Official launch in Bendigo of restored Sydney tram R 1808

["Paul Nicholson" <pn1@rocketmail.com>]

Sydney R class corridor tram 1808 was officially returned to service
yesterday (29 December 2000) after restortation in Bendigo.

Chairman of the Sydney Tramway Museum, Howard Clark,  "smashed" a bottle of
local red wine of the bumper of 1808 after a short ceremony at the tram
terminus at the Central Deborah Mine. The ceremony had a "Bondi Beach" theme
with many tram supporters in beach or "lifesaver" attire!

Howard congratulated the expertise of the Bendigo tramway museum staff. and
paid tribute to the hard work done since the tram was moved from New South
Wales in June 2000.

R 1808 has been restored to Sydney condition but is mounted on W2 trucks
from Melbourne.

A special tour followed the official launch. The tour visited the museum at
the tram depot and travelled over the entire museum line. Former Melbourne
SW5 808 and Bendigo 7 (ex Ballarat 19) ran in convoy with R 1808 but it was
the Sydney corridor car that was the star attraction!

A very pleasant touch was that the rostered driver was "Shannon", a
university student who was described as Australia's youngest qualified
female tram driver!

Enthusiasts travelled from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and other locations
for the occasion.

I rode the Coogee line as a school boy while on a family holiday in the
September holidays in 1960 so it was my first ride on a Sydney tram in
public streets for more than 40 years! It was a wonderful experience and
something I will never forget.

Congratulations to Howard Clark and the teams at the Sydney and Bendigo tram
museums.

Further information can be obtained at the tramway pages at
www.swanhillsc.vic.edu.home/trams/

Paul Nicholson
30 December 2000
ICQ 46644092

PS: Wouldn't it be wonderful if 1808 could make a detour to run in Melbourne
on it's way back to the Sydney tram museum!