At the published location for this cache you will find the
Hawthorn Tram Depot.
The Hawthorn Tram Depot was built around the replacement of the
horse drawn trams around 1916, specifcally on this location, to
service both the new electric tram line running down Swan Street
and the existing horse drawn tram lines.
In a town that is well known for it's tram network, it seems
only fitting that I highlight some of the history surrounding a
core of our public transport system, and a part that most people
will not be aware of.
Trams made way early on to replace the horse drawn omnibus
services that preceded them, which were thought to be slow,
uncomfortable, expensive to run and added to Melbourne's early
image as "Smellbourne". Cable tramways were seen as the answer to
this problem.
During the planning of the Melbourne cable tram system extensive
surveys were made of population density and reviews of patronage of
existing horse omnibus routes. As a result it was decided that
despite the higher operating costs, a horse drawn tram system would
be employed in this area rather than a cable tramway with it's much
higher capital costs. The steel plus horse plus cart combination to
get trams was seen as a compromise to solve at least the issues of
both speed and comfort. As a result, two lines were planned as
horse tramways – the Kew and Hawthorn lines.
The Kew line opened in 1887 from the Victoria Bridge cable tram
terminus to Boorondara Cemetery in Kew. Due to lower life
expectancies cemeteries were popular destinations and could demand
consistent patronage of public transport.
The Hawthorn
line was opened in 1890 and ran from the Hawthorn Bridge crossing
the Yarra at Bridge Rd, running along Burwood Road, Power Street
and finally Riversdale Road to Auburn Road to the depot.
Both of these lines were much more soundly financial than other
Melbourne horse trams, and operated without incident, with one
dramatic exception.
After midnight on the morning of 18 August 1901 the Hawthorn
horse tram was held up by four masked men as it was proceeding east
along Riversdale Road just after leaving Power Street. One of the
men leapt on board and held a revolver to the cheek of the driver,
Thomas Taylor, demanding that the tram be stopped. Taylor complied,
but pleaded with his assailant that he be allowed to apply the
handbrake to prevent the car from rolling backwards and dragging
the horses with it. He was allowed to do so, but was then thrown
into the saloon to join the seven male passengers inside, together
with a solicitor (Leslie Park) who was smoking on the end platform.
The urban bushrangers, all wearing slouch hats and tweed coats,
demanded that the passengers and Taylor hand over their
valuables.
After assaulting one of the passengers (Charles H. Jones), they
stole £2.10.0 in fares from Taylor and £21.19.0 in cash from the
eight passengers, as well as a number of watches and watch chains.
They then disappeared into the night, leaving Taylor to drive the
horse tram to the terminus at Auburn Road, where he reported the
crime to Hawthorn police. The horse tram bandits were never
captured. It was hypothesized in newspapers of the day that they
were after a certain individual who regularly travelled on the
line, and who was in the habit of carrying large amounts of
cash.
So, there you have it. A little history of Melbourne and it's
trams. You also have enough information to find the cache, which is
a 200ml sistema (no real surprises there) which lies close to a
location mentioned above.
This information will also prove essential in locating to
cache.
S 37 (C+S)xT.SAxRT+H-C
E 145 CxT-RL.CSxRT+RC
As usual, there is the usual FTF certificate of monumental
proprtions (a small monument!) to go to the first in. You will no
doubt need to use a fair bit of stealth to retrieve this cache at
various times of the day. Such is life!
Much of the info here was obtained from the Hawthorn
Tram Depot website. Check it out for more marvellous info.
Please feel free to provide as any feedback to me regarding this
cache. All comments taken as "constructive criticism"!
