Rozelle Tram Depot is a former tram storage and operations centre that was part of the Sydney tram network. It is the largest remaining former tram depot in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 2016, the tram depot was redeveloped into a retail complex known as Tramsheds.

History

Rozelle Tram Depot opened on 17 April 1904, working in conjunction with Newtown and Ultimo depots operating trams on the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, south-western and

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

tram routes. The depot was originally accessed by a

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for 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 individ ...

from

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

which ran along what is now known as Minogue Crescent. Access to the depot was controlled by a

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

situated near the staff waiting room which also served as a changeover point for drivers. Constructed in stages from 1904 the depot was a 25 road car shed accommodating 96 carriages, this was gradually increased to 125 by 1907. Construction of the second half of the depot in that same year saw the depot cater for an additional 70 trams. From 1918 depot capacity was increased to 200 tram cars. In 1926 and 1928 the Rozelle Depot gardens won the Garden Competition which was held annually between tram depots. A Returned Soldiers branch was established by Tramways employees and a Soldiers Memorial was erected on-site at the front of the Traffic Offices on 26 November 1916. This was to commemorate the various depot staff who served in both

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Of the 1,157 Tramway men enlisted during

, 139 were either killed or went missing. Upon closure of Ultimo depot on 27 June 1953, Rozelle depot received additional trams to run the Darling Street Wharf to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

route. The depot ceased operations on 22 November 1958 upon closure of the Glebe line. On the following day the depot was cleared of all cars and the lines connecting the system were removed. Soon after its closure the depot was leased out to several different parties, including

CHEP CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) is an Australian company dealing in pallet and container pooling services, serving customers in a range of industrial and retail supply chains. It is a subsidiary of Brambles. CHEP offers wooden an ...

, the

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, the City of Sydney is ...

and the City Tram Association. The depot at one stage contained six historic Sydney trams, some of which date back to the 1930s, as well as a

Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster The Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster, sometimes simply known as the Leyland Worldmaster, was a Mid-engine design, mid-underfloor-engined single-decker bus or single-decker bus, single-decker coach (bus), coach chassis manufactured by Leyland Moto ...

bus that has been heavily vandalised. The trams that were in near mint condition prior to 2000 were vandalised, stripped and painted with graffiti.Rozelle Tram Depot
Sydney Architecture Five of the trams belonging to the Sydney Tramway Society were originally acquired and stored in the shed as part of a now defunct plan by the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

council to introduce a heritage tramway to The Rocks. One of the trams was R1 class 1995, the last tram to operate on Sydney's original tram network, entering

Randwick Tramway Workshops Randwick Bus Depot is a bus depot in the Sydney suburb of Randwick operated by Transdev John Holland. History In 1881 the Randwick Tramway Workshops were established on the corner of Darley Road and King Street, Randwick as the main workshops f ...

in February 1961 on the last day of operations. In 1995 and 1996, the adjacent

Harold Park Paceway Harold Park Paceway was a harness racing track in Forest Lodge, New South Wales, in use from 1890 to 2010. It was a half-mile track (804.5 metres) but was just 739 metres in circumference until some changes in its later years. Races at the tra ...

was reconstructed and expanded over Johnstons Creek and the original tram depot access road. A new access road (now Dalgal Way) to the tram depot was constructed to the west of the tram sheds. All other freestanding buildings within the depot site were also demolished. Summary phases of the former Rozelle Tram Depot site until the 2000s: * 1827–1904 Estuarine land, part of Toxteth Estate * 1904–1909 Tram Depot Establishment * 1904–1958 Tram Depot in Operation * 1959–1980s Storage, Depot and Workshop * 1980s–2004 General Store * 2004–2012 Vacant Building

Redevelopment

A development proposal submitted in 2005 that included multi-storey apartments, underground car parking and commercial offices ran into opposition from residents. The site has been considered for a variety of uses, including a market, artists' studios, performance spaces. On 10 December 2010 it was announced the entire Harold Park Paceway site had been purchased by

Mirvac Mirvac is an Australian property group with operations across property investment, development, and retail services. History Mirvac was founded in 1972 by Bob Hamilton and Henry Pollack. It first project was a block of 12 apartments in Rose Ba ...

to be redeveloped for

medium-density housing Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of ...

. The last tram (number 1995) was removed in January 2015. The depot was then turned into the Tramsheds retail complex that opened in September 2016. Tram number 1995 was restored in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

and returned for inclusion in the Tramsheds shopping centre.
Tramsheds Harold Park

History

Redevelopment

References

Further reading