Thanks for sharing! I know it is wishful thinking these days in Sydney's metropolis environment and suburbia, but I would like and hope if the city would return to using trams across the city. Or at least the center, like in Melbourne. It gives an extra sentimentel and romantic feeling.
Yes in making this series I am realising how many bus routes still follow the old tram routes. Of course on this one its not 100% the same route as the old reservation has been lost... but its close.. the main locations it serves are still the same...
I am enthralled with your tramway videos as they bring back so many memories for me. I rode the tram across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the last day of service at the age of 6 with my grandmother and can remember it to this day. I drove buses in later life along routes that followed closely to the old tram routes, including those in this video. I also worked with the driver of the last tram to run away into Athol Bay, which we saw in this video. He was known to have a lead foot and on this day in 1958 he was approaching Athol Wharf Terminus after a rain shower and the track was littered with leaves and when he tried to slow the tram, there wasn't sufficient traction to stop and he managed to jump clear before the tram entered the water. With the closure of the tram system, he was transferred to the buses to finish another 30 years in government transport services. Thanks again for the wonderful memories. Will you be covering the western suburbs trams, particularly the Darling Street tram dummy at Balmain, if you haven't done so already.
Thanks AJ, what great memories! thanks for sharing.And fantastic your Granny took the initiative to make sure you were part of that. My mum made us go on the opening day of the Eastern Suburbs Railway. I am sure I was hating the idea at the time... but have relished that memory for so many years... and so good to hear your story of your mate who literally experienced a run away tram that is now for many only folklore in Sydney's history.
Hi Marty, Thanks for another excellent video. I remember my dad taking me for rides on the North Shore trams and especially on the Balmoral line. I was only 6 years old when the North Shore trams were closed down. I especially enjoyed the tram trip from Wynyard station (platforms 1 and 2) through the tunnel and across the bridge to Milson's Point tram station. I also remember a tram stop immediately outside of the tunnel on the south side of the bridge, before the tram headed across the bridge. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.
Wow, great video. I grew up on the Northern Beaches but was completely unaware of the Balmoral tram line. I imagine that it would have been a grand day out for children to travel from the city on the ferry, then tram then to the beach or the zoo. Thanks for going to the trouble of walking and driving the tram routes and videoing all of that memorabilia.🚃👍
yes same here. That is why I am making these videos as I am amazed I hadn't known much about Sydney's trams at all - and I was a person who was casually interested in them since a kid... yes imagine what a tourist attraction a tram ride would be to Balmoral Beach today. it would be on the Top 10 things to do in Sydney for visitors.
I discovered the remainder of Balmoral tram cutting when I was a child in the 70s. The ground was very rocky and covered with coreopsis flowers. I followed it down to the beach, where it came out almost opposite Balmoral Baths. From the beach end, the entrance was almost invisible, hidden by bushes. Trams are the best form of urban transport and it's a pity Sydney got rid of theirs.
I clearly remember travelling by train from Belmore to the City where , at that time, trains from Bankstown line terminated at Wynyard as there was no Circular Quay railway station or City Circle. On alighting at Wynyard you walked up the pedestrian ramp to George Street, boarded a tram to Circular Quay ferry wharves. Then by ferry to Athol boarding tram for a very scenic tram ride to Balmoral Beach. This was in very early 1950's when I was 9-12 years old. Thanks for your report. 🦘🌴
Thanks for the share. Great memories. Same here, although only though my grandparents sharing the multiple public transport transfers they had to make to get anywhere in Sydney in those days.. especially on days like Christmas day.. they could spend literally all day on trams, trains and ferries (especially those on the northern beaches)
The line’s crowning feature was the section between King Max Street and Balmoral Beach. I’ve visited the large cutting not far from the terminus. Truly amazing.
I was at high school from 1956-60 and remember in the first few years those of us who opted for swimming as their summer sport on Wednesday afternoons travelling by tram to and from Balmoral Baths. The trip was fun - much more so than the buses that replaced the trams. I can't recall how we got from school at North Sydney to to Military Road where I think we commenced the tram part of the journey. As a motorist in later years, before trams disappeared entirely, the downside was having to keep a sharp lookout for those boarding or alighting trams in the middle of the street, and occasionally getting a car tyre temporarily suck in the tram tracks.
Hi WW, thanks for sharing the memories. Yes having walked down the former tram alignment to Balmoral - I can tell it would have been a spectacular ride. If it had survived to today - imagine the tourist attraction it would be.
