Railways and Tramways of Australia

Success to the Rockhampton tramways

 

Tramway services in Rockhampton were officially opened on 5 June 1909.

 

Rockhampton City Council operated a narrow gauge (1067 mm) tramway system from 1909 to 1939. Services were powered by steam trams built by Valentin Purrey in Bordeaux, France. They featured a platform at the front for the driver and a steam engine under the floor. The driver added coke to the engine’s fire by controlling a sloping grate, so there was no need for shovelling. Passenger seating was behind the front platform in crossbench layout. Trams were single ended and balloon loops were used to turn them. A total of nine Purrey steam trams and six trailers were used on the system.

 

For the opening ceremony a decorative arch had been placed in William Street, near the corner of Bolsover Street. A ribbon displayed the words ‘Success to the Rockhampton tramways’. Queensland Premier William Kidston stood at the front of a tram and broke the ribbon to cheers from the crowd of 2000 people. A tram then ran from the city to the Botanic Gardens and return.

 

At the system’s opening, a belt line of around 4.4 kilometres carried trams around the central city area. Other routes extended out to Dawson Road, the Botanic Gardens and the Showgrounds. A new line opened to Wandal in 1922. There were some mechanical difficulties during the first year of the tramway’s operation but following this they were generally successful.

 

During the 1930s the tramway experienced falling passenger numbers, financial losses and deteriorating track. Eventually Rockhampton Council decided to replace the trams with buses; services ceased in June 1939.

 

Today, a restored Purrey steam tram operates from the Archer Park Rail Museum on selected Sundays and holidays. Passengers can still cheer to success on a Rockhampton tram.

 

Bibliography

JW Knowles, ‘The Rockhampton city tramways’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 440, June 1974, pp 121–41.

K McCarthy, ‘Rockhampton tramways: 75 years of council transport’, Trolley Wire, no. 212, June 1984, pp 14–20.

J Nicholson, Rocky’s ‘puffing billies’: a history of Rockhampton steam trams, Judy Nicholson, Rockhampton, 1988.

‘Rockhampton tramways: the opening ceremony’, Morning Bulletin, 7 June 1909 p 7.