brisbanetram

The Belmont Tramway was a short-lived railway in the south-eastern suburbs of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It was built by the Belmont Shire Council and opened in 1912. Services were suspended several times and the line formally closed in October 1926. The Tramways Act of 1882 gave local councils in Queensland powers to build railways that did not compete with the Queensland Railways. For legal reasons they were considered to be tramways. The construction was proposed in 1909 and the Belmont Shire Council requested an engineering report on the cost of a tramway.[2] The Shire constructed a tramway 4.3 miles (6.9 km) long from a junction on the Cleveland railway line between Norman Park and Morningside. There were passenger shelters at Belmont Junction, Seven Hills, Mount Bruce, City View, Mayfield Road, Carina and stations with goods facilities at Springfield and the terminus at Belmont. The cost of construction was £20,000.[3] The line was originally operated by Queensland Railways until the Shire acquired its own steam tram (Baldwin b/n 35935 of 1911) and three carriages. The maximum speed was 15 mph (24 km/h) with a limit of 10 mph (16 km/h) over the bridges. It was expensive to operate and services were suspended in 1915, at which time the Shire's tram and carriages were sold.[3] The line was reopened due to local agitation and was operated by Queensland Railways on behalf of the Shire until 16 April 1924, when services were again suspended due to the condition of the bridges.[3] The locomotives were permitted to work the line where the A12, A14, B13, B15, and PB15 classes.[3] The line reopened again in April 1925 but the Brisbane City Council, which had absorbed the Shire, was not interested in running the tramway at a loss and it finally closed in October 1926.[3] 664 meters of the trackbed along Old Cleveland Road became part of the Brisbane City Council electric tram route 06 (Valley – Belmont) in 1948. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_Tramway

Officially referred to as "drop centre saloon cars", or "four motor cars", they were popularly referred to as "400s", "FM's" or "silver bullets". They were the first class of trams built in Brisbane with airbrakes. 155 were constructed by the Brisbane City Council between 1938 and 1964, with a maximum carrying capacity of 110 passengers. Trams 400–472 were built with wide centre doors, 407 was altered to narrow centre doors and renumbered 473 (and the tram to be numbered 473 entered service as 407), trams 474–554 were built with narrow centre doors. Through the 28 years during which they were built, many innovations were introduced, such as fluorescent lighting, helical gears, resilient wheels, remote-controlled controllers and streamlined construction techniques. Early versions had canvas blinds in the doorways, while later versions had sliding doors. The last 8 trams were built from components salvaged from the Paddington tram depot fire and were painted light blue with phoenix emblems below the motorman's windows, to symbolise that the trams had risen from the ashes of the fire. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Brisbane

Saloon cars Each tram in this class was constructed by joining two single deck saloon horse trams together on a single motorized chassis. Their long, enclosed bodies gave rise to their nickname of "coffin cars". They were built in 1897 when delivery of new electric trams was delayed. 6 cars in this class. They were all withdrawn from service by 1930. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Brisbane

Horse trams began servicing Brisbane in 1885 running from the city to Woolloongabba, yet electric trams in Ipswich Rd made Mr. Soden’s horse-drawn buses out-of-date by the turn of the century. Electric trams began in Brisbane in 1897 and reached Cornwall street that year. The extension from Cornwall to Dudley Street (then Mary Street) along Ipswich Road in 1899 changed the predominantly rural landscape into residential living. The line was extended to Chardon’s Corner in 1914. Source: www.everywherehistory.com/history-annerley-part-2/