Thanks for a great video. You mention Victoria Avenue terminus in Chatswood. Yes the terminus was in Victoria Avenue, almost at the railway Station, and this was used by the trams on the cross country run to Balmoral. However on the North Sydney destination roll apart from Chatswood Station there was another available destination of Victoria Avenue. To the best of my recollection, this was only used for a few services to/from Wynyard at peak hours. Such trams would terminate in Victoria Avenue just around the corner from Penshurst Street, where there was a crossover. That was about a mile away from the Station. My late father who used this line daily to go to and from work told me one day that he came home on a tram which travelled the wrong side of the road from here to Chatswood station, when the usual side was blocked by a broken down truck. Can't imagine that happening under today's traffic conditions.
Thanks for the great memories. yes can you imagine a bus travelling for miles on the wrong side of the road today.. there would be calls for a Royal Commission :). Yes that Chatswood line was one of those good cross city lines that didn't have generally the same passengers from end to end - as it sort of had busy ends at both peak hours. As I would assume if you lived around Chatswood it would be easier to catch the tram and then train to work and reverse in peak.. but if you lived at say Willoughby it may have been faster just to get the tram to and from the city.
Made a mistake! - line closed in 1958. Just a few comments: departures from Athol Wharf were Balmoral Beach, Taronga Park Zoo Top Gate and, in peak times, King Max Street. There were no services to Chatswood from Athol Wharf. I can't be certain but, as I recollect, the only trams to run between Balmoral Beach and Wynyard were either before or after the ferry connection could be made. As I needed to travel daily between Wynyard and Glenfield to get to school I would have been delighted to get a tram home from Wynyard.
Thanks Chris for the memories. I would have loved to have travelled on that tram line. I made this a while back I recall mentioning the line closed in 1958. I read at the time that while most services had stopped before then, it was still running holiday services up until the end. But I was not born for a few decades later :) so I am sure I got that wrong. Thanks. Thanks also on the reference of Athol to Chatswood. I just rewatched the video and yes at 7.08 I say Athol went to Chatswood. I took that from David Keenan's book on maps of the services. I read the map from 1926 where it looked liked they did.. but now reading the book again and yes for most of the history they didn't. Only went Chatswood to Zoo top gates. Thanks for the correction.
Thank you for this tram history of the Balmoral service. I’ve been enjoy all of these though sadly the trams had gone long bet I was born. Both my mother and grandfather grew up at Mosman, I always thought that the tram line went up/down Awaba street- was this ever the case?
Thanks for the question. I believe Awaba St was a consideration when they were considering how to build the line but the steep grade of the street meant it wasn't possible to operate a tram on it.
You drove over some of the concrete and cracked bitumen (due to rails underneath) in Gordon St Mosman without commenting that the track is still there.
A great story but there are some errors that need to be corrected. I lived at 4 Almora Street and regularly used the tram from 1947 until 1960. The Terminus was on The Esplanade opposite Hunter Park - between Almora Street and Hunter Road; it did not terminate at Mandolong Road. Next the route as described is incorrect. The route went up from the cutting heading south west and then curved to the south east crossing Plunkett Road and then around the bend to Beaconsfield Road for a short distance before cutting through its own shortcut (not Wolseley Road) to Gordon Street and then up to Middle Head Road. I notice that Google maps incorrectly show the route. Hope this helps! Chris
Thanks Chris. Appreciate the detail.I so wish they had kept this line - what a tourist attraction it would have been. I walked the route to make the video and tried to best match it to what was on Google Maps today (i wish I had kept my old Gregory's haha ). Sorry I got those details wrong. And re termination of the line. i was going off the street directory printed at the end of the David Keenan's book and it was hard to tell exactly where it ended.. Thanks for the corrections, I may make another video on this - so good to have these facts for next time.
Just one amendment to 4:48 - the line didn't actually run along Wolseley Road. Going downhill from Gordon Street it cut diagonally across the block to reach Beaconsfield Street at a point about halfway between Wolseley Street and Bayview Avenue. The line's right turn out of Gordon Street at it's intersection with Wolseley Street can still be clearly made out by the concrete edging of either side of the bitumen of where the tracks were before being lifted. The galahs and drongos of the NSW Department of Transport sold off the right of way for housing instead of preserving it so that it would be difficult (they thought) to eventually restore the trams. They obviously didn't know about the power state governments have to resume properties if needed for transport development!
Thanks for the additional information. Really appreciate it. For the video we did go there and try and match the maps we had and the current street layout. yes was cool to see that we could still see where the tram tracks would have gone in the road. I made this video earlier this year, so can't quite remember now exactly all of it. I would like to make one on the Georges Height's line one day.. so can include the update then. thanks again.
![1920s - A Trip Through Australia in Color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/1.gif)
live in Mosman for 25 yrs & remember all this luv these stories
Thanks for sharing! I know it is wishful thinking these days in Sydney's metropolis environment and suburbia, but I would like and hope if the city would return to using trams across the city. Or at least the center, like in Melbourne. It gives an extra sentimentel and romantic feeling.
Very interesting. Thankyou! The 257 bus almost follows the same route as the old tram to Chatswood.
