Tramway Historical Society

Story

The Tramway Historical Society Inc. is located at the Ferrymead Heritage Park in the Christchurch, New Zealand suburb of Ferrymead and operates the standard gauge Ferrymead Tramway. Trams have operated at Ferrymead since 1968, with progressive extensions built between 1970 and 1984 allowing trams to operate within the boundaries of the Heritage Park. The Society also operates and own a collection of historic trolley buses and diesel buses.HistoryIn 1960, following the desire to preserve trams formerly used by the Christchurch Transport Board, it was decided to found the Christchurch branch of the Tramway Preservation Association. Led by John Shanks, the group campaigned to ensure the preservation of the CTB's last two remaining tramway assets, 1887-built horse tram 50 and 1881 Kitson steam-tram engine 7. These had been offered to the Canterbury Museum, but had been refused and so ended up in the care of W. A. Clapham.As the vehicles were stored outside and were beginning to deteriorate, the Association arranged with CTB general manager John Fardell, who had come from Reading in England to oversee the transition from trams to diesel buses, to provide the Association with covered space in the former Falsgrave Street workshops for five months to carry out restoration work. Fardell and the CTB Board supported this, and so the two trams were stored in the former tramway workshops until 1965. During this time further exhibits arrived such as the Association's first vehicle, double-deck trailer 91, which arrived in 1965 and restored three years later.During 1964, the Association decided to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the closure of the Number 1 tram route to Papanui, which had been one of the final two lines to close in 1954. At the time, contractors had not yet sealed over the tracks between Blighs Road and the former terminus, and so horse-tram 50 was restored to its Christchurch Tramway Company appearance as tram 43, and transported to Papanui where it ran for a week in August 1964. This was hugely popular, and resulted in an increase of membership with the Association, which had become the Tramway Historical Society early that year.