2. City Fringes
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2. City Fringes |
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South Parklands
Stop 3, South Terrace is the point where the Glenelg line enters the private tramway reservation. The line then parallels Peacock Rd through the South Parklands (part of a belt of greenery surrounding the City of Adelaide) as far as Greenhill Road. Just after the South Terrace stop is a crossover. This is useful for turning trams back to Glenelg when access to King William St and Victoria Square is blocked for some reason. The crossover facility is used each year at the time of Adelaide's Christmas Pageant (a popular parade of floats which assembles in southern King William St). Most recently, the South Terrace crossover was used in April 2005 when a burst water main in King William St severely restricted traffic and shuttle buses where used to transfer passengers between Stop 3 and Victoria Square. Before conversion to electric tramway in 1929, the Glenelg line was a steam-operated railway.
The tram line crosses Greenhill Road (the southern ring road of the city) adjacent to the busy intersection with Peacock Rd & King William Rd. This is the only point outside the street running sections where the trams are required to stop on the approach to the road crossing and 'wait their turn' in the traffic signal sequence. When Adelaide's tramway system was still in existance, there was a parallel line of 'street tramway' in Peacock & King William Rds, serving the Hyde Park and Colonel Light Gardens routes. The Colonel Light Gardens line diverged from the Hyde Park line at a point known as 'Wayville Junction' in King William Road, just south of the Greenhill Rd stop. This then ran alongside, but separately to the Glenelg line as far as Goodwood Road. For a short distance south of Wayville Junction there were six parallel lines of tramway here, serving the three routes. | |||||||
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| Car 351 in the parklands approaching Stop 3, South Terrace with a city-bound service. 11.20 from Moseley Sq. on 19 May 2005 | 367 & 370 approach Greenhill Rd with a morning rush hour load on 12 April 2005. This set will return empty from City to Glengowrie Depot, hence the destination blind 'City' instead of the usual 'City/Glenelg' | ||||||
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After leaving the city, the first residential suburbs served by the line are Unley & Wayville. Both are desirable inner-city addresses with many character homes, often on generous blocks of land, and quiet leafy streets away from the main thoroughfares. The stretch between King William Road and Goodwood Road is one of the few parts of the tramline that does not have a street directly alongside. The intermediate tram stop at Moresby St has a quiet and isolated feel, although there is access from streets on both sides of the line. An unusual feature is the lack of any Stop 5 between Stop 4, Greenhill Road and Stop 6, Moresby St/Wayville. Before the Colonel Light Gardens route closed in 1957, there were four tram tracks along this section. The 'street' tramway was on the south side of the Glenelg line and had been totally separate since the junction at South Terrace in the city. The site of the Colonel Light Gardens line is now occupied by a paved footpath/bikeway. |
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| Car 380 approaches Moresby St, Wayville from the Goodwood Rd direction. 18 May 2005. | 367 & 351 at LeHunte St, Wayville, heading towards Stop 6. 10.30 departure from City on 31 March 2005 | 368 at Stop 6, Moresby St/Wayville, with an early afternoon service to Glenelg on 18 May 2005. | ||
All photography is ©.