Yes in making this series I am realising how many bus routes still follow the old tram routes. Of course on this one its not 100% the same route as the old reservation has been lost... but its close.. the main locations it serves are still the same...
I am enthralled with your tramway videos as they bring back so many memories for me. I rode the tram across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the last day of service at the age of 6 with my grandmother and can remember it to this day. I drove buses in later life along routes that followed closely to the old tram routes, including those in this video. I also worked with the driver of the last tram to run away into Athol Bay, which we saw in this video. He was known to have a lead foot and on this day in 1958 he was approaching Athol Wharf Terminus after a rain shower and the track was littered with leaves and when he tried to slow the tram, there wasn't sufficient traction to stop and he managed to jump clear before the tram entered the water. With the closure of the tram system, he was transferred to the buses to finish another 30 years in government transport services. Thanks again for the wonderful memories. Will you be covering the western suburbs trams, particularly the Darling Street tram dummy at Balmain, if you haven't done so already.
Thanks AJ, what great memories! thanks for sharing.And fantastic your Granny took the initiative to make sure you were part of that. My mum made us go on the opening day of the Eastern Suburbs Railway. I am sure I was hating the idea at the time... but have relished that memory for so many years... and so good to hear your story of your mate who literally experienced a run away tram that is now for many only folklore in Sydney's history.
Hi Marty, Thanks for another excellent video. I remember my dad taking me for rides on the North Shore trams and especially on the Balmoral line. I was only 6 years old when the North Shore trams were closed down. I especially enjoyed the tram trip from Wynyard station (platforms 1 and 2) through the tunnel and across the bridge to Milson's Point tram station. I also remember a tram stop immediately outside of the tunnel on the south side of the bridge, before the tram headed across the bridge. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.
Wow, great video. I grew up on the Northern Beaches but was completely unaware of the Balmoral tram line. I imagine that it would have been a grand day out for children to travel from the city on the ferry, then tram then to the beach or the zoo. Thanks for going to the trouble of walking and driving the tram routes and videoing all of that memorabilia.🚃👍
yes same here. That is why I am making these videos as I am amazed I hadn't known much about Sydney's trams at all - and I was a person who was casually interested in them since a kid... yes imagine what a tourist attraction a tram ride would be to Balmoral Beach today. it would be on the Top 10 things to do in Sydney for visitors.
I discovered the remainder of Balmoral tram cutting when I was a child in the 70s. The ground was very rocky and covered with coreopsis flowers. I followed it down to the beach, where it came out almost opposite Balmoral Baths. From the beach end, the entrance was almost invisible, hidden by bushes. Trams are the best form of urban transport and it's a pity Sydney got rid of theirs.
I clearly remember travelling by train from Belmore to the City where , at that time, trains from Bankstown line terminated at Wynyard as there was no Circular Quay railway station or City Circle. On alighting at Wynyard you walked up the pedestrian ramp to George Street, boarded a tram to Circular Quay ferry wharves. Then by ferry to Athol boarding tram for a very scenic tram ride to Balmoral Beach. This was in very early 1950's when I was 9-12 years old. Thanks for your report. 🦘🌴
Thanks for the share. Great memories. Same here, although only though my grandparents sharing the multiple public transport transfers they had to make to get anywhere in Sydney in those days.. especially on days like Christmas day.. they could spend literally all day on trams, trains and ferries (especially those on the northern beaches)
The line’s crowning feature was the section between King Max Street and Balmoral Beach. I’ve visited the large cutting not far from the terminus. Truly amazing.
What a tourist attraction this would have been today if it had still been running.
One of my all time favourite lines, it's just such a picturesque journey... until you get "pristine views of the harbour"
I was at high school from 1956-60 and remember in the first few years those of us who opted for swimming as their summer sport on Wednesday afternoons travelling by tram to and from Balmoral Baths. The trip was fun - much more so than the buses that replaced the trams. I can't recall how we got from school at North Sydney to to Military Road where I think we commenced the tram part of the journey. As a motorist in later years, before trams disappeared entirely, the downside was having to keep a sharp lookout for those boarding or alighting trams in the middle of the street, and occasionally getting a car tyre temporarily suck in the tram tracks.
Hi WW, thanks for sharing the memories. Yes having walked down the former tram alignment to Balmoral - I can tell it would have been a spectacular ride. If it had survived to today - imagine the tourist attraction it would be.
Thanks for a great video. You mention Victoria Avenue terminus in Chatswood. Yes the terminus was in Victoria Avenue, almost at the railway Station, and this was used by the trams on the cross country run to Balmoral. However on the North Sydney destination roll apart from Chatswood Station there was another available destination of Victoria Avenue. To the best of my recollection, this was only used for a few services to/from Wynyard at peak hours. Such trams would terminate in Victoria Avenue just around the corner from Penshurst Street, where there was a crossover. That was about a mile away from the Station. My late father who used this line daily to go to and from work told me one day that he came home on a tram which travelled the wrong side of the road from here to Chatswood station, when the usual side was blocked by a broken down truck. Can't imagine that happening under today's traffic conditions.
