Editing Trams in Melbourne (section)

===First electric trams===
[[File:Box Hill to Doncaster tram.jpg|thumb|left|[[Box Hill, Victoria|Box Hill]] to [[Doncaster, Victoria|Doncaster]] tram]]
The first electric tram in Melbourne was built in 1889 by the Box Hill and Doncaster Tramway Company Limited—an enterprise formed by a group of land developers—and ran from [[Box Hill railway station, Melbourne|Box Hill railway station]] along what is now Station Street and Tram Road to [[Doncaster, Victoria|Doncaster]], using equipment left over from the Centennial International Exhibition of 1888 at the [[Royal Exhibition Building]]. The venture was marred with disputes and operational problems, and ultimately failed, with the service ceasing in 1896.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/boxhill.htm |title=Australia's first electric tram: the Box Hill to Doncaster tramway |author=Robert Green |date=October 1989 |work=Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-date=23 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823002339/http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/boxhill.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

After this venture failed, electric trams returned on 5 May 1906, with the opening of the [[Victorian Railways#Other functions|Victorian Railways Electric Street Railway]] from [[St Kilda, Victoria|St Kilda]] to [[Brighton, Victoria|Brighton]], and was followed on 11 October 1906 with the opening of the [[List of defunct utility companies in Victoria, Australia#The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company|North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company]] (NMETL) system, which opened two lines from the cable tram terminus at Flemington Bridge to [[Essendon, Victoria|Essendon]] and Saltwater River (now [[Maribyrnong River]]).<ref name="The early days"/>

====Victorian Railways Electric Street Railways====
[[File:Two Victorian Railway trams.jpg|thumb|right|Two [[Victorian Railways]] trams]]
The [[Victorian Railways]] line came about when [[Thomas Bent]] became [[Premier of Victoria|Premier]]. A leading land boomer, he stood to benefit from construction of the line, through the increased value of his large land holdings in the area, and pushed through the legislation to enable to building of the line by the VR in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/bent.htm |title=Bent by name, Bent by nature |author=Russell Jones |year=2003 |work=Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-date=22 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822235125/http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/bent.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The VR tram was called a "Street Railway" and was built using the Victorian Railways {{Track gauge|5ft3in}} [[broad gauge]] instead of the cable tramway [[standard gauge]] of {{Track gauge|impsg}}, and connected it with the [[St Kilda railway station]], which would allow trams to be moved along the St Kilda railway line for servicing at [[Jolimont Yard]].<ref name="VR electric street railways">{{cite web |url=http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/vrtram.htm |title=VR electric street railways |author=Russell Jones |year=2003 |work=Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-date=22 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822235824/http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/vrtram.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The line was opened in two stages, from St Kilda railway station to Middle Brighton on 5 May 1906 and to Brighton Beach terminus on 22 December 1906.<ref name="The early days"/>

A fire at the Elwood tram depot on 7 March 1907 destroyed the depot and all the trams. Services resumed on 17 March 1907 using four [[Sydney C-Class Tram|C-class trams]] and three [[Sydney D-Class Tram|D-class trams]] from [[Trams in Sydney|Sydney]], which were altered to run on VR trucks salvaged from the fire. These trams sufficed until [[Newport Workshops]] built 14 new trams. The St Kilda to Brighton Beach Electric Street Railway closed on 28 February 1959 and was replaced by buses.<ref name="VR electric street railways"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=vr_tramway_reminisences |title=V.R. Tramway "Reminisences." |author=Paul Nicholson |date=June–July 1969 |work=Running Journal |access-date=28 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220032730/http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=vr_tramway_reminisences |archive-date=20 February 2011 }}</ref>

VR opened a second, standard gauge, electric tramway from [[Sandringham railway station]] to [[Black Rock, Victoria|Black Rock]] on 10 March 1919, it was extended to [[Beaumaris, Victoria|Beaumaris]] on 2 September 1926. The service was withdrawn on 5 November 1956 and replaced with buses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=the_sandringham_tramway |title=The Sandringham Tramway |author=Arthur Stone |date=October–November 1969 |work=Running Journal |access-date=3 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706130417/http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=the_sandringham_tramway |archive-date=6 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/237.htm |work=[[City of Kingston]] |title=Did You Know?: Trams |access-date=3 June 2011 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706122730/http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/htm/article/237.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

====North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company====
[[File:NMETL first tram.jpg|thumb|right|First North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Co tram on opening day]]
The [[List of defunct utility companies in Victoria, Australia#The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company|North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company]] (NMETL) was an electricity and tramway company that operated from 1906 to 1922.<ref name="A brief history of the North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company">{{cite web |url=http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/nmetl.htm |title=A brief history of the North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company |author=Russell Jones |year=2005 |work=Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot |access-date=4 January 2012 |archive-date=24 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424231907/http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/nmetl.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The tramway section was taken over by the MMTB on 1 August 1922 and the electricity section taken over by the [[State Electricity Commission of Victoria]] in 1922.<ref name="Between the Wars">{{cite web |url=http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/tramway-milestones/between-the-wars/ |work=[[Yarra Trams]] |title=Between the Wars |access-date=26 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102235108/http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/tramway-milestones/between-the-wars/ |archive-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002# |work=[[Public Record Office Victoria]] |title=State Electricity Commission of Victoria (previously known as the Electricity Commissioners) |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006194727/http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002 |archive-date=6 October 2009 }}</ref>

The Victorian Government of Sir Thomas Bent approved an application by Mr Morgan to build a tramway system in the Essendon area on 29 March 1904, with a poll of ratepayers overwhelming supporting the proposition on 29 July 1904 (2874 votes to 146). Mr Morgan transferred the concession to the NMETL, which had been formed to build the system and provide electricity to the area. Under the concession the NMETL was to construct a tramway and provide electricity within the municipalities of Essendon and Flemington for 30 years, it also mandated a service at least every 20 minutes and had provisions for the undertaking to become property of the municipalities involved earlier than the prescribed 30 years.<ref name="A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited">{{cite web |url=http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=a_brief_history_of_the_north_melbourne_electric_tramways_and_lighting_company_limited |title=A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited |author=K. S. Kings |date=October 1966 |work=[[Tramway Museum Society of Victoria|TMSV]] Running Journal |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424011139/http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=a_brief_history_of_the_north_melbourne_electric_tramways_and_lighting_company_limited |archive-date=24 April 2012 }}</ref>

The NMETL bought land on [[Mount Alexander Road]] for its offices, car barn and power house, with the foundation stone laid by the Mayors of Essendon and Flemington on 24 May 1905, and the first rail laid a month later by Premier Bent. The system opened on 11 October 1906 operating two routes from Flemington Bridge—one to Essendon via Mount Alexander Road, [[Pascoe Vale Road]], Fletcher Street and onto Mount Alexander Road again (with a short branch line along Puckle Street), and the second to Saltwater River via Mount Alexander Road, Victoria Street, Racecourse Road, Epsom Road, Union Road and Maribyrnong Road. The system was approximately {{convert|7|mi|km|1|abbr=on}} and was operated by 25 motor cars and 10 trailers.<ref name="A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited"/>