Joseph Tse, our unofficial Hong Kong Tram correspondent has written an article for the HK Tramways website about the recent launching, in January 2016, of a 1920s style open top sightseeing tram. Car 30 was used as the basis for the rebuilt tram. The new car number 68, pronounced ‘luk fat‘ in Cantonese which translates as ‘continue making money‘, has re-chromed […]
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Rob Weir: The following information comes from War Office (WO) and Foreign Office (FO) documents held at The National Archives at Kew, London, UK. These notes were basically made “in passing” as a diversion to my main interests and so are fairly rough. I’ve put them in ascending date order from the first reference I found until the last. This doesn’t mean there […]
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IDJ has sent the following account from an unknown source about numerous proposals regarding different forms of transport mainly on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon but also extending into the New Territories. Only a couple were carried out. Monorail proposals 1974 Tsim Sha Tsui – Kwun Tong 1978 Proposed new airport at Chek Lap Kok – Kowloon late 1970s […]
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HF: Q+A 33 asks for further information about a proposed suspension bridge from HK Island to Lei Yue Mun which had been mentioned in a letter by R Coates in the SCMP of 30th January 2016. I doubted that such a bridge would have been feasible given that it would have been directly in front of, and at right angle to, […]
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Lawrence Tsui adds more to our growing information about the proposed Ping Shan airport. He has sent an extract from his father’s autobiography which highlights tensions regarding constructing the airport in this location. Lawrence writes:-There’s a slightly different perspective to the Ping Shan Airport in Paul Tsui’s unpublished memoire “My life & My Encounters’ Chapter XVI (para. 7) regarding his […]
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HF: How many cities have multi-storey depots for double decker buses? Hong Kong does. Here’s one at 391 Chai Wan Road/Sheung On Street, the former head office of Hong Kong’s first bus company China Motor Bus. A five storey concrete parking facility it was the company’s largest depot but now appears empty and unused. In February 1998, the government announced the […]
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The Bombay Courier, India. June 23, 1810. “On Tuesday last His Majesty’s Ship, the “Minden” built in the new docks (Bombay) by Jamshedji Bomanji Wadia was floated into the stream at high water, after the usual ceremony of breaking the bottle had been performed by the Honorable Governor Jonathan Duncan. In having produced the “Minden”, Bombay is entitled to the distinguished […]
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James Chan: The SCMP of 26th October 2015 contained an article which began: Hong Kong’s first locally designed electric bus will roll out onto the city’s roads next month in a test run its creators hope will boost the local electric vehicle industry. The 12.5-tonne single deck electric bus, designed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council and Hong Kong Automotive Parts […]
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HF: The SCMP of 7th September 2015 contained an article titled, ‘Isolated pier harbours problems for city icon‘. This referred to a 20% drop in passenger numbers at the Wanchai Pier experienced by the Star Ferry Company since the pier was moved to a more isolated location in August 2014. Operations manager Samson Leung Shui-kin, pictured below right, with Star […]
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HF: I learnt about this company through the personal effects of Harry Kin Hong Long who briefly worked for Kung Lee from March to July 1923. Harry worked on two ships, the Kwong Mo and the Tin Ming as can be seen in his appointment letter below. Julia Bradshaw has kindly given permission to quote from her book, Golden Prospects…which finds […]
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