Box Hill - Doncaster Electric Tramway (1889 - 1896)
The Box Hill - Doncaster Electric Tramway was the first regular electric tram service in the Southern Hemisphere. It operated from 14 October 1889 until 6 January 1896, between the Box Hill Post Office (located on the corner of Whitehorse Road and Station Street) and a terminus near the intersection of Elgar and Doncaster Roads, Doncaster Hill, Doncaster, with the engine house and tram shed located in Station Street, near Bushy Creek.
The tram was originally an operating exhibit at the Centennial International Exhibition, held at the Exhibition Buildings Melbourne in 1888-1889. It was imported from the Thomson-Houston Company of Boston, and was exhibited by the electrical importer W. H. Masters and Company. At the exhibition, less than twelve months after the technology had been perfected in America, the people of Melbourne, who had enjoyed regular cable tram services from 1885, had the unique opportunity to ride on an electric tram. Nearly seventeen-thousand passengers were carried in a rudimentary open tram along a 300 yard (274 metre) track at threepence per ride. The Thomson-Houston Company of Boston was awarded a First Order of Merit and a Gold Medal for their exhibit.
History:
In 1888, Box Hill was a market town for the surrounding agricultural and fruit-growing areas. It was booming and well serviced: the railway line to Box Hill was opened in 1882, the town had regular letter deliveries, a telegraph service, and large cool stores. Doncaster was a rural fruit-growing area, apart from the hotel and small village on top of the Doncaster Hill. About 1878, the enterprising publican had erected a tower 285 feet (87 metres) high. "From its platforms thousands of visitors had been awestruck by views of immense breadth and depth." A syndicate of landowners and investors in the adjoining rural shires of Nunawading and Bulleen hoped that a tramway between Box Hill and Doncaster would promote sales of land being sub-divided as well as attract tourists to the area.
In October 1888 a consortium of landowners and investors formed the Box Hill and Doncaster Tramway Company Limited, with an authorised capital of fifteen-thousand pounds and with William Meader as its chairman. The company purchased the electric tram, generating dynamo and steam engine from the Exhibition and let a contract for construction of 2.25 miles (3.6 kilometres) of earth and track works. Secondhand railway rails purchased from Tasmania were used for the four foot eight and a half inch (1.435 metre) gauge line.
The hilly route through private property, involved extensive excavation, landfill and a crossing of Bushy and Koonung Creek. The section between Koonung Creek and Doncaster was particularly steep, and much of this earthwork is still evident along the route, now known as 'Tram Road', particularly on the western side.
The American Steam engine, made by the Ball Engine Company, was used to drive the dynamo that generated power for the tramway. The combined engine house and tram shed was erected in Station Street on the south bank of Bushy Creek near Wimmera Street, and water for the steam-generating boiler came from a small dam on Bushy Creek.
The Union Electric Company of Australia Limited was engaged to erect overhead wiring, install the power-generating equipment and operate the line for a period of six months. Soon after the Union Electric Company's contract ceased, troubles began to develop. The steep gradients and curves of the line severely taxed the primitive electric car which constantly broke down under the strain.
In late 1890, the South Doncaster Estate Company Limited, which had allowed the line to be constructed through its land, sought a guarantee that the line would run on a regular basis. When this was refused, the company removed 50 yards of track from its land.
The Tramway Company was experiencing financial difficulties, was involved in disputes over construction of the line, and claims from employees who were pressing for payment of wages. Unable to sell the line and equipment, or resolve matters with the Estate Company, a truncated service from Box Hill to Whittens Lane began operation with a new enclosed tram, recently imported from America.
Through 1891 the ups and downs of the line were almost farcical. Firstly the line was reinstated, but not for long as disputes deepened, and the Estate Company again removed rails. After the bank and the employees successfully sued the Tramway Company, the trams and equipment were sold to George Thomson, and the Company went into voluntary liquidation. Mr Thomson through his agent ran the line satisfactorily for a few months, until the Estate Company threatened to blow up the line with dynamite if certain conditions were not met. The tram service was again stopped. Within days fences were erected across the line, and deep trenches were cut across the roadway to stop passage of all traffic. Incensed locals removed the fences and filled the trenches, but the Estate Company retaliated by chopping down poles carrying the overhead wires. Locals hung an effigy of the Estate Company's secretary from the tram wires and later burnt it. Thompson, frustrated by the inability to run the line, sold his interest to Richard Serpell of Doncaster. The deadlock over the right-of-way was finally resolved in late 1891, when the landowners transferred the right-of-way to the newly formed Shire of Doncaster, on condition that it was declared a Public Road.
In early 1892, the Doncaster and Box Hill Electric Road Company Limited took over the line, and straightened it to ease the gradient. From 1892 until its closure in 1896, the line was successfully managed and run by Henry J. Hilton, engineer. However the boom and bust of the 1890s saw the end of economic operations, and the line was closed on 6 January 1896.
Related items of interest include:
- 1940 Memorial plaque marking the terminus, and 1989 Memorial plaque commemorating the centenary, in Station Street, Box Hill;
- Sculptural shelter in Bushy Creek Parklands, Station Street, Box Hill, near the original location of the Engine House and Tram shed;
- Memorial plaque set in the grounds of the Westfield Shoppingtown complex, Doncaster Hill, Doncaster;
- 'Hilton Lane' behind the Post Office, named in 1971 after Henry Hilton the former engineer and lessee;
- 'Tram Road' between Koonung Creek and Doncaster Road, especially the embankment viewed from the western service roads;
- A full-size replica of the first tram, on permanent display at the Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society's Museum at Schramm's Cottage, Doncaster (Melway 33 J10);
- Electric Tram Model - Thomson-Houston, Box Hill & Doncaster Tramway, 1889 Museums Victoria
References:
- Moir, John Kinmont. Australia's first electric tram Chadstone, Vic. : Traction publications, (3 ed.) 1957
- Green, Robert The first electric road: A history of the Box Hill and Doncaster tramway East Brighton, Vic. : John Mason Press, 1989. 84pp
- Green, Robert, et al The Box Hill - Doncaster Electric Tramway Pamphlet first published by City of Box Hill, 1989 (on behalf of the Box Hill - Doncaster Electric Tram Centenary Committee).
- Green, Robert Australia’s first electric tram: the Box Hill to Doncaster tramway Melbourne Tram Museum, website article.
- Hilton, Henry J. To Doncaster Tower by electric tram, Poster, c.1889-1893 (1970s reproduction).
Author:
Robert Green, Ken McInnes 2003
