New bid to start tram service

Many people could dismiss Andrew McIntyre as "nuts", but he sees himself as a man with a determined vision for Masterton.
He wants to see a tram running from the railway station along Perry Street into the middle of town and possibly around the town itself.
Miffed at being ignored when attending a meeting of architects and business owners in Masterton to discuss how they could upgrade the centre of Masterton, Mr McIntyre is on the tram trail once again.
"I have been to the council more than once and the mayor knows all about my idea, but at that presentation when the architects came up with the same old ideas of central business upgrading, I was totally overlooked," Mr McIntyre said.
He's hoping to have caught the imagination of some of the members of the Masterton Licensing Trust in the hope it could be a possible sponsor ? the cost for the first stage of upgrading the tram and laying track from the railway station to the Masterton Town Hall is estimated at $1.3 million.
The tram itself is already in Masterton languishing in a yard in Renall Street.
Up until recently, it was under cover, but the large shed has been taken over by new owners and the tram is now sitting outside, much to Mr McIntyre's concern.
"She's a beauty but she's also old and won't take kindly to be left our in the weather. Large sheds just aren't that easy to find," he said.
It's been his dream for the past five years and he's knocked on many doors looking for not only some funding to get past the dream stage but also equally passionate people who will join the trust he wants to establish, to be known as the New Zealand Heritage Transport Museum Trust.
"There's so much heritage in Wairarapa, the trust would initially be founded to get the tram up and running but it could also incorporate the restoration and care of other transport pieces in the region," he said.
The tram hails from Melbourne and was bought to Wairarapa, minus its motors, in 1988 by Mr McIntyre when he ran a homestay at Parkvale, west of Carterton.
"The idea was to use the tram as novelty accommodation, but it didn't work out and I put her into storage."
The Melbourne SW2 Class 436 is one of 410 trams built between 1923 and 1931. The 52-seater tram in Masterton was built in 1927 as one of a batch of 30 cars to a design which incorporated an open centre section. The class became the most successful of the Melbourne tram fleet and long-lived, incorporating modern design standards of the period.
There are only four left in existence.
Mr McIntyre has put in countless hours of time into presenting his proposal. It comes with computer-generated photographs, technical detail track construction would be laid, track of how the tram might weave its way through Masterton even reaching as far south as Copthorne Solway Park hotel, but most importantly link the railway station to the town centre.
"We're getting new train carriages, train travel to Wairarapa is increasing and Masterton sells itself as a family destination, yet when people get to the railway station, they're out on a limb.
"It is somewhat of a paradox that no matter what the quality of a rail service to a fringe located station, there is little provision, for any form of public transport to complete the journey into town."
He'd love to see Masterton marketed as the only North Island town with a tram.
Christchurch is the only other place in New Zealand left with trams running as a tourist venture.