Re: [Geelong] Free bus, maybe trams

[John Duncan McCallum <mccallum@melbpc.org.au>]

David McLoughlin wrote:
 
 Chris Brownbill wrote:
 
 > Actually there's quite a lot of agitation in Ballarat to re-institute
Trams as a
 > tourist service to connect the railway Station, downtown and
Sovereign Hill.
 
 Now it's a long time since I was in Ballarat. Which former line is
 Sovereign Hill on? Was it Sebastopol or Lydiard St North  (or another
 altogether) ?

Sovereign Hill was on (near) the Mount Pleasant route.
 
 What's happened to the museum tramline around Lake Wendouree?

It is still alive and very well.
 
 > The argument goes that since the highway bypass was opened four or
five years
 > ago the trams would no longer be an impediment to road traffic (which
was one of
 > the stated reasons for their abandonment in 1971).
 
 There wasn't any traffic to speak of in Ballarat in 1971, whether on
the
 roads, or on the trams. They ran so empty that I marvelled they lasted
 so long (though I do recall riding once on a packed single trucker to
 the Gardens, but there was some special tourist event on).
 
 David McLoughlin
 Auckland New Zealand

Since the closure of the Ballarat system, Bridge Street has been
converted to a mall.
Bridge Street is the narrow road through the valley that is the main
shopping precinct.

John McCallum