Tramways 35th anniversary

(this post was delayed by a few days, post dated when it should have been written up)

Ok, today was the busiest time of year for the tramways. Our anniversary.
The public transport tramways shut down in 1972, and on Sat. 9th December of that same year, tourist operations started operating. So on the closest Saturday, we celebrate that, by hauling out as many of the Bendigo heritage fleet as possible, and some other trams as well, and we run a flat-out timetable. Or at least, that's what we did this year. I wasn't around this time last year (I started at the tramways in January), but from the photos I saw, it seems that's the usual arrangement.

Anyway, I formally requested driver training a couple of months ago, when I had completed the requirements, hoping to be able to drive on the day. i knew it was going to be a tight squeeze, but in the end, it wasn't going to happen. In a way, I'm glad - because it was absolute mayhem. I was rostered for conducting on the day, of which I was very glad - I still got to be involved, but didn't need to stress about everything. As the conductor, My main concerns are the safety of passengers & the collection of fares.

We were set to run a 12-minute schedule that day. Now, normally, we run either a 72 or 36 minute service (meaning that at any given stop, that's how long the wait between trams is), and with the trackworks done over the year, a 12 minute timetable was possible. Just.

Now, at this point, a bit of background would probably help. Our tram system is one line, from the former North Bendigo tram terminus, to the Central Deborah Goldmine, and a lot of it is single track running. In Melbourne, EVERYTHING is double-track (i.e. 2 lanes, one for each direction). We have a section of double track, but most of it is single-track, and if a tram is heading north along a section, and you're heading south, you have to wait at a passing loop, or you're going to get in each-other's way. So, around the middle of the year, we restored the former passing loop on the northern section of the track in Bridge st. - before that, the entire northern section past the depot track had no passing loops.
The Bridge st. loop had been left disconnected and unused for 42 years, from the public transport era, when the points were desperately needed for another section of track. Not too long after that the PT system closed permanently. When the track was renewed for the heritage tramway operations, the remaning track was scaled back - the double track from town to the depot was scaled back, and 1 or 2 passing loops were removed. The remaining track from Bridge st. was left alone, only the points had been removed, so in cannibalising the points from Bridge st. loop, the former operator actually saved the loop.

So, we had this 12 minute timetable, which was a wonderful idea; the problem was that any holdup ends up delaying the next tram, which then holds up the next, and so on. Our table started at 9:31 to leave the depot (I think), and pass a tram at every loop/passing point. Well, by the time we had run from the depot, to north, back though town, to the gold mine, we had been held up by 2 different trams, by 5 minutes. Now, that doesn't sounds like a lot, but remember, we were running a 12-minute service that day (at least for the morning), so we were out of our timetable slot by so much that we were nearly in the next slot - and we had the regular service tram as well! By late morning, we were so incredibly out of timetable that we were given orders to short-shunt - which for those uninitiated means to terminate at a location short of the line's terminus. This is something that happens here & there in Melbourne, but in my whole time in Bendigo Tramways, we have NEVER had to short-shunt a scheduled service! At least, not to my knowledge.
After lunch, the timetable was back on track (with some amazing organisational skills from our people on the ground), and we headed out again. the timetable was shifting to a 24-minute service (and yes, this was scheduled). Part of the problem with running a 12-min service was there were very few points on the track you could make up time. Also, the trip from the fountain to the goldmine (town to southern terminus) takes 5-6 mins each way (depending on the traffic lights), and there's no passsing loop for that entire section.

But it was good. there were lots of trams buzzing around, which is good local exposure; there were hiccups, which is good to learn from; and there was cake. And the cake was not a lie! When I was first informed about the cake, I was told where pieces of it were, and went to grab some - and of course it wasn't there. So I told my fiancee that "the cake is a lie!" until I finally found it, much to her amusement (she too is familiar with portal).

Hopefully next year we have a couple of contingencies in place for late trams. or run a 15-minute service or something. Or just randomly smack another passing loop in the middle of High st.