We take another trip to the Ballarat Tramway Museum in Australia for this edition of “Around the World in Trams”.
The Ballarat Tramway Museum is located at the south end of Ballarat Botanical Gardens and houses a collection of trams which once ran in Ballarat. It was formed to preserve the tramways of the city which ran from 1887 to 1971. It also has an operating line which runs alongside Lake Wendouree by the Botanic Gardens and was part of the original city system. Opening times of the museum and running line have varied since Covid hit and you are advised to check with the museum via their website at https://www.btm.org.au for when they are open.
Operating in service on 9th February 2020 was Ballarat 26 of 1916. Originally running for the Hawthorn Tramways Trust it moved on to the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board in 1920 and then from 1930 it was off to Ballarat where it was initially operated by the Electric Supply Company of Victoria. It was restored to California combination configuration between 1978 and 1987 and painted in the original colour scheme when it first arrived in Ballarat.
In this first view we see 26 at the end of the track by the start of the Botanic Gardens.
And then its pictured on the crossover halfway along.
Both Photographs by David Maxwell