An excerpt from Padd, Paddo, Paddington – edited by Dawn Buckberry, Paddington History Group.
Transport – Trams, bikes and shanks’s pony
“Few topics are likely to arouse feelings of nostalgia among older Brisbane people than the electric tramway system, which served the city and suburbs well from 1897, and was discharged in 1969 so that the citizens could acquire the dubious blessings of freeways and diesel buses. The negative side of the trams was that they ran along fixed tracks in the middle of the road and all motor vehicles were required to stop behind them when they pulled up at designated points to take on or discharge passengers. The positive side was that they were built and maintained locally, they ran quietly propelled by electricity generated cheaply from local coal. They were non-polluting and they more then paid their way. An additional bonus was that they helped give Brisbane a bit of local colour, especially since some cleaver chap from the past decreed that the running staff’s uniform should be topped by a distinctive white starched peaked cap, obviously inspired by the French Foreign Legion.” Noel Wanmer
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