Tramway Exhibition in Sydney

[marknewton]

Yesterday the Museum of Sydney launched an exhibition chronicling the history of the Sydney tramway system. The exhibition features artifacts, uniforms, memorabilia and photographs drawn from a variety of sources, mainly the Sydney Tramway Museum and the personal collections of various STM members. As part of the launch, the STM loaned a restored cable tram trailer for display in the museum courtyard. A number of STM members were invited to attend the launch in period Sydney tramway uniforms, myself included. The exhibition launch attracted a fair bit of media coverage, and should help promote the STM and our activities.

 

http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/highlights/exhibitions/sydney_by_tram

 

Attached are some images from the launch - that's me in the middle with my mates Ben(L) and Dave ®.

 

 

I'm posting this in case any JNS Forum members in Sydney are thinking about visiting the exhibition - if they do I think they'll be impressed.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[Bernard]

Mark - This must be very exciting for you to be apart of this event, congratulations!! That is a beautiful tram. Was it a busy day for you and is there a time limit on how long the exhibition is going to run?

[marknewton]

Thanks Bernard, it was indeed an exciting day. And thanks for your kind words about No.23. It looks pretty flash now, but you should have seen the state it was in when we started restoring it!  :P The next part of the project is to restore its matching grip, or dummy car.

 

We were kept busy all day, doing interviews, answering visitor's questions, and giving short talks on various aspects of our tramway history. The thing that seemed to surprise most people was when they saw No.23, and learned that Sydney had cable trams. Most assumed that cable trams/cars are exclusive to San Fransisco.

 

The exhibition runs until October 18, so it has a while to go. I' m hoping it's as successful as their last exhibition, which was about the flying boat service between Sydney and Lord Howe Island. This was such a popular show it's season was extended, and attracted record numbers of visitors.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[ChrisV]

Were there some protesters who were marching for the light rail service extension ? I saw that on the news with that tram in the background!

Finally good to see some protesters for a good cause...

 

Reminded me of when they protested against the monorail back in the 1980's - big deal that did! Its still there! :D

 

that tram looks brilliant. Do they run it down at Loftus to Royal National Park ?

[CaptOblivious]

Really amazing. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see it while in Oz this summer!

[marknewton]

Yes, Chris, there were protesters there, but they got on the wrong side of me early on in the day, so I didn't have anything to do with them. While their cause is something I fully support, I don't care for people who show no respect for the results of other people's hard work.

 

Anyway, thanks for the compliment about No.23. It isn't used in traffic yet, as its not quite finished. It still needs some work to the truck, wheels and brakes. We intend to run it coupled with the our two C cars, and recreate the typical consist of the Quay-Railway shuttles, known as "two rooms and a kitchen". When that day comes, we'll make a big event out of it, much as we did recently with the return to service of the J class car No.675, after 70 odd years as a garden shed in Punchbowl.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

Really amazing. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see it while in Oz this summer!

 

Sounds good! When are you planning on being here?

[Bernard]

Mark - How many people are working on restoring the old No.23 Tram?

[CaptOblivious]

Really amazing. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see it while in Oz this summer!

 

Sounds good! When are you planning on being here?

 

I'll be on Brisbane for the entire month of July. Currently working out plans for a trip down to Sydney.

[alpineaustralia]

Mark

We will be going to see the exhibition. By the way, I literally work 30 sec walk from the Museum of Sydney where your photo was taken across the road from the same block!

Will you be there at various times during the exhibition?

[scott]

That's very nice work, Mark--congratulations on the exhibit!

[marknewton]

Mark - How many people are working on restoring the old No.23 Tram?

 

All up, there have been about a dozen people involved. We have a number of members with specialist skills in the different areas required, such as carbuilders, glaziers, painters, etc, so at different times during the restoration there have been specific people working on it.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

I'll be on Brisbane for the entire month of July. Currently working out plans for a trip down to Sydney.

 

Great! Hopefully we can arrange to meet up, and I can do the tour guide thing for you!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

We will be going to see the exhibition. By the way, I literally work 30 sec walk from the Museum of Sydney where your photo was taken across the road from the same block!

Will you be there at various times during the exhibition?

 

Yes, I will. There are a number of "floor talks" being given by STM members as part of the exhibition. I intend to be there for those that are being given by my mates Ben and Dave, and mine is booked for Sunday the 31st of May. So again, I hope we can meet up on one of those dates. In the meantime, if you do visit, enjoy!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

That's very nice work, Mark--congratulations on the exhibit!

 

Thanks, Scott - glad you like it!

 

All the best,

 

Mark.