Eureka Stockade

The Eureka stockade was a battle between diggers and officers that occurred in 1854.

The stockade was a makeshift wooden barricade which enclosed around an acre of the goldfield. Inside this stockade around 500 diggers took an oath on the Southern Cross flag. Over the next two days they gathered firearms and forged picks to defend the stockade.

Early morning on Sunday the 3^rd of December the authorities made an attack on the stockade. The diggers were outnumbered and the battle was over within twenty minutes. Twenty-two diggers and five troops were killed in the battle. The leader Peter Lalor escaped the scene even though that his arm was badly injured (which then was later amputated)

The Southern Cross Flag was pulled down from the flagpole and was souvenired by the victors.

Melbourne Tram History

Horse Trams

For the first 40 years of tramway operation, 7 horse tram routes were operating in Melbourne. They were run by a group of different organisations.

Horse trams traveled smoother than horse drawn omnibuses and were able to carry more people. But the problem was they left piles of manure and urine everywhere.

Cable Trams

The first cable tram line opened in Richmond (The Richmond Line) on the 11^th of November, 1885 the first line in the cable tram network. The councils of Melbourne and 10 encircling municipalities (the governing body of such a district or community) built a system of cable-hauled tramways between 1885 and 1891.

It took more than 50 years until the electric tram system replaced the system.

Passangers on cable trams enjoyed smooth ride and frequent service. When the first cable line was opened to Richmond, trans left/ arrived every 4 minutues.

The cable tram network stopped running in 1940. Apart from relics that private collectors have, little evidence survives of the networks existence.

Electric Trams

The first electric tram to run in Australia was shown during the Centennial International Exhibition in 1888. From 1889 till 1896, this vehicle and a second car ran a regular tramway service between Box Hill Station and Doncaster.

Electric trams came back in 1906, with the opening of the Victorian Railways line from St Kilda to Brighton. The North Melbourne Electric Tramway and Lighting Company opened routes from Flemington Bridge to Essendon and also the Maribyrnong River.

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) reformed the old cable system between 1924 and 1940. Heaps of new, large, electric trams were built to replace the small cars that used to be operated by the municipal tramway trusts.

Trams are still a major source of transportation in Melbourne!

Puffing Billy Railway

The Puffing Billy Railway was one of the four low-cost 762mm (2’6”) gauge lines built in Victoria in the early 1900’s, it was built to open up remote areas.

The line between Belgrave and Gembrook, which goes by forests, fern gullies and farmlands as it travels through the wonder of Dandenong Ranges, is the major part of the line that was opened on the 18^th of December, 1900 and it travelled over 29km (18.2 miles) between Upper Ferntree Gully and Gembrook until  it closed in 1953. It closed because in 1953, a landslide blocked the tracks and because of the operating losses, the line was closed in 1954.

But community interest ended up in the formation of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society, of whose volunteers, with blessing from the Victorian State Government and assistance of the Citizens’ Military Forces, avoided the landslide and reopened the Puffing Billy line to Menzies Creek in 1962, Emerald in 1965, Lakeside in 1975 and then Gembrook in October in 1998.

The Puffing Billy is still successfully running today!