We spin the wheel again to see where the location for “Around the World in Trams” will be this time around and we are off to Australia as its Bendigo.
Bendigo Tramways state on their website that they “operate the best working collection of heritage trams in the world”. They currently have 45 trams in their fleet of which 15 operate their Vintage Talking Tram Service. This tram tour gives you the chance to learn all about the history of Bendigo as well as to see the city’s key landmarks and monuments. It’s a hop-on, hop-off tour of the local area which runs to a regular timetable (trams every half an hour between 1000 and 1230 and then from 1330 to 1600) with adult day tickets costing $15.
One of the trams in the fleet is Bendigo 7 which we see in the below image. Originally built in 1915 by the Meadowbank Manufacturing Company in Sydney for the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust as no. 76, the tram is a J class. It was sold on to the Electric Company of Victoria during the 1930s and was then used on Ballarat Tramways as 19. It finally made its way to Bendigo in 1960 and that it is when it became no. 7, running until 1972. After restoration is was back in service in December 2017. This restoration was possible thanks to a crowdfunding campaign which raised over $35,000.
The tram approaching Charing Cross stop from the direction of Deborah Mine. Its by the Alexander Fountain and the Cenotaph.
Photograph by David Maxwell, 12th February 2020