BYOP. Cache is a 130ml screw top container. Beware of golfers (and golf balls) on the nearby golf course! Dogs not allowed on the golf course.
You are standing on the route of the Roslyn Cable Car that started at Princes Street, went up Rattray Street, through the town belt (where you're standing), continuing up Ross Street and part of Belgrave Crescent through a cutting (see GC3GD0X) and down to the intersection of Kaikorai Valley Road and Frasers Road. It covered a distance of 1.4 miles (2.3 km) and was Dunedin's first cable car (although initially only going as far as the town belt), opening on 6 February 1881. It also passed through the world's first pull curve in front of St Joseph's Cathedral, where, two months after opening there was a runaway car in which 1 man died. This accident led to the creation of the "dolphin brake" - operated manually by means of a screw thread which forced a steel wedge into the cable slot to stop the car.
The power house was situated at the Kaikorai Valley end and ran up to 6 cable cars between 7.30am to 11pm.
The line closed on October 26, 1956.
If you wander down from here towards Rattray Street, some banks alongside the tram route are still visible. The tram line passed under a bridge on Queens Drive (now gone).
For further information about the tramlines, click here.
Cable Car at Ross Street Intersection c1920's (You can see the Begg Observatory to the left of the tram car) Source: Dunedin City Council Archives
Early Roslyn Tram in Rattray Street Source: Hocken Collections
Geo Toroa - New Zealand's next multi day event. To be held on the 26-27th October 2024 in Dunedin. If you want to come along, visit GCA7ZHD to log your "Will Attend"