AT the recent centenary celebrations of trams Number 18 and Number 44, tram aficionado Shane Butcher was so thrilled to be talking and celebrating all things trams again, that he made a You Tube video and wrote a book Celebrating the launch of Bendigo Tramways No. 8, all about the restoration journey so dear to his heart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“I felt there was a definite need for a record of the events, past and present, and a recognition of all the volunteers and staff along the way who had kept the ‘tram dream’ alive,” Shane says.
Shane is a Bendigo boy. He attended Flora Hill Primary School and then White Hills Technical School at 11 years of age.
While he can’t put a finger on where his fascination came from, he remembers riding his bike along the footpath in tandem with the tram, as it trundled its way to Eaglehawk.
The ladies at the Eaglehawk Historical Society were so used to him turning up, that they let him dust and inspect the No. 26 tram which was housed there, without question.
Another recollection is scraping up four cents to be able to take a ride from the fountain to the School of Mines, where his nan and pop worked as caretakers. He vividly remembers the conductor taking the shine off the ride, as he berated him for being a lazy so-and-so for not walking that short distance.
Always an enterprising chap, Shane was soon volunteering to help with tram restorations the Bendigo Trust had underway.
“The No. 8 tram was made in 1903, one of 12 delivered to Bendigo from the Adelaide firm of Duncan and Fraser. In those early days the trams were shipped in parts and assembled at the tram works in Bendigo.
As the old trams were abandoned they were put to other uses. The No. 8 tram was found out the back of White Hills, in use as a livestock feed store. The Bendigo Trust ended up buying it for $20.”
This purchase was the start of many tram rescues, as bringing the 1903 originals ‘home’ was a Bendigo Trust aim.
“No. 8 was stored for many years and then moved to the gasworks. It was soon looking very poorly and we were worried that the vandals would damage it beyond repair so myself, Garry O'Hoy, Tim Borchers and Adrian Birch removed the roof bows, door handles and saved many other bits and pieces. Just as well we did because it was set alight not long after.”
Then on Sunday April 16, 1972 Shane’s tram world collapsed.
“I was at the fountain with hundreds of other people when the last tram left the fountain; there were many sad faces in the crowd.
“All the trams were driven to the depot in tandem, like a stately funeral procession. I ran alongside all the way through Pall Mall and down McCrae Street, sobbing my eyes out. As they turned the corner into the tram sheds, I couldn’t believe they would never run again,” Shane says.
He continued volunteering at the tram sheds and for Bendigo’s ‘Talking’ Vintage Trams on the weekends.
When Shane left school for the world of work his first job was in the crockery department at the Beehive with Iris Mills and Jack Gardner. It was the perfect spot for a sneak peak at the trams passing along the Mall – a great advantage for a tram-mad working lad.
To purchase a copy of Shane’s book go to http://au.blurb.com/b/5776264-celebrating-the-launch-of-bendigo-tramways-no-8.