Vintage Tramway Festival 2019

In late February, the museum held its annual Vintage Tramway Festival, an event that commemorates the closure of the original Sydney tramway network on the 25th February 1961. Whilst the turnout was not as large compared to previous years, the day was still very busy with decent sized crowds, and a range of attractions on offer.

Not the least of which was the display of the museum’s newest exhibit: Variotram 2107. Sitting on the depot access track in Lakewood Park, this tram was available for people to walk around in and observe, with cardboard models of the tram available for purchase.

As was the case last year, the museum’s own double-decker bus from 1952, AEC Regent No. 2619, provided shuttles between the museum, and Sutherland Railway station, in parallel with the day’s regular tram operations.

In addition, the Sutherland Railway Substation was opened for public viewing for the first time. This had been previously opened to members and friends during the museum’s Christmas party in December last year.

The event also brought with it some visitors from the Sydney Bus Museum, who arrived in their double-decker Leyland Titan No. 1579, and the Australian Motorlife Museum, who provided a selection of vintage cars for display along Tramway Avenue.

In a bit of publicity for the museum, Channel 7 News ran a story about the event, which was broadcast during their regular evening news bulletin. A video of the story was uploaded to their Facebook page, and is embedded below for viewing.