The discovery of Gold in Western Australia in the late 1880s lead to a quadrupling of the states population so as Perth swelled, so did the need for public transport. I was surprised the first time I saw Osborne Park received a tramline as I assumed there was next to nothing out there in 1900. Perths first electric tram network was inaugurated in 1899. It linked Perths central business district with many of its inner suburbs, especially on the north side of the Swan River, but was wound down from 1949, and closed in 1958. It had a maximum street mileage of over 50 km , in the 1930s. Steel tracks were laid fanning out from the Carbarn at East Perth where the MTT Depot once stood in our day opposite the WACA, jarrah blocks placed in and around the tracks and wires hung for the trams power source. The network operated under 35 route numbers, on various lines extending from Osborne Park in the north to Como and Welshpool in the south, and from Claremont in the west to Welshpool in the east. Tracks were ripped up and trams sent to holiday destinations like Albany and Yanchep. Some of the trams from the first Perth network are now preserved by the Perth Electric Tramway Society, at its heritage tramway in Whiteman Park, in the outer Perth suburb of Caversham. I highly recommend you take the kids up to Whiteman Park to see the trams for one. There are buses, trains and cars to be seen along with a great wildlife display.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 02:25:56 +0000