Rozelle Tram Depot is a former tram storage and operations centre that was part of the Sydney tram network. It is the largest remaining tram depot in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The depot was turned into a food-centric retail complex that opened in September 2016.

History

Rozelle Tram Depot opened on 17 April 1904, working in conjunction with Newtown and Ultimo depots operating trams on the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, south-western and

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

tram routes. The depot was originally accessed by a

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for trams (in the US, typically called a "private right-of-way"). Description Unlike street running track embedded in streets and roads, reserved track does not need ...

from

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

which ran along what is now known as Minogue Crescent. Access to the depot was controlled by a

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

situated near the staff waiting room which also served as a changeover point for drivers. Constructed in stages from 1904 the depot was a 25 road car shed accommodating 96 carriages, this was gradually increased to 125 by 1907. Construction of the second half of the depot in that same year saw the depot cater for an additional 70 trams. From 1918 depot capacity was increased to 200 tram cars. In 1926 and 1928 the Rozelle Depot gardens won the Garden Competition which was held annually between tram depots. A Returned Soldiers branch was established by Tramways employees and a Soldiers Memorial was erected on-site at the front of the Traffic Offices on 26 November 1916. This was to commemorate the various depot staff who served in both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Of the 1,157 Tramway men enlisted during

, 139 were either killed or went missing. Upon closure of Ultimo depot on 27 June 1953, Rozelle depot received additional trams to run the Darling Street Wharf to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

route. The depot ceased operations on 22 November 1958 upon closure of the Glebe line. On the following day the depot was cleared of all cars and the lines connecting the system were removed. Soon after its closure the depot was leased out to several different parties, including

CHEP CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) is a company dealing in pallet and container pooling services, serving customers in a range of industrial and retail supply chains. It is a subsidiary of Brambles. CHEP offers wooden and plastic p ...

, the

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

and the City Tram Association. The depot at one stage contained six historic Sydney trams, some of which date back to the 1930s, as well as a

Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster The Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster, sometimes simply known as the Leyland Worldmaster, was a mid-underfloor-engined single-decker bus or single-decker coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1954 and 1979. Description Succeeding the ...

bus that has been heavily vandalised. The trams that were in near mint condition prior to 2000 were vandalised, stripped and painted with graffiti.Rozelle Tram Depot
Sydney Architecture Five of the trams belonging to the Sydney Tramway Society were originally acquired and stored in the shed as part of a now defunct plan by the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

council to introduce a heritage tramway to The Rocks. One of the trams was R1 class 1995, the last tram to operate on Sydney's original tram network, entering

Randwick Tramway Workshops Randwick Bus Depot is a bus depot in the Sydney suburb of Randwick operated by Transdev John Holland. History In 1881 the Randwick Tramway Workshops were established on the corner of Darley Road and King Street, Randwick as the main workshops ...

in February 1961 on the last day of operations.< A development proposal submitted in 2005 that included multi-storey apartments, underground car parking and commercial offices ran into opposition from residents. The site has been considered for a variety of uses, including a market, artists' studios, performance spaces. On 10 December 2010 it was announced the entire

Harold Park Paceway Harold Park Paceway was a harness racing track in Forest Lodge, New South Wales, in use from 1890 to 2010. It was a half-mile track (804.5 metres) but was just 739 metres in circumference until some changes in its later years. Races at the tra ...

site had been purchased by

Mirvac Mirvac is an Australian property group with operations across property investment, development, and retail services. This entity now broadens their clientele and shareholder return on investment by venturing across multiple development sectors, ...

to be redeveloped for

medium-density housing Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of m ...

. The last tram was removed in January 2015. It was restored in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

and returned for inclusion in the Tramsheds shopping centre that opened on 22 September 2016.
Tramsheds Harold Park Summary phases of Former Rozelle Tram Depot site: * 1827-1904 Estuarine land, part of Toxteth Estate * 1904-1909 Tram Depot Establishment * 1904-1958 Tram Depot in Operation * 1959-1980s Storage, Depot and Workshop * 1980s-2004 General Store * 2004-2012 Vacant Building * Present Tramsheds shopping centre owned by REVELOP

Gallery

File:Sydney trams vandalized and left to rot.JPG, Heavily vandalized trams in the abandoned Rozelle tram depot File:Inside vandalised syd tram.jpg, Inside one of the Glebe trams File:Inside tram drivers cabin.JPG, Tram drivers cabin File:Interior of tram 1995.JPG, The interior of tram

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

the last tram to have operated on Sydney's original tram network

References

{{SydneyTramNavbox, state=collapsed Industrial buildings in Sydney Shopping centres in Sydney Tram depots in Sydney Transport infrastructure completed in 1904 Glebe, New South Wales