Sydney's The Spit to Manly Tramline (& Punt & Bridge)

Sydney had one of the greatest tramway systems  in the world the most northerly part of the   network was the Manly tram system this independent  isolated system ran from 1903 to 1939 and there   were three main lines one ran north to Narrabeen  another shorter one ran north to Harbord Beach   and the final one which is the topic of  today's video headed west from manly to   The Spit hi I'm Marty and welcome to Backtracks  the Manly to The Spit line or The Spit to Manly   line was one of the more interesting lines of  the Sydney system it first opened in 1911 and   it was designed to collect passengers  who had traveled across Middle Harbour   from The Spit firstly on a punt or in later  years walking across the first Spit Bridge   leaving The Spit the tram would then go up  through the suburbs of Clontarf Balgowlah   Fairlight and then into Manly and once in Manly  they could transfer to one of the other two lines   of the Manly system or catch a ferry back to  Sydney so let's go back to the start of the line the line started with a loop terminus in  what is today's Ellery's Punt Reserve this   reserve is tucked away on the northeast side  of Spit Bridge it's surrounded by large trees   and bushes so passes by on the busy Manly Road  may have little idea it's here and it's called   Ellery's Punt Reserve because at one time there  were three punts operating from this location   two of the punts were used to transport  vehicles and the third punt was used to   transport trams between the North Sydney tram  system and the Manly system it was the only   link between these two networks intriguingly  the tram never actually carried passengers and today you can still see some remnants of  the punts such as the punt ramps and other   infrastructure there's also a monument to the  punts although it's quite weathered and difficult   to read there is also a sign celebrating the time  when finally a bridge was built across Middle   Harbour at The Spit now while the bridge was first  discussed in 1889 it wasn't opened until December   1924 when the first bridge was completed now it  was a bit of an awkward looking and low-level   timber bridge and while it was discussed at the  time it didn't actually have a tram line on it   so passengers had to alight from their tram  at either end and then walk across a covered   walkway to a tram waiting on the other side but  let's get back to discussing the tram line itself   the first tram departed manly on January 9th 1911.  after leaving the loop terminus the line wound its   way up its own reservation to Balgowlah most  of this tramway reservation still exists today   the first section is now the start  of the spit to manly walking track   and interestingly you can still see  some ballast from the original tracks a few hundred meters along The Spit to Manly  walking track leaves the former tram line and   the next section is quite overgrown but once  you get through that on the other side the line   entered into present-day Heaton Avenue the site  of the former Parsley Loop and then it continued   up and then turned left into what is now Kanangra  Crescent I drove in this street a few times before   I'd realized it was a former tram reservation but  looking at it now it is quite an unusual street   it's quite windy and has a very gradual gradient  and it has railway cutting-like sides once the   line reached the summit it crossed Ethel Street  and continued in its own reservation in what is   partly now Whittle Avenue much of this reservation  was removed for the creation of Manly Road from here the line turned right into Sydney Road  to start heading east basically in a straight   line towards manly now just a block further along  there was a good sighting which provided a goods   tram service that ran between Balgowlah and Manly  Wharf the depot was open in 1913 and later become   a per way in a pole sighting it was located on  the left hand side of the road near wanganella   street is today so the line then continued East  and progressed through the shops at Balgowlah   passing on the left hand side the very famous  Balgowlah Hall which has since been demolished now apparently there are a number of rosettes  still remaining on buildings along this route   but I was not able to find any in my journey  there today if you do happen to know where any   of these remaining rosettes are please leave a  comment below and I will go and look for them after passing through the shops at fairlight  the line began its descent into Manly and to avoid the steep grade of Sydney  Road the tram veered to the right and   did a horseshoe turn in a reservation  between George Street and Parkview Road after the horseshoe the line then crossed back  over Sydney Road and did a big L-shape through   Ivanhoe Park in its own reservation at peak times  such as Saturday afternoons trams ran every 10   minutes on the line so to keep up that frequency  there was a passing loop in Ivanhoe Park called   the Ivanhoe Loop much of this reservation still  also exists now as Park Avenue Parkland around the   Manly Scout Hall and forming the parking lot  for Manly Bowling Club a club that was there   at the time of the trams the line then entered  Raglan Street just near the corner of Pittwater   and Belgrave streets here it joined the existing  tracks of the Narrabeen line and continued south   for a short distance to the terminal at Manly  Wharf that's basically the story of The Spit   to Manly tram service it lasted nearly 28 years  because on the night of the 30th of September   1939 all tram services ceased well there you  have it another Backtracks tale from the Sydney   Tramway system if you enjoyed this video please  like and subscribe and hopefully we'll see you   next time when we take another look at another  line on the Sydney Tramway system [Ding Ding]

Channel: BackTracks.Channel

Views: 7,835

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Id: fNa4HEV2300

Length: 6min 44sec (404 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2023