Cable Tram, St.Kilda Road, St.Kilda, C.1924
This century old shot looks to St Kilda Road at the High Street intersection, a couple of kms south of the city.
A Lonsdale Street bound Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) cable tram - on what was called the Brighton Road Line, is about to depart the stop. The front open car, known as a Dummy, is chock-a-block, as likely is the enclosed trailer (saloon).
If you look carefully, you will note the Gripman (driver) in the middle of the Dummy looking back before 'picking up the cable'.
The service on this line opened in 1888 and ran from Brighton, along Brighton Road, St Kilda Road and Swanston Street. It originally terminated at Flinders Street, but this was extended northwards to Queensberry Street in Carlton a year later. The powerhouse and car barn were on the St Kilda Road, Bromby Street corner.
The northern terminus was pulled back to Lonsdale Street in the year of this shot during conversion to electric traction. This was completed by August 1926.
MELBOURNE’S FIRST CABLE LINE opened in 1885, running along Flinders Street and Bridge Road to the Hawthorn Bridge. By the early 1890s the city had almost 80 kms of track and 1200 cars in operation. This made it one of the largest networks in the world.
The bulk of the system was built by the Melbourne Tramway Trust, which consisted of representatives of the 12 local councils served by the system. The privately owned Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company (MTOC) operated the services for the Trust.
Interestingly, the MTOC was established by an American emigrant Francis Boardman Clapp. 3 decades later his son, Harold Winthrop Clapp was made Chairman of Commissioners of the Victorian Railways.
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) was established by the Government in 1919, with a mandate to unify all services and oversee their conversion to electric traction. This it had completed by 1940