Re: Federation Tramway (Canberra)

[ajwright@spam.ozemail.com.au (Ashley Wright)]

On Wed, 21 Jul 1999 00:42:12 +1000, "Michael Walker"
<walker@hotkey.net.au> wrote:



>Well, the residents of Canberra anyway. Don't kid yourself, with all due
>respect there is more of Australia outside the ACT than inside. If it was to
>genuinely represent trams for all Australians, wouldn't a sensible idea be
>to put them somewhere more accessible for more Australians.  Adelaide is
>probably more central and has at least one already existing line to run them
>on (would boost the capacity of the system, provide a novelty which might
>attract customers and is cheaper to start up as no expensive construction
>costs).
>
>Even better might be Melbourne which boasts a lot more people than Canberra
>plus a large existing system to run them on. Even Sydney might have some
>merit being the largest city in Australia and even has a small line to run
>them on (thus the advantages of Adelaide). Melbourne and Sydney are probably
>a lot more easier to get to due to the easy access via various modes of
>transport compared to other cities.
>

  About 100 years ago there was a debate as to where the location of
the country's capital should be located. After much debate a new site
between Canberra and Sydney was choosen, that place being Canberra.
(The city was proclaimed in March 1913, can never remember if it was
the 12th or 14th) and the Parliament opened in 1927. 

  Now we (the national) are building a National Museum, to house
artifcats etc of Australia's short but great history. (As a side line
the museum that is being built will have more emphasis on Aboriginal
culture than the museum planned in the mid 80's). And among the many
things that were planned to be displayed are trams. Even the grandious
original plan of the 80's actually had pictures of trams running
around the site, which was to be larger than what the current site.

  As for the Federation tram plan, the new museum is being built on
Acton Penisular which is where the Canberra Hospital once stood.
Although the site is close to the city it is probably more than
tourists would walk. The plan is (or was) to link the museum with the
city and possibly the War Memorial, as both a practicle transport
medium and living museum. It isn't meant to be a tramway museum as
such, but a part of the National Museum of Australia which is being
built in Canberra. I ask you, would you want a modern museum showing
Australia's modern past showing trams (and other transport types) only
staticly? (The museum has a paddle steamer, and a plane or two also)
After all trams played a large part in the development of most of our
modern cities, and if it were not for the timing Canberra too may have
just had a line or two as well!

PS If it were just a tramway museum then the obvious choice would be
Melbourne, with Sydney a close second.
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 Ashley Wright, Canberra, Australia  ajwright@nospam.ozemail.com.au                                                                           
 www:  http://www.ozemail.com.au/~ajwright   Do not reply to my email. Delete word 'Spam'.                   
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