Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company

Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company cable tram in 1885
Engine house and cable winding machinery, Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company, 1898

The Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company (MTOC) was the company which established and operated Melbourne's cable tram system from 1885 to 1916.[1]:11 The company was started by Francis Boardman Clapp, who had come to Australia from the USA in 1853 to search for gold.[1]:11 In 1869 he set up the Melbourne Omnibus Company which ran horse-drawn trams in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. In company carried 4,990,077 passengers.[2] Clapp reorganised the horse tram company into the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company. By 1882 the company had over 1600 horses and 178 omnibuses.[3] In 1885 the company carried 11,659,937 passengers.[2]

The Victorian government offered him a 30-year exclusive contract to operate a tram system using either horse, steam or cable power.[1]:11 Clapp chose to use the cable system which was being used successfully in both Chicago and San Francisco. The 12 councils which were in the area to be serviced by the MOTC formed the Melbourne Tramway Trust.[1]:11 The Trust laid the tracks, bought land and built the cable winding houses. The MOTC provided the trams and operated the service. From 1885 to 1891 service was established to covered the suburbs of Brunswick, Carlton, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, Fitzroy, North Melbourne, South Melbourne, West Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Prahran, Richmond, St.Kilda and Toorak.[1]:5 By 1887 with the new cable cars, the company carried 17,996,067 passengers.[2]

The MOTC's lease expired in 1916, and the cable network was taken over by the Melbourne Tramways Board (later to become the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board). This board amalgamated Melbourne's nine tram systems into one cohesive network.[1]:12

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Brady, Ian A. (2011). Prahran and Malvern Tramway Trust. Sydney, Australia: Transit Publishing. ISBN 978 0 909459 23 9.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "THE MELBOURNE TRAMWAY AND OMNIBUS COMPANY.". Alexandra and Yea Standard, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express (Vic. : 1877 - 1908) (Vic.: National Library of Australia). 14 December 1888. p. 5. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Francis Boardman Clapp - transport entrepreneur". Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot. 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2013.