Thanks for the great memories. yes can you imagine a bus travelling for miles on the wrong side of the road today.. there would be calls for a Royal Commission :).
Yes that Chatswood line was one of those good cross city lines that didn't have generally the same passengers from end to end - as it sort of had busy ends at both peak hours. As I would assume if you lived around Chatswood it would be easier to catch the tram and then train to work and reverse in peak.. but if you lived at say Willoughby it may have been faster just to get the tram to and from the city.
Made a mistake! - line closed in 1958. Just a few comments: departures from Athol Wharf were Balmoral Beach, Taronga Park Zoo Top Gate and, in peak times, King Max Street. There were no services to Chatswood from Athol Wharf. I can't be certain but, as I recollect, the only trams to run between Balmoral Beach and Wynyard were either before or after the ferry connection could be made. As I needed to travel daily between Wynyard and Glenfield to get to school I would have been delighted to get a tram home from Wynyard.
Thanks Chris for the memories. I would have loved to have travelled on that tram line. I made this a while back I recall mentioning the line closed in 1958. I read at the time that while most services had stopped before then, it was still running holiday services up until the end. But I was not born for a few decades later :) so I am sure I got that wrong. Thanks.
Thanks also on the reference of Athol to Chatswood. I just rewatched the video and yes at 7.08 I say Athol went to Chatswood. I took that from David Keenan's book on maps of the services. I read the map from 1926 where it looked liked they did.. but now reading the book again and yes for most of the history they didn't. Only went Chatswood to Zoo top gates. Thanks for the correction.
Thank you for this tram history of the Balmoral service. I’ve been enjoy all of these though sadly the trams had gone long bet I was born. Both my mother and grandfather grew up at Mosman, I always thought that the tram line went up/down Awaba street- was this ever the case?
Thanks for the question. I believe Awaba St was a consideration when they were considering how to build the line but the steep grade of the street meant it wasn't possible to operate a tram on it.
You drove over some of the concrete and cracked bitumen (due to rails underneath) in Gordon St Mosman without commenting that the track is still there.
Explains why King Max Street is so wide!
A great story but there are some errors that need to be corrected. I lived at 4 Almora Street and regularly used the tram from 1947 until 1960. The Terminus was on The Esplanade opposite Hunter Park - between Almora Street and Hunter Road; it did not terminate at Mandolong Road. Next the route as described is incorrect. The route went up from the cutting heading south west and then curved to the south east crossing Plunkett Road and then around the bend to Beaconsfield Road for a short distance before cutting through its own shortcut (not Wolseley Road) to Gordon Street and then up to Middle Head Road. I notice that Google maps incorrectly show the route. Hope this helps! Chris
Thanks Chris. Appreciate the detail.I so wish they had kept this line - what a tourist attraction it would have been.
I walked the route to make the video and tried to best match it to what was on Google Maps today (i wish I had kept my old Gregory's haha ). Sorry I got those details wrong. And re termination of the line. i was going off the street directory printed at the end of the David Keenan's book and it was hard to tell exactly where it ended.. Thanks for the corrections, I may make another video on this - so good to have these facts for next time.
Just one amendment to 4:48 - the line didn't actually run along Wolseley Road. Going downhill from Gordon Street it cut diagonally across the block to reach Beaconsfield Street at a point about halfway between Wolseley Street and Bayview Avenue. The line's right turn out of Gordon Street at it's intersection with Wolseley Street can still be clearly made out by the concrete edging of either side of the bitumen of where the tracks were before being lifted.
The galahs and drongos of the NSW Department of Transport sold off the right of way for housing instead of preserving it so that it would be difficult (they thought) to eventually restore the trams. They obviously didn't know about the power state governments have to resume properties if needed for transport development!
Thanks for the additional information. Really appreciate it. For the video we did go there and try and match the maps we had and the current street layout. yes was cool to see that we could still see where the tram tracks would have gone in the road. I made this video earlier this year, so can't quite remember now exactly all of it. I would like to make one on the Georges Height's line one day.. so can include the update then. thanks again.
Thanks for all your research, RUclips in all their wisdom have just recommended your chanel to me and I've gladly subscribed.
We don't want to get on the wrong side of AI... so i also say 'thanks Google AI' for the recco... Great work. :)
Such a great job
Great vid i really enjoyed that, i love Bamoral such a nice part of Sydney
Thanks for watching. Imagine the tourist attraction the tram ride would be today.
3' Lawry Plunkett Reserve
Well done cheers bob.👍👍👍👍👏🍺