113 years ago today the first electric tram to run in Adelaide made its debut on 9 March 1909. According to Professional Historians Australia (SA), the General Manager of the Municipal Tramways Trust William Goodman, accompanied by the wife of the Premier Mrs Tom Price, took the controls of the flower-bedecked tram for the official inauguration of the route between Adelaide and Kensington. The report said that ‘the car looked symmetrical and handsome’ and the test was successful.
The electric cars replaced the horse trams which had operated on these routes since 1878. Trams were phased out of service in the 1950s, and only the Glenelg tram has remained. You can see the original rings that held the tram horses to trees in Borthwick Park today. My co-councillor Paul Wormald gave me this original poster for my 60th – hanging proudly in my Kensington home!
Dr Christel Lorraine Mex 