Sydney Steam Tram Motor

The Sydney Steam Motor Trams were built for and operated by the New South Wales Government Tramways of Australia.

History

Steam trams were introduced when four steam tram motors imported to Sydney as a temporary transport for the International Exhibition of 1879. It was built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, United States and hauled double decker trailers conveying passengers from the Redfern railway terminus to near the Botanic Gardens.

A Beyer, Peacock & Company steam tram of 1885 was sent to Australia in 1886 as a trial unit by the New South Wales Government Tramways (NSWGT) for comparison against the Baldwin steam tram. The Baldwin design prevailed and this engine returned to England in 1889 to become Beyer Peacock works shunter No. 2. The engine was rumoured to have fallen into the sea on its return voyage, but it survived and is still in working order and known as 'John Bull'. Some sources show it as numbered '47' in Sydney, but number 47 had already been allocated around 1883.

Design

The steam tram motor is essentially a small 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive with a wooden cab enclosing the frame, with five windows along each side. Access to the cab is through doors from either the front or back platform. The tram is powered by an orthodox locomotive type boiler, American bar type framing, conventional "D" type slide valves and spring suspension. Coke and later coal was carried in a bunker on the rear platform and water in the semi-circular saddle tank.

Typical specifications for an 11" Baldwin steam tram motor:

*Cylinders: (bore × stroke)
*Boiler pressure:
*Tractive effort: at
*Weight:
*Length:
*Width:

Service

The Redfern to Botanic Gardens tramway was planned to operate for the duration of the exhibition. It was so popular that an extension to Randwick was opened in 1880. The peak of steam working was reached in 1894, when the tramway's length reached with over 100 steam trams in service. In 1905-6 steam routes were electrified, with the tram motors gradually relegated to outer suburbs.

Government tram lines in Sydney that weren't electrified were the Kogarah to San Souci line, the Arncliffe to Bexley line, the Sutherland to Cronulla line, and the line from Parramatta to Castle Hill. There was also a privately-operated line from Parramatta Park to Redbank Wharf, which only operated using steam tram motors, until it closed in 1943.

Steam trams also operated on regional New South Wales tramways at Newcastle,Newcastle to Plattsburg by Steam Tram The Trials and Tribulations of 1887
'' Trolley Wire'' issue 168 February 1977 pages 3-15 Maitland, and Broken Hill. Steam tram motors, with railway contour wheels, were used on the East Maitland–Morpeth railway line, between 1895 and 1915.

The Steam Tram Motors in service were:

(*) Numbers 42 and 43 were two Kitson steam motors, ordered in 1881, that were unreliable in service.

(**) Number 55 was an experimental steam motor, made by Merryweather & Sons, that arrived in 1881.

(***) Numbers 70 to 75 were six 'Baldwin-Downe' steam motors, delivered 1883-1884, that were first bogies of combined motor-passenger cars known as 'Jumbos'.

Demise and preservation

The last NSWGT steam motor was withdrawn from service in 1937 and replaced by a trolley bus service. Preserved trams are:
* Steam Tram Motor No. 1A, owned by Powerhouse Museum The number '1A' was applied by the Powerhouse Museum. It is actually Steam Motor 28a of Henry Vale & Co. Makers number 52.
* Steam Tram Motor No. 103a, at Valley Heights Steam Tramway Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1891. Makers number 11676.
* Steam Tram Motor No. 100, at Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1891. Makers number 11885.
The Beyer Peacock steam motor, known as "John Bull", survives at the National Tramway Museum.

Gallery

Image:Early Sydney Tram (2687730193).jpg, Early Sydney tram
Image:Sydney tram, c.1885 (5792275734).jpg, Sydney tram with two trailer, c. 1885
Image:Steam Tram engine 'John Bull' - geograph.org.uk - 1618275.jpg, 'John Bull'
Image:Sandon Point Jetty circa 1900.jpg, Steam tram motor hauling coal wagons across Bulli Jetty c. 1900
Image:NSWGT Tram Motor No. 1A Top View.jpg, No. 1A Top View
Image:NSWGT Tram Motor No. 1A Platform.jpg, Tram Motor No. 1A
Image:NSWGT Tram Motor No. 1A End Platform.jpg, Tram Motor No. 1A
Image:NSWGT Tram Motor No. 1A Side View.jpg, No. 1A Side View
Image:NSWGR Tram Motor 103A Front View.jpg, Tram Motor 103A
Image:NSWGR Tram Motor 103A Wide View.jpg, Tram Motor 103A
Image:NSWGR Tram Motor 103A Driving Wheel.jpg, 103A Driving Wheel
Image:NSWGR Tram Motor 103A Backplate.jpg, 103A Backplate

See also

*McCarth & Chinn, "New South Wales Tramcar Handbook 1861-1961", 1974 SPER
*Burke, David, "Juggernaut: A story of Sydney in the wild Days of the Steam Trams", Kangaroo Press, Roseville, N.S.W.,1997.
*McCarthy, Ken, 'The Era of the Steam Tramway' in "Trolley Wire ", April 1973, Vol. 14 No.2.

References

External links

McCarthy, Ken, 'The Era of the Steam Tramway' in "Trolley Wire ", April 1973, Vol. 14 No.2.

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Sydney tram vehicles