THE grand old architecture of Tram No.84 can now be seen cruising the streets of Bendigo after being inducted into Bendigo Tramways’ Vintage Talking Tram fleet yesterday.
Employees from Bendigo Tramways celebrated the tram’s historic return after months of hard work to restore one of Victoria’s oldest electric trams.
Dating back to 1917, the tram was originally built for the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust in Melbourne.
By 1931, the tram had been passed on to Bendigo Tramways, where it stayed in service until 1965.
A project to restore the tram to its former glory was started to celebrate the centenary of the Malvern Depot on May 30 this year.
The tram’s restoration was started in September last year and was completed by Tramways employees and Bendigo master craftsmen over
10 months.
The tram took pride of place at the centenary, before returning to Bendigo to join the vintage fleet.
The restoration project was made possible by funding from the Department of Transport and the Bendigo Tramways Paint Fund.
“Tram No.84 is an absolute credit to everyone who has worked on it, and is undoubtedly another piece of history that Bendigo can be proud of,” Bendigo Tramways superintendent Darren Hutchesson said.
Vintage Talking Tram tours leave every half an hour from 9.30am to 4pm daily from the Central Deborah Gold Mine depot in Violet Street, Golden Square.
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