Adelaide's other reserved track tramway served by H type trams

The Glenelg route in Adelaide is a famous survivor, but there was
another route that had significant portions of reserved track.

H type trams and others took passengers to the beach through the
parklands west of Adelaide.

Colin Pearson captured F1 type 277 on this line, to Henley Beach, before
it closed in February 1957.

Colin was a private man who used the pen name James Renfrey.

Mal Rowe - grateful to Colin for sharing his work

AO trams

A bit of fun from last year's Australian Open tennis ...

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AsjqjGabM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Mal Rowe

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, FM 550, dropcentre 300

From:	'Roderick Smith' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>

680213Tu - George St at Adelaide St (Brisbane, Qld) - FM 550 to Ashgrove; dropcentre 300 to Bardon.  Roderick Smith.


Roderick

C 3003 derails

 Hugh Waldron sent the pic below of C class 3003 after colliding with a car at a level crossing near Port Melbourne.

The pic is by Allan Bowman who is happy to have it shared.

The event will be covered on Channel 9 news in Melbourne

Mal Rowe not surprised that the C derailed.

Re: Tram Grade Separation - Project Update - January 2026

On 27/01/2026 14:14, 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder wrote:
> In 1969 the running time City to Glenelg was cited as 24 minutes but
> there was no distinction between midday, midnight or middle of the
> peak hour.
>
> In 2000 it was 24 minutes offpeak, at peak hours up to 29 minutes.
>
One of the best tram rides of my life was in 2006 on a night run to and
from Glenelg in an H type tram.

The 24 minute trip was fast - so fast that when a (rare) passenger
showed up at one of the reserved track stops the tram overshot the stop 
and the driver had to back up to allow the passenger to board.

Mal Rowe - remembering the roar of the gears

Re: [TramsDownUnder] Seen on the way to dinner

On 23/01/2026 16:53, Semi-Retired Foamer wrote:
> Looks familiar.
> Is that where Fisk is filmed?

Well spotted!

If you look at the window above the verandah above the truck at right
you can just make out the gold lettering for Gruber and Associates.

Mal Rowe - who rather likes most ABC comedy

Seen on the way to dinner

The monthly TDU dinner is an opportunity for seeing trams around central
Melbourne.

Last night I walked the tramway through North Melbourne and made the
attached image.

Mal Rowe - hoping you enjoy the view

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, dropcentre 276

From:	'Roderick Smith' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>

680213Tu - Stanley St, South Brisbane (Qld): Dropcentre tram 276 to Belmont.  Roderick Smith.

Roderick

Re: [TramsDownUnder] Re: G class testing

On 20/01/2026 15:23, espee8800 wrote:

Hmm bigger trams eh, it's not easy to count seats etc., from the ground but it looked to me that the number of seats would be in the vicinity of a Z3. Bring on the standees.

I count 54 seats on the attached drawing compared to about 38 on a Z3 as now configured.

Mal Rowe seeing a glass more than half full

SW5.837

From:	Alan Cooper <alanjcooper79@hotmail.com>

Took a few photos of SW5.837, now installed at Deakin University at Burwood (outside Building H, toward the south-west corner).  It is up on concrete blocks.

Art colour scheme is from operational days, dating from 12/92, according to small 'caption' below roofline on one side.

Visible on the driver's door in the 'A' photo (white rectangle) is advertising for Melbourne's unsuccessful bid for the 1996 Olympics.  Think almost every tram had this for a while, many retaining it for years after the bid failed (in 1990, from memory).  The other three cabin doors have 'prepare to stop' on them.

The saloon at the west end retains the brown-upholstered back-to-back seats, though they have been moved to allow the installation of small, fixed tables.  The east saloon has benches mounted along the walls, with fixed bar stools next to them.  Longitudinal seats remain in the drop centre.

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Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, dropcentre 277

680213Tu - Stanley St, South Brisbane (Qld) - dropcentre tram 277 to
Salisbury.  Roderick Smith.

