Trams in Rockhampton

[1][9][10] Rockhampton Municipal Council endorsed a proposal in 1903 to construct a tramway system using steam cars burning coke.

[2] In 1937, Rockhampton City Council made a unanimous decision to replace the tramway system with new diesel buses.

[17] Following the closure of the Rockhampton tramway, the council decided to bitumen over the tram tracks, burying them due to the cost involved in removing them.

[20][21] The most notorious incident occurred on 28 September 1913 when three people were killed when a tram car capsized on a sharp bend at the corner of Ward Street and Dagmar Street after departing the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens following an afternoon performance by the Lakes Creek Brass Band.

[27][28][29] Interest was sparked in Rockhampton's Purrey steam trams in the early 1970s following articles published in the Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin and Trolley Wire.

[30] Although various parts of the original trams were successfully relocated including the collapsed body of one of the old trams, other parts were sourced from elsewhere including the steam engine unit from the Antique Machinery Society in Brisbane, and a Purrey boiler steam feedwater pump from the Ipswich railway workshops.

[30] During the official ceremony at the 1988 event, the general manager of local newspaper The Morning Bulletin Mike McCarthy presented a $20,000 cheque to Mayor Jim Webber to put towards constructing and establishing a permanent tourist tram route in Rockhampton.

[30] Trolley Wire reported at the time that there were two schools of thought on how the newly built Purrey steam tram could be used as a local tourist attraction.

[30] However, the Purrey steam tram ultimately found its new home at the old Archer Park Railway Station which was handed over to Rockhampton City Council by Queensland Rail in 1990, for the purpose of transforming it into a museum.