Blog
Fleet details:
Service Fleet:
We currently have 14 trams in our service fleet:
| Tram No. 17 Tram No. 19 Tram No. 21 Tram No. 25 |
Tram No. 30 Tram No. 44 Tram No. 45 Tram No. 84 |
Tram No. 369 Tram No.610 Tram No. 808 Tram No. 880 |
Tram No. 918 Tram No. 976 |
To view more historical and technical details about the trams listed above please click here
Other trams:
To view historical and technical details about the other trams in the Bendigo fleet that aren’t currently in service please click here. These trams are either in storage, on static display, awaiting restoration or are in the process of being restored. Some are also on loan or lease to other tramways.
To view which electric trams are (or have been) on register at the Bendigo Tramways over the years, please click here
Pictured left: Bendigo hosts the Council of Tramways Museums of Australasia Conference in 1994.
For many years, there has been some conjecture among Australian tramway enthusiasts regarding the building dates of MESC Geelong Birneys #s 14 and 15. Recently, noted Birney tram researcher and author of "The Birney Car" (view an on-line copy http://streetcars.telcen.com/) - Harold E Cox - was able to verify the building dates of these trams.
Mr Cox provided the following commentary regarding these trams:
"The dates given on the list in the Birney book are the promised delivery dates as listed in the Company order book. For order 21863, Brill showed an order date of 2 August 1923 and a promised delivery date of 31 December 1923, which was the date that I listed. For the most part, Brill met their dates. For overseas shipments, however, this appears to have indicated when the cars left the Brill shop, not when they arrived at their new home. While this would not be a significant problem for domestic orders, a considerable amount of time would elapse while a ship found its way from Philadelphia to New Zealand. Brill would not let an order for cars lie around for five months before completing it. Delays of this length took place only during World War I. By 1923, they were meeting their deadlines pretty consistently. It is my considered opinion, therefore, that the cars were finished on time during 1923 and shipped at the end of the year, arriving in Australia in 1924."
Mr Cox's research also included the other Bendigo Birney trams - now Bendigo #s 28, 30 and 302 and AETM, Adelaide #303.
In response to a query regarding the order and completion dates of these trams he says; "Brill order 22154 was purchased through Noyes Brothers for the Adelaide Tramway Company. The order was placed on 22 December 1924 and the promised delivery date (probably at the Philadelphia docks) was 31 March 1925."
To read more about how the Birney Trams got their name click here
De-accessioned trams are trams that were part of the Bendigo Fleet, but have now been sold or disposed of from the fleet. To view details of Bendigo’s de-accessioned trams click here
Preserved trams are trams that were once part of the Bendigo fleet, but are now preserved at other museums or tramways in Australia. To view details of Bendigo’s preserved trams click here
Rescued trams are trams that were once part of the Bendigo fleet, that have been found/located elsewhere with a view to preserving them in the future. To view details of Bendigo’s preserved trams click here