The city of

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, operated an extensive

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way system from 1912 until 1956, when the service was replaced by buses. Unlike Victoria's other major regional cities,

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and

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 ...

, which have kept some track and trams as tourist attractions, no trams or tracks remain in Geelong.

History

There had been proposals to build a tram network in Geelong as early as 1888. Two companies, the Geelong Electric Light, Electric Motor, Electric Tram and Omnibus Company, and the Geelong and District Electric Tramway Company Limited, attended a meeting to get support for their plans in June 1888. After lengthy discussions, and the need to get State Government approval, a plan was finally accepted by the Geelong Town Council in 1890. However the

economic depression An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economical downturn that is result of lowered economic activity in one major or more national economies. Economic depression maybe related to one specific country were there is some economic ...

which occurred after the collapse of the 1880s Land Boom, led to the plans being cancelled in 1891. Further agitation for a tramway started again in 1906, but it took until July 1910 before agreement was reached with the

Melbourne Electric Supply Company The Australian state of Victoria has a number of defunct energy supply and distribution utility companies. The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated an electri ...

for the construction and operation of a tram system. The company would have the lease on the trams for a period of 30 years. Construction began in December 1910, and part of the line was first tested on 10 January 1912 in front of a large crowd. The Geelong tram network was officially opened on 14 March 1912 with bands, huge crowds, and a procession of four highly decorated trams. Official passengers on the trams included the Mayor of Geelong, the Mayor of Newtown and Chilwell, the Mayor of

Geelong West Geelong West is a commercial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. When Geelong was founded, the area was known as Kildare but its name was changed to Geelong West in 1875. The main street is Pakington Street. At the 2016 c ...

, other councillors, directors of the company, and state politicians. At each municipal boundary permission was asked for the trams to enter, and a ribbon was cut.

Line openings

Duplications

Deviation

Change of ownership

In 1930 the tramways were taken over by the

State Electricity Commission of Victoria The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV, ECV or SEC) is a government-owned electricity supplier in Victoria, Australia. It was set up in 1918, and by 1972 it was the sole agency in the state for electricity generation, transmission, ...

(SEC). This was part of the SEC taking over the supply of electricity for Victoria, and it included the tramways in Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat. A

way extension to Eastern Beach opened in October 1940 along Bellarine Street to cater to beach goers. During World War II, passenger traffic increased as a result of petrol rationing and people employed in

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

factories around Geelong. In 1943 the trams carried 6,500,000 people. Because of the shortage of men to work on the trams, the SEC decided to employ women to work as conductors.

Closure

In 1949, H.H. Bell jnr., the son of the chairman of the

Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

, prepared a report on the Geelong tramways for the Geelong City Council. He found that the trams were obsolete, and could not be run profitably in a city with only 52,000 people. The Council accepted his findings by nine votes to one. The Australian Road Safety Council had identified trams as being "Australia's number one road menace", alleging that they were 16 times more likely to be involved in accidents than motor vehicles. In 1953, a government report recommended replacing the trams with buses. The

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

state government of

Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years. E ...

, elected in June 1955, decided in July that the trams should be replaced by privately-owned buses as soon as possible. Bolte described the Geelong tramway as being outdated and hopelessly inadequate. The SEC argued that the cost of tickets did not cover the cost of wages, and certainly did not meet the cost of maintenance or electricity. It was estimated that the tram system was losing £95,000 each year, and needed to have £2,000,000 spent on it to upgrade the tracks and tramcars. Tramway union members argued that the SEC had let the system run down, and that it was losing business by not extending the network into new suburban areas. The

Geelong Chamber of Commerce Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southern Australia, southeastern states of Australia, eastern Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victor ...

supported the closure of the system, with the president saying they would be glad to have the trams off the streets. Protest meetings were held to try and save the trams, without success. The last tram ran from the city to Belmont and back on 25 March 1956. Thousands of people were in the streets to celebrate the event. The tram which ran the last service was Geelong No.4. It had made the first test run on the system on 12 January 1912. Over the years, there have been proposals to bring trams back into the city, but the idea has never been looked at seriously.

Routes

Immediately following

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 ...

, the following services were through-routed: * Newtown –

Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

– Railway/Beach * Belmont –

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

East Geelong East Geelong is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the , East Geelong had a population of 3,862. The post office opened on 6 June 1921. An earlier Post Office dating from 1871 was later renamed Moolap West. The 81-hect ...

