Ridge Street Tram Depot was part of the Sydney tram network.

History

Ridge Street Depot was originally a cable

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

depot and

winding engine A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a wire rope, cable, for example to power a hoist (mining), mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motor ...

house that opened in 1886. On the conversion to electric operation the depot was extensively rebuilt in 1902 to enlarge the tram shed to twelve roads. The depot closed on 3 June 1909, replaced by North Sydney Depot. The old cable shed and winding engine house was demolished and the carriage sheds converted to a cinema (now the Independent Theatre) while the electric tram sheds were closed in 1909 and converted into the North Sydney Coliseum Roller Rink which became the Sydnian Theatre of Pictures in 1913 and reverting to the name Coliseum in 1915 .The Coliseum Theatre (Biograph) next door became a Vaudeville theatre six months after opening and remains a 'live' venue to the present day.

Design

The front elevation of the shed had a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

with recessed panels. Design included: *12 tracks *Panelled front parapet

Operations

The original cable depot served a short cable line to the

Milsons Point ferry wharf Milsons Point ferry wharf is located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour serving the North Sydney Council suburb of Milsons Point. It is next to Luna Park and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is served by Sydney Ferries Parramatta River and ...

. A typical cable tram consisted of two vehicles, a leading open tramcar, known as the "dummy" or "grip" car, and a second car that was an enclosed saloon tram or trailer. The system was powered by a large steam winding engine in Ridge Street. The engine's

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, a ...

hauled an endless steel cable lying beneath the road between the rails in a shallow channel along the tram route. Cable trams were replaced by electric trams in 1902 and the new electric depot served the isolated North Shore Lines.

References

{{coord missing, New South Wales Industrial buildings in Sydney Tram depots in Sydney Transport infrastructure completed in 1886