Bendigo Tramways

History

Updated: 23 February 2008

Since June 1890, trams have been operating in Bendigo. The first tramway, operated by battery trams, ran from the Railway Station located at the eastern end of Mitchell Street through the city and on to the nearby Borough of Eaglehawk, a distance of four miles.

It soon became apparent that the technology employed to power the trams was inadequate for the hilly terrain of Bendigo. Trams were able to make the journey to Eaglehawk, but invariably were stranded somewhere along the track on their return, because the batteries had become flat. On such occasions, the system reverted to a horse-drawn tramway, with any near-by horse being commandeered to rescue the tram and its passengers and take them back to Bendigo. The trams then returned to the depot in Mollison Street to have their flat batteries replaced with newly charged batteries.

The battery tramway company lasted a mere 13 months at the end of which the Sandhurst and Eaglehawk Tramway Company went into voluntary liquidation and its assets were purchased by the newly formed Bendigo Tramway Company Limited.

The new company elected to operate the tramway with steam trams and five steam tram motors were ordered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States of America. These trams were employed to haul bogie trailers which had been rebuilt from the battery trams by the Bendigo Rolling Stock Company. The Steam Tramway travelled over the same route as the former battery tramway.

Steam tram services commenced in February of 1892 and soon proved to be a reliable and safe means of transport for the populace of Bendigo and Eaglehawk. With the onset of the depression of the 1890s, the company soon felt the effects through decreased passenger numbers.

The steam tramway was put up for sale in 1896/7; as there were no offers the company decided it was best to keep the service running as it would be more saleable as a going concern.

In 1899 an English Company, the British Insulated Wire Company, bought out the Bendigo Tramway Company and was incorporated as the Electric Supply Company of Victoria.

The new company had a grand scheme which included the purchase of the Bendigo Tramway Company Limited, a 30 year franchise to install and operate electric trams using the overhead wire system, an extensive network of tracks linking the centre of Bendigo with Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat, Quarry Hill, White Hills and Eaglehawk.

Because the infrastructure of the Bendigo Tramway Company was inadequate, land was purchased in Arnold Street and building started in 1901 on a generating plant, sub-station, workshop, stores, a tram depot and offices.

By 1903, all was in readiness for the introduction of electric trams to Bendigo, and although the lines did not extend to Kangaroo Flat and White Hills as planned, the tramway was officially opened on 21st April 1903. Unlike those of its predecessor, the Electric Supply Company trams were a success from the very beginning and provided a cheap means of transport for Bendigo citizens until the tramway was taken over by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.

At the end of World War I the Victorian Government constituted the new semi-government instrumentality the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. The SEC was to take over all privately owned power generating companies in Victoria and operate as a state owned monopoly. Although keen to acquire the electricity generating side of the Electric Supply Company's operations, the SEC was not particularly keen to accept responsibility of the tramways system but it was to become an unavoidable part of the deal.

Because it still had a few years before its franchise was due to expire, the Electric Supply Company continued to operate the tramway under SEC supervision until 1934. By this stage, the rolling stock and equipment were 30 years old and the tracks were in poor repair. An immediate program of rehabilitation was put into action which included: track reconstruction, overhead rewiring and the upgrade of workshop equipment.

Before the take over, the ESCV had begun to replace and augment its dilapidated rolling stock. Instead of purchasing new trams, second hand trams were obtained from Melbourne, with the first of these being the redundant California Combination trams and by 1936, 14 of these trams had arrived in Bendigo.

Bendigo settled into its new service with little difficulty. The improved equipment, updated rolling stock and better tracks meant a faster and more reliable service. The outbreak of World War II was to prove a testing time: passenger numbers increased and shortages in manpower and materials were to cause difficulties. The Government Ordnance factory was built and the tracks were extended form Lake Weeroona to North Bendigo to provide transport for hundreds of workers it employed.

Trams travelled in a north-south and east-west direction on the Bendigo Tramways. There were no intermediate destinations on the Golden Square to Lake Weeroona/North Bendigo route. Most of the other destinations were intermediate destinations on the Eaglehawk to Quarry Hill line. Charing Cross was the City terminus at which all routes met.

At the end of World War II, Bendigo received an influx of maximum traction bogie trams from the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board and the first of the famous Birney trams arrived from Geelong in 1947. By this time however, the tramways were feeling the effects of neglect because of the wartime economy measures then in place. Rolling stock and infrastructure were worn and in need of repair. As well, automobiles were beginning to make an even greater impact and so the tramways began to lose even larger amounts of revenue as the next 2 decades progressed.

Keen to divest itself of the financial burden of operating a costly tramway, the SEC made several attempts at closing the tramways and handing the urban passenger services over to private bus operators. Ultimately, the SEC met with success when the Victorian Parliament granted the application for abandonment of the tramways at Bendigo in July of 1970. The first line to cease operation was the Golden Square to North Bendigo route in March 1972, while the remaining route - the Eaglehawk to Quarry Hill line - ceased operations on Sunday 16th April 1972.

The Bendigo Trust was established in 1970 as the result of a general concern in the community that the legacy of the past was being squandered. With the tramways system under threat and public opinion running high, a small study group was set up by The Bendigo Trust to examine the possibilities of retaining the trams as a tourist attraction. In July 1971, the Trust presented a 22 page submission to the Bendigo City Council asking for the retention of the track and overhead from High Street (at Violet Street) to the Emu Point (North Bendigo) terminus plus access from McCrae Street to the Arnold Street Depot; the use of the tram sheds for storage, display and maintenance and the existing converter station; all the trams, maintenance equipment, uniforms, ticket punches, cash bags and historical records. In August the Bendigo City Council gave its positive backing.

Even though the trams had stopped running on 16th April 1972, The Bendigo Trust was determined to keep all the trams which operated in Bendigo. It pointed out that if it was to retain the whole fleet, and in particular the rare Birney trams, Bendigo would have a tramway which was unique in the world, it would be kept as an operating service to carry people on a tour through the city. A proper tramway, not just a joyride on some remote section of track.

The Trust's persistence was finally rewarded and on 11th September 1972 the Victorian Cabinet announced that it had approved a two year trial for the tourist tramway. Four trams were to run over eight kilometres of track, from Central Deborah Gold Mine to the Joss House at the Emu Point terminus. On 9th December 1972 the Premier of Victoria, Mr Dick Hamer, broke a bottle of Bendigo district red wine over the front bumper of Birney #30 and launched the Bendigo Vintage Talking Tram service.

After more than 3 decades of operation the Bendigo Vintage Talking Trams are fast approaching the 2 millionth passenger mark, solid proof of the universal interest in trams and the worth of this type of historic preservation.

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