Published Resources Details
Conference Paper
- Title
- Cable trams in Melbourne - a major nineteenth century engineering achievement
- In
- 19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply
- Imprint
- Engineering Heritage Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2017, pp. 431-453
- ISBN/ISSN
- 9781922107923
- Url
- https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.385266704741264
- Subject
- Chronological Classification 1788-1900 Applied Sciences Engineering and Technology
- Abstract
Melbourne's boom period in the mid 1880s saw the inauguration of a cable tram system that by 1891 had grown to encompass seventeen routes with a combined length of 46 miles (73 km) of double track. In its extent, it was only surpassed by San Francisco's cable tram network. The 43.7 miles (70 km) of double track, constructed by the Melbourne Tramways Trust (representing twelve municipalities), and leased for operation by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company had the distinction of being the largest cable tram network in the world to be operated by a single company. It evolved from the determined vision of Francis Boardman Clapp and was implemented under the guidance of renowned cable tram engineer George Smith Duncan. The last cable tram service closed in 1940. This paper focuses particularly on the engineering aspects of the system and thus on its infrastructure.
- Source
- cohn 2018
Related Published resources
isPartOf
- 19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply edited by Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2017), 536 pp. Details