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North Shore Heritage Thematic Review Report ... - Auckland Council

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Fig. 5. Unloading scows into carts at Duder‟s Wharf, Torpedo Bay. Sir George Grey Special Collections, <strong>Auckland</strong> City<br />

Libraries 4-3039<br />

2.1.2 Trams<br />

In 1885 the Devonport and Lake Takapuna Tramways Company Ltd obtained a concession for an<br />

ambitious project to run horse trams through various routes in Devonport and as far afield as Lake<br />

Takapuna (Pupuke).<br />

Tracks were laid, and from September 1886 they operated from Devonport to Cheltenham with the idea of<br />

transporting ferry passengers to Cheltenham Beach for outings. It was never a financial success, no further<br />

tracks were laid and the company was sold to the Duder Brothers after just six months. They too gave up<br />

on it in 1894. A passenger service with horse coaches ran to Takapuna from the 1880s and further north<br />

from 1895. 22<br />

Various attempts to operate trams in Devonport were made in 1898 and 1907 but these did not succeed. By<br />

1908, the Takapuna Tramways and Ferry Company Ltd had been formed by Edwin Mitchelson, whose<br />

steam trams are credited with opening up the Bayswater / Belmont and Takapuna areas for settlement.<br />

Tracks were laid from Bayswater Wharf up King Edward Avenue (Bayswater Avenue), and northward<br />

along Lake and Hurstmere roads to Shakespeare Road, around Lake Pupuke and back to Hall‟s Corner in<br />

Takapuna. The steam-driven trams proved very popular. However, opposition came from the Alison family<br />

who owned the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. but were denied a license to run their buses further north than<br />

Belmont. However, Ewen Alison found a loophole by buying a fleet of seven-seater Hudson cars, which<br />

were not classed as buses and were more comfortable than the tram, to bring passengers to his ferries at<br />

Devonport. The Tramways and Ferry Co. Ltd folded in 1927, selling its ferries to the Devonport Steam<br />

22 Devonport Historical and Museum Society.<br />

<strong>North</strong> <strong>Shore</strong> <strong>Heritage</strong> - <strong>Thematic</strong> <strong>Review</strong> <strong>Report</strong><br />

136

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