The former Rozelle tram depot, located in Glebe, New South Wales, is the largest remaining tram depot in Sydney, and is one of five remaining tram depots in the state of New South Wales. It was the second largest tram depot to service the Sydney network, running at peak capacity of approximately 200 trams from 1918, until its closure in 1958. It was amongst the largest and most sophisticated public tramway systems in the world and was a major place of employment during its time of operation, employing up to 650 staff. The depot was one of few workplaces of significant size in the Glebe area during its period.
The site is currently under the ownership of the New South Wales Harness Racing Club. The depot contains six historic trams, some of which date back to the 1930s, as well as an old coach that has been heavily vandalised. The trams that were in near mint condition prior to 2000 have now been vandalised, stripped and painted with graffiti. 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 council to introduce a new heritage tramway throughout the Rocks. One of the trams currently stored in the depot is tram: No. R1 1995, the last tram to operate on Sydney’s original tram network, entering Randwick workshops in February 1961 on the last day of operations.
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 site had peen purchased by Mirvac to be redeveloped for medium density housing. The future of the sheds and trams is especially unclear.
Susan of Dravens Halo took me out to the tram depot to spend the afternoon messing around with my camera. It was pretty grubby and for an abannoned warehouse there were a number of people there and even a few guys doing some new stuff. Below are some of the photos.. The rest are in my gallery
