Proposed Peak Tramway extension to Queen’s Road
IDJ has sent the following newspaper articles regarding the proposal to extend the Peak Tram down to Queen’s Road. If you are not familiar with the location of the Peak Tram you may not be aware that the bottom “station” of the line is situated a couple of hundred yards up a hill and is therefore somewhat inconvenient to reach. The extension discussed in the following article would take the tram line down to the bottom of the hill where it would be easily linked to other forms of transport such as buses and the MTR (underground railway).
HF: I have retyped the articles to aid clarity and website searches.
Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped articles below.
The article does not feature any images so I have borrowed the one below of, the proposed Queen’s Road Terminus, which appears in our article, Peak Tram to Queen’s Road escalator proposal, newspaper article 1934, linked below.
PEAK TRAMWAY TO QUEEN’S ROAD
ROSY OUTLOOK AFTER 46 YEAR BATTLE
PRACTICABLE SCHEME FORMULATED
PETITION TO GOVERNMENT
Nearly half a century ago the question of extending the Peak Tramway from its present terminus in Garden Road to a more central position in Queen’s Road was first broached. Nothing has yet been achieved, though negotiations with the military authorities, who refuse to allow the tramway to encroach on their property in Garden Road, have been in progress throughout these years.
Today the outlook is far more optimistic, and an actual sketch of the newly proposed viaduct scheme has already been drawn by Messrs. Leigh and Orange for the Tramway Company. The cost of the project is, of course, unavailable at this early date, but is learned from a reliable source that Sir Elly Kadoorie, on of the biggest shareholders in the Company, is in favour of the scheme.
The only fly in the ointment is the military, but it is believed by many that they are not likely to view the extension with such disfavour now that a concrete scheme has been formulated. Prominent local residents are heartily in favour of the extension, which was suggested in the “China Mail” in 1888, and many have expressed the desire that a petition be sent to his Excellency the Governor with the request that it might be forwarded to the War Office in London.
The question, which affects, daily, approximately 3,500 people, among whom are many business leaders of the colony is important enough to reach the floor of the House of Commons in the interests of the British outpost.
Interviewed regarding the possibility of such an extension taking place, Mr D.E. Clark, General Manager, and Mr L.G. Scott, Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the Company, were most optimistic that one day, perhaps in the near future, the extension would be made possible.
The suggestion of a viaduct would be more costly from the engineering point of view, but would interfere less with existing buildings running alongside of the Military Detention House, and obviating the blockage of the military road, north of the Detention House.
The viaduct would run from the present station and would come to ground about two-thirds of the distance from the station at Queen’s Road Central, the new station being at the corner where the garden of the Officers’ Mess is now situated.
SURVEY ALREADY MADE
The Peak Tramway Company have not been inactive regarding the matter, and a full knowledge of the possibilities and difficulties is before them. A preliminary survey of the necessary work was made as far back as 1929.
Two possibilities suggest themselves to the Company, the first and most practicable being to run the tram along the side of Garden Road, through a narrow strip of military land.
The other suggestion is to run the tram over a viaduct to Queen’s Road, where an elevator station would carry passengers to and from the cars.
The first suggested manner would not entail any great expense or difficulty, the gradient being easy, and the need for a great deal of levelling being unnecessary.
There would be no interference with traffic while the extensions were being made, the only necessary halt being while the new cables are hooked on to the winding engines.
WINDING GEAR SUITABLE
The present winding equipment, which is a Metropolitan Vickers mining type hoisting gear, fitted with Ward-Leonard control gear, run by 250 h.p. D.C. electric motors, was designed to carry the extra footage of hoist when it was installed in 1926.
It is interesting to note that this hoisting installation is the only mining type electrical winding gear which has been adapted to passenger use.
The difficulty of extending the trackway from the present station to Queen’s Road is not the only point which will have to be overcome in the event of the extension being made.
The present track length is 4690 feet, and it is a technical necessity that the crossing place be exactly half way in order to balance the lengths of the winding cables.
The extension which will be of approximately 1,000 feet will mean an alteration of the present crossing place to a spot some 500 feet lower. A project which will possibly mean the widening of the May Road bridge in order to take the double line.
Source: Hong Kong Sunday Herald 8th July 1934.
This article was first posted on 29th March 2022.
Related Indhhk articles:
- The Peak Tram
- The Peak Tram – additional information
- The Peak Tram – How it works
- Yates and Thom, Blackburn, UK – Makers of the original Peak Tram engines
- Michael Rogge film 1962 -The Peak Tram, Peak views, Repulse Bay, Central scenes
- European Settlements in the Far East – Part Three, The Peak District and the Peak Tram in HK around 1900
- Bus, tram and peak tram conductors
- Proposed second Peak Tram – 1908 – the route and objections
- Peak Tram: The Ward Leonard System installed 1926
- The Peak Tram – the Abt Passing Loop , 1879 invention
- Peak Tramways – additional locations and alterations
- Peak Tram to Queen’s Road escalator proposal, newspaper article 1934