brisbanetrams

Of the Australian capital cities which closed their networks between the 1950s and 1970s (only Melbourne and Adelaide retained trams, although Adelaide only had one line in operation), Brisbane was the last capital city to close its tram network. Despite the decision to shut down the network, Brisbane's trams were held with great affection by locals, and their removal was termed "one of the most appalling urban planning mistakes in the city’s history".[2] There have been ongoing proposals since the early 1990s to reinstate a functional tram network. Through the 1940s and 1950s, the tram system enjoyed strong political support within the council, which continued to expand the tram network and upgrade its fleet with some of the most advanced trams in Australia.[3] Trolleybuses were introduced in 1951. The last tramway to open was in March 1961.[1] Clem Jones became Lord Mayor of Brisbane the same year, and all new route construction was canceled.[1] The decline of the electric street transport systems By 1948 Brisbane's trams failed to return a profit as they could not compete with the more efficient bus services.[3] Urban development, often well away from public transport, the rise of suburban shopping centers, and the relative decline in the cost of motorcars meant that as elsewhere, Brisbane's public street transport system increasingly had to compete with the private motor car and patronage slowly declined from a post-war peak of 148 million passenger journeys in 1946 to approximately 64 million passenger journeys in 1968. Political support for the tram system waned in the 1960s, particularly so after the Paddington tram depot fire on 28 September 1962. 67 trams were destroyed, which represented 20% of the entire fleet.[3] Brisbane's Lord Mayor Alderman Clem Jones was a pro-freeway and private car. The Kalinga, Toowong, Rainworth, and Bulimba ferry routes closed in December 1962.[4] The Brisbane Tramway Museum Society was formed in 1968 to preserve some of Brisbane's trams. At present the museum has 24 Brisbane trams in its collection, with 6 operational; California type tram 47, Ten Bench tram 65, Baby Dreadnought tram 99, Dropcentre tram 341, Four Motor tram 429, and the last tram built and officially operated in Brisbane, Four Motor Phoenix tram 554. Tramway operations commenced at the museum at Ferny Grove in 1980. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Brisbane

Unlike many other systems, Brisbane never adopted an alphabetical or numerical system for classifying its trams (cf Melbourne trams), preferring instead to use official descriptions, such as "standard center aisle car", or "drop-center saloon car". Horse trams single deck saloon single deck crossbench double deck - open top deck, lower saloon California Combination Combination tram in Racecourse Road, Ascot Officially referred to as "Standard Combination" trams, but more popularly referred to as "matchboxes". They had a central 4 window saloon with 2 tip-over cross-bench seats on each end platform. There were 62 trams in this class, built between 1897 and 1904, with the last one withdrawn from passenger service in 1952. Two, (nos 14 and 15), were converted into "scrubber" cars (track maintenance cars). Several were used as advertising cars, with 47 and 53 being used as one-man cars on the Gardens shuttle route. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Brisbane

1945 VP Day Celebrations: The War is Over On 15 August 1945 Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced on the radio that Japan had unconditionally surrendered to allied forces. After three years of brutal fighting, the War in the Pacific was finally over. This day, which has become known as VP Day, was marked with jubilant celebrations across the nation as citizens looked toward a future free of conflict and fear of invasion. To manage celebrations authorities closed pubs, as they had on VE Day. However, this did not dissuade individuals from partying, with crowds gathering in the streets and strangers dancing together, including in front of the Criterion Hotel in Brisbane and Anzac Square. Celebrations took place throughout Queensland, including a Victory Fair held in Bundaberg and a peace procession in Chinchilla. Feelings of joy and relief were particularly apparent in Brisbane where many of the Pacific Campaign operations had been based. Flags and streamers were used to decorate Heindorff House on Queen Street, where the Allied Intelligence Bureau was based. The following day 60,000 civilians packed the streets of Brisbane’s CBD to watch 9,000 service personnel take part in the “Victory March”. A special civic thanksgiving service was also held in King George Square that evening with thousands in attendance, entertained by fireworks and music from the Salvation Army’s Brisbane City Temple Band. Source: www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/commemorate/victory-pacific-ri...