–

Chilwell Chilwell is a village and residential suburb of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District until ...

After a timetable reorganisation in December 1952, the pattern was altered to: * North – Belmont * Newtown – Eastern Park * West – East * Chilwell – Station/Beach

Tram fleet

The original fleet of Geelong trams was made up of seven single-truck cars, with bodies made by

Duncan & Fraser Duncan & Fraser Limited was a vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1865 in Adelaide, South Australia that built horse-drawn carriages and horse trams, and subsequently bodies for trains, electric trams and motor cars, becoming one of the larg ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

using

Brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

. They were assembled in the depot in Corio Terrace (now called Brougham Street). There were also four non-powered trailer cars. Over the years, a variety of different trams operated on the Geelong network. Their trucks (bogies) were made by

Brush Traction Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since t ...

(UK) and

JG Brill Company The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almos ...

(USA), and their bodies were constructed by Brill (USA),

(

A Pengelly & Co A Pengelly & Co was an Australian furniture manufacturer, motor car and rolling stock body maker in Adelaide, Australia. It had a three acre factory on South Road, Edwardstown.Meadowbank Manufacturing Company Meadowbank Manufacturing Company was an Australian manufacturer in Meadowbank, New South Wales. History Mellor Brothers, a South Australian firm, established factories in Sydney (Meadowbank Manufacturing Co) and Melbourne (Braybrook Implement C ...

(

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 ...

). Trams were moved around the different tramway networks in Victoria. Geelong no.29 was originally built in 1915 for the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust, was moved to Geelong in 1928, and was then moved to Ballarat in 1936. When the system closed in 1956, it was running about 30 trams, numbered from 1 to 40.

Surviving trams

There are a number of surviving Geelong trams. They are in a number of museums, including the

Tramway Museum Society of Victoria The Tramway Museum Society of Victoria Incorporated (TMSV) owns a large collection of trams from Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Adelaide, and Sydney as well as preserved buses and other work vehicles. History The TMSV was founded in 1962 with ...

collection at Bylands, the

Ballarat Tramway Museum The Ballarat Tramway Museum is an operating tramway museum, located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The museum is run by volunteers and has a fleet of trams which operate on part of the original horse tramway around Lake Wendouree a ...

, the

Bendigo Tramways Trams in Bendigo have operated since 1890. They ceased to operate as a means of public transport in 1972 but part of the main network continues to operate today as a tourist attraction. Limited trials have also been made in 2009 with operating ...

, and the

Sydney Tramway Museum The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus, New South Wales, Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Hist ...

. Several are also privately owned. * No. 2 (1912) built in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, by

, on

, now restored at the Ballarat Tramway Museum. It is a so-called butterbox model. * No. 9 (1915) built in

, by

, on

, now at Bylands. It is a so-called butterbox model, and is in need of restoration. * No. 14 (1924) built by

, transferred to Bendigo in 1948, now at Bendigo as Tram 11. * No. 15 (1924), at Bendigo * No. 22 (1924), at Bylands. Built by

for the

Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust The Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust (PMTT) was a former tram operator in Melbourne, Australia. The trust was formed in 1907, with its first line operating in 1910. Its functions were taken over by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board in ...

and sold to Geelong Tramways in 1928. Moved to Ballarat in 1936 as Tram No. 14 and now in the Ballarat Tramways Museum. * No. 29 (1925) built by

for the

Municipal Tramways Trust The Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) was established by the Government of South Australia in December 1906 to purchase all of the horse-drawn tramways in Adelaide, Australia. The Trust subsequently also ran petrol and diesel buses and electric t ...

, as G class number 302. Operated in Geelong from 1936 as Tram 29 and then transferred to Bendigo in 1947 as Tram 29. Now at Bendigo Tramways, repainted in Adelaide livery and renumbered Adelaide tram 302. * No. 30 (1915), at Ballarat * No. 30 (1925), at Bendigo * No. 32 (1916), at Bendigo * No. 33 (1916), at Bendigo * No. 34 (1916), at Bendigo * No. 35 (1916), at

* Mo. 36 (1913), at Bendigo * No. 40 (1914), at Bylands

References

External links

Opening of the tramway photo

Geelong tram depot photo
* {{TramsAustralia

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Transport in Geelong