The Society for many years has had a plan to build a vintage style Car shed in the village area which will provide extra storage space for our restored trams and a display area.
To build an archetypical car shed and office block based on the Christchurch Tramway Board’s premises in 1905. The car shed will have two roads with the third being a shunt road.
The original CTB town shed - what is proposed would be architectually similar, but much smaller with only two running roads.
The car shed is envisaged as a display – valuable storage will be provided while housing trams in a typical Edwardian brick tram barn.
Adjoining the car barn will be a typical suite of tramway offices, set up to display for visitors the behind the scenes workings of a tramway system – the conductors, cash receiving office, a general manager and engineer’s offices, and other administrative areas, including a Board room which can serve as a society meeting room, conductors’ and drivers’ facilities and lockers. No other Australasian tramway museum ha attempted to provide such facilities as an exhibition area, To do so is important – it is part of the tramway infrastructure which the society is attempting to display.
Along the back wall of the building will be a display area.
Entry to the depot area will be gained through an electrically operated point powered by a Collins Automatic Point Turner (from the High Street – Cashel Street intersection). Access to the depot will be through a gateway in a fence similar to that erected in Falsgrave Street in 1905 and across the former Wellington three way Kilbirnie point.
These functional works areas are also important because they demonstrate part of the real tramway operations.
The Permanent Way building will house the Leyland Lynx Truck, the McCormack Deering front end loader of 1929, with room one day for a tramway steam roller, as well as room for track tools, equipment and track spares.
The depot fan and sealed yard will provide storage for neatly stacked rails, sleepers, overhead poles, and ballast in ballast bins.
A building to house the two tower wagons – the Bedford tower wagon anf the historic Ford V8 which is a heritage vehicle from tramway days. The building will include storage space for all overhead fittings, tools and spares.
As funding and resources permit. However, no detailed planning or budgeting has taken place.
[End of Project description]