Our postcard was published in about 1905 by W.T. Pater & Co. of Melbourne, who published postcards between 1902 and 1907, and was printed in Germany. Our copy was posted in Ballarat in November 1907. It shows one of the new Ballarat electric trams waiting to depart to the Botanical Gardens.
The tramway of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, was built to standard gauge. Opening on 26th December 1887, the tram network was initially a horse-drawn system operated by the Ballarat Tramway Company. In December 1902 the tramway was taken over by the Electric Supply Company of Victoria (ESC), who had previously opened the Bendigo electric tramway in 1903. ESC set about electrifying the Ballarat lines, with the first electric car running on 18th August 1905 and the final horse tram running in August 1913.
The company found there was not enough money available to purchase new trams for Ballarat, so the initial fleet was made up of second-hand cars from Sydney, rebuilt by Duncan and Fraser {Adelaide tramcar builders} who travelled to Ballarat to do the work. The tram on our postcard is one of this type. The style was identical to the Bendigo cars, which were also built, or at least assembled, by Duncan and Fraser from bodies constructed in the U.K. There were 18 cars of this type, 6 ex-Sydney electric cars and 12 ex-North Sydney cable-car trailers. They were mounted on Brill 21E trucks. All were withdrawn in the 1930s.
The State Electricity Commission of Victoria acquired the network in 1934 and at its peak in 1937, Ballarat's tramway network was the largest in Australia other than those in the state capitals, with seven main routes and over 24 kilometres of track. However, the mid-20th century saw a decline in passenger numbers, leading to the closure of the network in September 1971. Despite this, a section of the tramway, near Lake Wendouree at the Botanical Gardens, was preserved and continues to operate today as a tourist attraction. The Ballarat Tramway Museum, established in 1971, offers visitors a chance to ride restored vintage trams on this remaining tramway route.
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