Roderick

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Melbourne route numbers in Perth

On 13/01/2026 14:53, 'Greg Sutherland' via TramsDownUnder wrote:

Well NSW tramways, who never had route numbers, were still able to carry over o million passengers per day in Sydney for decades.  Initial 'long distance' destination signalling was by destination colours and symbols with scrip tdetails to be seen on closed approach.

Did any other Australian tramway network have route numbers?

Brisbane, as I recall, had destination numbers.

Route numbers were partly an aid to easy recognition at a distance and to enable those who could not read to catch the right tram.

• Melbourne cable trams used coloured panels and fittings on the tram for this purpose.
• The Essendon trams used large single letters, M for Maribyrnong River, K for Keilor Rd and R for Racecourse.
• Adelaide, P&MTT and Coburg copied Sydney and used coloured destination signs.

P&MTT introduce route numbers in 1913 as their system expanded.

Mal Rowe attaching the official drawing for the MB&CTT original destination roll.

Re: [TramsDownUnder] Melbourne route numbers in Perth

On 12/01/2026 20:38, noelmel via TramsDownUnder wrote:
> When I am driving 891 at Whiteman Park, I run to old destinations :-
>
> Kew Cotham Road (69)
> Toorak Glenferrie Road (8)
> South Melbourne Beach (16)

For those interested, here's a list of Melbourne route numbers from the
1960s and my pic of a 'Four penny' tram from that era.

Mal Rowe - perhaps a bit too focussed?

Here's one I prepared earlier

For no particular reason, here's a pic I made exactly 56 years ago.

It was a Caulfield race day and I was in the SE suburbs watching trams
(as was my occasional habit).

478 was built as a W1 in 1928, was converted to an SW2 in 1938 and ran
until 1978.

It ended up in Memphis.

Mal Rowe

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, dropcentre 292

-------- Forwarded Message --------

From:	'Roderick Smith' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>

680213Tu - Stanley St, South Brisbane (Qld) - dropcentre tram 292 to Mt Gravatt.  Roderick Smith.

Roderick

7001 and 7002

The Department of Transport in Victoria has published some pics of the
two G class trams, including the attached pic showing 7001 and 7002 at
Maidstone, outside the workshop.

Mal Rowe - looking forward to seeing one near me.

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, FM 420

-------- Forwarded Message --------

From:	'Roderick Smith' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>

680213Tu - Stanley St, South Brisbane - four-motor 420 to Balmoral.  Roderick Smith.
This and the preceding photo are in the section where the outbound and inbound tracks are separated by a block.

Roderick

Re: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Triple trams

🤣

Sent from my iPhone

On 1 Jan 2026, at 10:57 am, Mal Rowe <mal.rowe@gmail.com> wrote:

On 01/01/2026 10:49, Mal Rowe wrote:

... here's my pic of trams three abreast at Moonee Ponds Junction.

I meant to say that the pic shows mt New Year's resolution beside 2083.

Not much of a change from other years!

For balance, here's another pic with an offer of a New Year resolution at bottom left for some list members - you know who you are!

Mal Rowe - who managed to get his own view in the pic above the alternative 😉

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<157 AbbotsfordSt_31Jan2023.JPG>

Re: Triple trams

On 01/01/2026 10:49, Mal Rowe wrote:
> ... here's my pic of trams three abreast at Moonee Ponds Junction.
>
I meant to say that the pic shows mt New Year's resolution beside 2083.

Not much of a change from other years!

For balance, here's another pic with an offer of a New Year resolution
at bottom left for some list members - you know who you are!

Mal Rowe - who managed to get his own view in the pic above the
alternative 😉

Triple trams

Happy New Year to all list members!

To mark the occasion, here's my pic of trams three abreast at Moonee
Ponds Junction.

It's not a hard shot to achieve with regular services and traffic light
sequences that allow trafiic in both directions when the light sequence
is right, but it is quite impressive.

Mal Rowe - expecting to get the same shot with a G class tram some time
this year.