IDJ/Hugh Farmer: The Peak Tram was opened for public service on 28 May 1888. Initially a static steam engine was used to power the haulage cable. [can anyone tell us who manufactured the original engine and any other details about the Tram’s early mechanical operation?] In 1926 an electric motor replaced the original engine. This was manufactured along with other […]
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Tymon Mellor: Following five years of construction, the West Rail Line opened for revenue services on the 20th December 2003 at 2pm. The KCRC was expecting around 200,000 passenger trips a day to use the new service, with the line providing a fast direct link between Kowloon and the north-west New Territories. But once the initial euphoria subsided there was […]
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Tymon Mellor: During 2002, the civil works of West Rail was completed and the railway systems contractors had been provided with access to install their systems. Each system had to pass a series of tests before it could then be integrated with other systems and the wider control system. Once over that hurdle, the railway could commence trial operations and […]
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IDJ: An Aeroplane Called Wanda For most people entering the main terminal at Hong Kong International Airport from taxis and buses, getting to the Check-In areas is their main priority. They do not see or ignore the vintage bi-plane hanging from the terminal’s ceiling even though it positioned next to well-used pedestrian ramps. Those on the ground floor are more […]
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Many thanks to IDJ for sending this article in. Thanks also to SCT for proofreading the following copy of the newspaper article. The images below did not appear in the original article. Cross-harbour report expected early 1961 By A CHINA MAIL REPORTER The report of the joint consulting engineers investigating the possibility of a harbour bridge or an alternative link […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a number of British Army Aid Group (BAAG) reports regarding Japanese efforts to collect metals, vehicles, machinery, coins etc for export, mainly to Japan, during their occupation of Hong Kong (WW2). Elizabeth has re-typed several of these reports and has kindly added references to assist searching where this has not been done. This was a considerable effort […]
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James Chan: Yau Fung Tours and Transportation Company Ltd, later trading as Hong Kong Bus was incorporated on 11th February 1977 and dissolved on 31st July 2008. “Another operator who had traditionally run an all-single-deck fleet was Yau Fung Tours which introduced six ex-Greater Manchester Fleetlines in 1987. These were followed by two ex-Stagecoach of Perth Neoplan Skyliners. A further single Fleetline […]
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HF with thanks to IDJ for the two adverts. The cable used in the Aerial Ropeway constructed to link Takoo Sugar Refinery and its Sanitarium was made by Bullivant & Co. which began as a UK company. William Munton Bullivant was an early innovator in the stranded wire cordage field, invented in the mid-19th century by German mining engineers in the […]
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF HONG KONG AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Hong Kong Air, the Colony’s only commercial helicopter service, commenced operations in August 1970 and initially was based at the Flying Club. The Club made its hangar available to Hong Kong Air until the present hangar near the HAECO complex was completed. The first helicopters in the Hong Kong Air fleet […]
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Tymon Mellor: Following the Second World War, in 1949 the Royal Air Force established a permanent airfield at Shatin,with a 350m long concrete runway, coordinates 05/23 and a small control tower, along with building and hangars made of corrugated steel. With the growing tension in China, during the 1950’s the British Army Air Corps operated Auster AOP.9 spotter planes from the […]
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