Bridge Rd Richmond re-surfacing

Bridge Rd Richmond was relayed in January 2021 using the now standard Melbourne technique of concrete to sleeper height, fill with crushed rock / crushed concrete to just below rail top and a bitumen top. By May 2022 the road surface in Bridge Rd looked as shown in the first two attached photos. This is the narrow section of roadway between Hoddle St and Church St where cars and trucks share the roadway with trams. It seems that the crushed fill was not rolled well enough to provide a solid foundation for the bitumen. It has broken up and required regular patching. Other shared roadways have shown similar problems, but Bridge Rd is the worst. The width of the roadway between rails means that a narrow roller of the type usually used for footpaths was used for compacting the crushed fill. It seems that this type of roller may be inadequate for the job. Perhaps they need to borrow the Jelbart roller ex Ballarat that was designed for just this sort of work. Another pic attached. This weekend the roadway in the tramway lanes will be resurfaced. See: https://yarratrams.com.au/projects/bridge-road-resurfacing-works Mal Rowe hoping for a better outcome in Bridge Rd.

Re: 110 years of Hawthorn trams

On 06/04/2026 16:16, Mal Rowe wrote: > Today marks 110 years since the Hawthorn Tramways Trust had their > official opening. > Several of the original HTT trams are still around - mostly at Ballarat & Bendigo. Two are restored in the original HTT Livery HTT No 8 is at the Melbourne Tram Museum and HTT No 32 (the last car built for HTT) is restored and in storage at Bendigo. The attached pic shows it soon after restoration when it was out on the road at Bendigo. Mal Rowe - rather keen on the Melbourne maximum traction trams

110 years of Hawthorn trams

Today marks 110 years since the Hawthorn Tramways Trust had their
official opening.

Celebrations were held at the crossing of each municipal boundary.

The attached images show the cutting of the ribbon and a line of trams
at the boundary between Richmond and Hawthorn at the bridge over the
Yarra River.

Mal Rowe - a friend of the Hawthorn depot

Bendigo Easter Fair

The Bendigo Easter Fair puts the Bendigo Tramways into the role of
public transport carrier as people heading to the parade are asked to
park and ride.

The first attached pic shows 28 signed up for the occasion back in 1970.

Second pic shows Mick McGowan guiding 17 through as the first tram down
McRae St some 44 years later.

Mal Rowe guessing that Mick will be there again on Easter Sunday

Wanganui 21 launch

Last weekend saw the launch into service of one of the most impressive
restoration (re-creation?) of a tram in this part of the world.

Trailer 21 from Whanganui in NZ was launched into service and Henry
Brittain of Wellington Tramway Museum was there to capture the attached
pics.

The quality of the work is outstanding, beginning with careful CAD work
by Leighton Chan to allow manufacture of missing parts, to selection of
high quality timber including rare NZ Kauri and a stunning paint job.

The trailer is 'convertible' meaning that it can be an open or closed
car - depending on the season.  The pictures show that.

The aluminium lower side panels and the windows slide up into the roof
for Summer.

The trailer was built by Boon & Co of Christchurch and entered service
around 1920.  It was hauled by electric trams  but will generally be
hauled by ex Sydney stem tram No 100 which also came to MOTAT from
Whanganui.  There is a prototype for stem haulage as that was needed
during a period when the power station failed in Whanganui.

Mal Rowe - grateful to Henry for the great pictures

Es on the main trunk

The annual Grand Prix circus took over a lot of Melbourne's trams over the weekend with regular passengers shunned in favour of the motor heads.

The changes meant that the E class made a rare appearance in Swanston St and St Kilda Rd.

A couple of pics ...

6093 on Princes Bridge - closed to all other traffic for both the Grand Prix and the Moomba festival.

6083 a D1 and another E in St Kilda Rd outside the National Gallery of Victoria.

Mal Rowe noting that the animated bird on the plantation seems to have little respect for the passengers

RE: [TramsDownUnder] How many tram drivers?

Or Whiteman Park? A few of us retirees only have one job, albeit unpaid, a tram driver at Whiteman park. 😊

Noel in Perth who will be taking one of the most colourful tramway identities ever for a ride on the tram tomorrow.

-----Original Message-----
From: tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Mal Rowe
Sent: Thursday, 26 February 2026 8:06 AM
To: TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>; Blogspot <mal.rowe.pcc980@blogger.com>
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] How many tram drivers?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics marked the 65th anniversary of the closure of Sydney's electric tram system with the attached graphic on facebook.

It shows the number of people employee as tram drivers by state as recorded in the last census.

Several people have remarked on the 8 "Sandgropers" who reported themselves as tram drivers.

Perhaps the 'trams' on Rottnest and at Pemberton are the explanation.

Mal Rowe who has travelled on one of the above.

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