Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Electric trams find new home at city's Heritage Park

Mike Dinsdale
By Mike Dinsdale
Editor. Northland Age·Northern Advocate·
1 Feb, 2013 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Steam and Model Railway Club Waitakere's loss is Whangarei's gain with two 1924 electric trams that first serviced passengers in Lisbon now taking up residence in the district.

The two trams will soon be taking passengers around the Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park grounds in Maunu after they were given for free to the Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club by the West Auckland Group of vintage machinery and building enthusiasts.

The two trams, built in 1924 to take passengers around the hilly areas around Lisbon, Portugal, have a colourful history, West Auckland Group leader Dave Harre said.

Lisbon donated eight of the trams to Aspen, Colorado, USA, where after 20 years they ended up in a field, with some used as target practice - one of the two that ended up here had bullet holes and shot out windows.

Mr Harre had earlier restored a tram that was donated to Wanganui and when he heard the Aspen ones were up for sale - for the princely sum of US$25 each - he bought two, then spent $55,000 bringing them to New Zealand five years ago.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The group has since spent thousands of hours and a not inconsiderable sum restoring them. The plan was for the then Waitakere City Council to use the trams as part of an electric tram network around Henderson, but the implementation of the Auckland Super City stymied that plan. That meant the trams needed another home.

"I offered them to all the towns and museums around the country and the most definite and clear response was from Whangarei so we decided to donate them to the club," Mr Harre said.

"[The museum grounds] is a lovely place for them and you have some enthusiastic people who we know will look after them really well. We've put a lot of time and effort into restoring them and I feel sad to see them go, but very excited and thankful that they will be such an asset ... It's also not that far away so our club members can come and see them anytime."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club treasurer Ray Palmer said it was pretty special for the club to have been given the trams - which weigh about 15 tonnes each - and the members would be working flat out to get a tramline built at the museum for them to run on.

Mr Palmer said discussions had already been held with Northpower about putting in the overhead powerlines needed. He estimated the club would need about $50,000 to complete the job while members would put in as much labour as they could.

"They will be a real asset for Whangarei and they will be the first ever electric trams to operate in Northland. People can take the steam train down [one side of the park] then come back on the trams so they have the full experience."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs

Northern Advocate

Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business

Northern Advocate

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs
Northern Advocate

Major water leak forces school closure for urgent repairs

The water supply was turned off close to Te Kamo Intermediate School.

17 Jul 01:26 AM
Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business
Northern Advocate

Saving lives: Mobile AED startup named best emerging business

16 Jul 11:00 PM
'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid
Northern Advocate

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid

16 Jul 10:53 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP