HISTORICAL NOTES

This painting is titled "Waiting for passengers at Neutral Bay". It depicts a Sydney K-class tram at the terminus of the Neutral Bay line waiting for its passengers to arrive by ferry from Circular Quay. Notice the driver waiting patiently while the destination box has not been set for its return journey to Neutral Bay junction.

The Neutral Bay line opened on the 25th of June, 1900. The line was a very steeply graded route down to the harbour and as a result single truck cars with track brakes were used for the majority of its life. A number of elderly single truck cars lasted in service up to the very end of the line for this reason as can be seen in the painting above.

The terminus of the Neutral Bay line was situated on a passenger ferry jetty. Trams no longer used this jetty from 1952 onwards to save on repairs and maintenance. This places the above painting circa 1950. The Neutral Bay line closed on the 27th of May 1956.

The tram dipicted in the painting entered service in 1913 and was the last 4 wheel tram in service in Sydney surviving on the Neutral Bay line until 1956. Fortunately this tram has been preserved at the Sydney Tramway Museum in Loftus.

Today the wharf at Neutral Bay no longer exists. A large turning circle at end of the road has been built to allow replacement buses to turn at this point.