[1] Built in 1861, the design was compromised by the desire to haul railway freight wagons along the line to supply city businesses and return cargo from the docks at Circular Quay with passenger traffic as an afterthought.

Hard campaigning by competing Horse Omnibus owners – as well as a fatal accident involving the leading Australian musician Isaac Nathan in 1864 – led to closure in 1866.

[2] Originally planned by the government to be removed after the exhibition, the success of the steam tramway led to the system being expanded rapidly through the city and inner suburbs during the 1880s and 1890s.

The overcrowded and heaving trams running at a high frequency, in competition with growing private motor car and bus use, ended up being blamed for the congestion caused by the latter.

[12] The closure was supported by the NRMA[13] (who stood to gain from increased membership), but generally went against public opinion as most of the patronage were those who could not afford to purchase private transportation.

These allegedly came from the rubber and petrol industries, motor vehicle (bus) manufacturers and those opposed to increased public expenditure.

This was an extremely busy service for passengers transferring from suburban trains at Central, particularly prior to the opening of the city underground railway lines in 1926.

The sandstone viaduct onto the colonnade at Central station were built across Eddy Avenue for this service, and are being used again today by trams of a sort in the form of the Inner West Light Rail system, however they are operating in the opposite direction.

Circular Quay was the focal terminal point of most services to the eastern suburbs, and allowed easy transfer to ferries.

From the signal station a single track passed through the parkland area known as "The Gap" through narrow rock cuttings, low cliffs and rugged back-drops, twisting and turning its way down to the terminus at Watsons Bay.

This then led to policy being adopted that when a line was closed, infrastructure such as overhead wires and tracks had to be removed within 24 hours after the last tram to prevent services being reinstated.

The tram lines to Glebe Point, Balmain (Gladstone Park), Lilyfield, Leichhardt and Haberfield were closed in November 1958.

A tram destined for the wharf would close-up to the dummy and push it down the steep hill (gradient 1 in 8), thus raising the counterweight and being assisted in braking.

It then wound its way along Blaxland Road, behind the site of the now-demolished council chambers, terminating near the intersection of Pope and Devlin Street in Ryde.

At Forest Lodge the line swung right into Ross Street before entering onto its own reserved track, now known as Minogue Crescent, passing Rozelle Tram Depot.

The entire trip took approximately 61 minutes to complete, and was the single longest route on the Sydney tram network, measuring 10 miles 61 chains (17.3 km) via Pyrmont.

Services commenced at Railway Square, travelling south-west on Broadway, turning right onto Harris Street, passing the former Darling Harbour goods yard.

It travelled south-west along Illawarra Road, crossing the Cooks River, followed by a steep ascent up Homer Street to the Earlwood shopping district.

A small brick hut used as a waiting room for passengers still stands on the western side of the Coronation Parade reserve near Dean Street.

[39] A feature of these lines was the underground tram terminus at Wynyard railway station (the only one in Australia), and the tracks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The second period covers the time until the Wynyard line was opened across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, and the third from then until the general closure of the system in 1958.

The Milsons Point line was deviated at North Sydney via Walker and Mount Streets to avoid congestion at Victoria Cross.

Services to Lane Cove and Chatswood were altered to operate to and from McMahons Point via the new direct route to Crows Nest.

In conjunction with the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Milsons Point line was diverted to a new terminus in Glen Street in July 1924.

Re-building the terminal at Manly terminus several times, accompanied by costly property resumption, accounted for huge expenditures with little gain.

In 1919 planning began to move slightly the balloon loop at Manly, requiring demolition and re-building the Pier Hotel.

The new line proved to be unsuccessful and was closed on 31 January 1932 and was seen by members of the public as turning a perfect tramway into an underperforming railway.

Consolidated Revenue Fund (No 6) Act 1879 No 20a: Allocated 11 000 pounds for the construction the Redfern to Hunter Street line, including rolling stock.

– Allocated 75 000 to be spent on additional rolling stock and to meet expenses of experiments in connection with electric trams King to Ocean Street Cable Tramway Act of 1892 No 10a: "An Act to sanction the construction of a Cable Tramway from King-street via William-street, in the City of Sydney, to Ocean-street, in the Borough of Woollahra.

Transport Administration (General) Regulation 2000 – Reg 14 [repealed]: Declared the route of the extension of the current line from Wentworth Park to Lilyfield.