A DEDICATED tram lover and bus driver, Bruce Pinelle, spent many years searching for Sydney’s last tram, eventually tracking it down and buying it for $50.

He found it in a haystore and shearing shed on a farm in the Southern Highlands, before it eventually ended up at the Rozelle Tramsheds.

Now battered and graffitied, Sydney’s last tram will get the tender loving care it needs.

media_camera A Sydney tram back in 1935. Photo from State Library NSW flickr account Picture: Supplied

It has been transported to Victoria, where it will be restored and returned to the Rozelle Tramsheds, as part of the Harold Park development being done by Mirvac.

COMMUNITY CONCERN ABOUT HAROLD PARK TRAMSHEDS

PROPOSAL FOR HAROLD PARK TO BE MADE A NEW SUBURB

The City of Sydney, the Sydney Tramway Museum and conservation experts have worked with the developer to ensure both the tramsheds and the tram, known as No. 1995, will be good for at least another century, Mirvac Group executive John Carfi said.

“This has become a labour of love for the people working on the project and it’s great to see her heading off to Bendigo to get the expert attention that one of Sydney’s most historic trams deserves,” he said.

“In about six months we expect her back, looking as good as the day she was delivered to the tramsheds.”

media_camera The Harold Park development site. Picture: Danny Aarons

The restoration of the tram will include cleaning off paint and rust and straightening out the dents in the steel.

The timber and canvas roof will be repaired and it will be restored to the standard issue colours of green and cream, while inside the timber posts will be sanded and varnished to a honey sheen and the brown vinyl seats replaced.

With the temporary removal of the tram, Mirvac will begin work on the conservation and adaptive reuse of the two tramsheds, which will be home to a supermarket, market style food halls, boutique retailers, cafes, restaurants and a gym.

media_camera The tram is removed from the Rozelle tramsheds on a transporter to be given some tender loving care to the Bendigo Rail Workshop in Victoria.

TRAM HISTORY

● Tram No. 1995 is the last type of tram to be built in Sydney. The first 55 R1 trams were constructed between 1934 and 1936

● Shortly after the war the NSW Government ordered another 250 R1 trams but, bowing to the march of progress and a political preference for buses over trams, and road over rail track, cancelled the order at 100

● From 1952, tram No 1995 did six years of service until the depot was closed in 1958, and was then transferred to the Dowling St depot

● The fleet numbers ranged from 1988 to 2087. Tram No. 1995 was among this batch and was delivered to the Rozelle Tram Depot in 1952. It did six years of service until the depot was closed in 1958, and was then transferred to the Dowling St depot

● On February 25, 1961, a Saturday afternoon procession of trams marked the end of the transport in Sydney

● In its heyday Sydney’s tramway system was the second largest in the British Empire, the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, and was integral to Sydney life for a century