A government-built and operated tram service linking East Maitland with West Maitland was inaugurated in 1909, replacing horse-drawn buses. The service was a particular boon to East Maitland, greatly facilitating access to High Street, West Maitland which was by far the main shopping area and place of employment of the two Maitlands.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Construction of the line took 18 months according to a memoir written by the late Arthur Gow (1804-84). Much work had to be done to fill in low-lying areas like the natural watercourses along George Street, Victoria Street and Lawes Street. Men with horses and tip drays filled these areas with soil to build up the path of the track.
The trams employed drivers (Messrs Horsfield, Carter, Druery and Curry in the early years) and conductors (Messrs Lamb, Hills and Gulliver). A Mr McMahon was both a driver and a conductor. Footboards ran along both sides of the tram carriages which were open to the weather: the conductors' job of collecting fares would have been unpleasant on wet or windy days.
The engine's furnace was fired with coke from the Maitland Gas Works before the drivers arrived for duty. It had to be kept going by the drivers during their shifts.
The East Maitland terminus was in Victoria Street, near the intersection with today's Hobart Street, where a large area of land housed the off-duty engines and carriages. From there the line ran down Lawes Street to George Street, into Day Street and along Melbourne Street to Newcastle Road. It continued west across Wallis Creek over the Victoria Bridge and through the railway gates into High Street, West Maitland. Traversing the length of High Street, the line ended west of the Long Bridge (on which a special tram lane was built) in Regent Street. The trip from one terminus to the other took 25 minutes and trams ran every half hour during the daytime.
A spur line ran down Church Street to the West Maitland Railway Station. A loop near the site of today's Visitors Centre allowed trams going in opposite directions to pass each other.
Sometimes trams would jump off the rails turning into Lawes Street from Victoria Street, and they had to be jacked back up. They occasionally left the tracks near the Victoria Bridge over Wallis Creek, too.
On busy late shopping nights in High Street, with carriages full of people, the trams could not always make the steep turn from Day Street to George Street. They would have to go back down the hill, build up more steam and make another attempt. On occasions, muscle power from young male passengers was needed for them to complete the turn.
When repairs were needed, a branch line connected to the railway line at King Street, East Maitland was used and engines and carriages went by rail to Newcastle where the work was carried out. Tram traffic was permitted on the railway line only on Sunday mornings.
Maitland's trams operated until the last day of 1926. Proposals to electrify them and to extend the line to Rutherford were never acted upon, and in the end and they were unable to compete with bus competition from the East and West Maitland Motor Bus Company.
- Developed from Early East Maitland: Memories of Arthur John Gow (1979)
