Sydney Tramway Festival this weekend 26/27 February.

[marknewton]

Sorry to leave it so late to mention this, but for any members in Sydney who might be interested, we're having a two-day event this weekend (26 and 27 February) at the Sydney Tramway Museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Sydney tramway network. We'll be running trams on both days, including a special night running and photography session on the Saturday until 9.00pm.

 

On the Saturday we'll be running the older cars in the fleet, the more modern cars will run on Sunday, and a coupled set of O class cars will be running on both days. This is the first time in 50 years that two passenger O cars will run together, and your first opportunity to see and ride in O 805, which has been loaned to us by the Powerhouse Museum. 805 was withdrawn around 1958, and has never been operated or on public display since.

 

I'll be there on both days, so if you can make it down to Loftus, come and say g'day!

 

http://www.sydneytramwaymuseum.com.au/

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[keitaro]

I almost came to this but then other stuff came up .. oh well

 

 

How was it?

[marknewton]

Marvellous! 

 

The whole weekend went very well, with big crowds on both days. There were a few minor hiccups with one of the trams, but nothing major. And given that the tram in question was built in 1898, you can forgive it for being a bit temperamental.

 

Personally, I had a great time running the works cars - I was very privileged to have the company of a very senior and experienced ex-Melbourne tram driver for Saturday's running. I learnt more about driving technique from Greg in one trip to Sutherland than I have in years of trying to teach myself. And I had a great team to work with, so I was very happy.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.