained at least part of its first generation tramway system. In the lead up to closure of most of the main Adelaide network, the SA branch of the Australian Electric Traction Association negotiated with the Municipal Tramways Trust to set aside some trams for preservation. These trams were stored at various places for many years until they moved to a site at St Kilda in Adelaide's northern suburbs. The site opened as a static display museum in 1967 and then on that day in March 1974 the St Kilda tram museum opened and offered tram rides to museum visitors. This photo was taken by my late Mother who, knowing my love of trams, took me there for the day. In fact, you can even see young me sitting inside that tram. Whilst the museum line ran for about 2km from the museum to St Kilda Beach, this particular run, much to my disappointment, terminated short here at Mangrove Loop, about 1.3km from the museum. No 1 was the first of seventy A type trams constructed in 1908 and 1909 by Adelaide coachbuilding company, Duncan & Fraser, for the inauguration of Adelaide's electric tramway system in 1909. These four-wheeled 'California Combination' type trams, powered by 2 33hp electric motors, ran in Adelaide until the early 1950s. Three A types were sold to the SEC of Victoria, and one, no 10, remained in regular service in Ballarat until 1971. No 10 was acquired by the St Kilda museum in 1971 when the Ballarat system closed, and today, both A type no 1 and no 10 remain operational at the museum alongside an extensive selection of other restored Adelaide trams. Mangrove Loop itself has since been removed, and nowadays trams run out and back from the museum to Yes, I missed the museum's 50th anniversary by 10 days - I will do better in future.