Re: Melbourne Aus 80th anniversary of suburban electrification

[David McLoughlin <davemcl@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz>]

John Wayman wrote:

> The St Kilda to Brighton Electric Street Railway was a railway and hence
> must be credited as Victoria's first electric railway, even though the VR
> often referred to it in Timetables and on tickets as a tramway.

What pedantic nonsense.

The St Kilda to Brighton tramway was a tram, was a tram, was a tram,
using standard electric tramcars running wholly on street tracks down
the middle of the roads, collecting their motive power from overhead
wires via tolleypoles. Some of the trams were even converted to standard
gauge on the line's closure and transferred to the MMTB system where
they ran on Route 82 well into the 1980s.

The only way you can claim this line was a "railway" is to use the North
American terminology and call it a "street railway." A street railway in
North America used/uses "streetcars" which is Americaspeak for "tram."

In any event, the first electric tram/street railway in Melbourne, was
the Box Hill-Doncaster line opened in 1889, though it didn't last long,
closing in 1896.

As others have noted, the first permanent electric tram/street railway
line was from Flemington Bridge to Essendon, opened in 1906 IIRC. Its
route is still the backbone of the No 59 Airport West tram and in just
seven years time will celebrate 100 years of continuous electric tram
service in Melbourne. I hope it will be duly commemorated.

The first electric train line in Melbourne was indeed the one
celebrating its 80th birthday this month, and it indeed was a train,
using railway carriages on totally segregated railway track. 

David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand