Melbourne Cable Tramways – Macmeikan & Pollock Reports

Repair Shops

The repair shops at Nicholson St, North Fitzroy, were constructed and equipped to carry out the great majority of works in connection with the operation of the cable tram system:

• Rolling Stock: Construction, overhaul and maintenance of all vehicles including grips, together with manufacture of rolling stock tools, patterns and equipment.
• Permanent Way: Manufacture or renewals of shunts, special work, curves, dummy heads, kicker bars, switch points, slot beams, slot deviations, switch point mechanisms, signalling gear, tie rods, track fittings.
• Cable & tunnel equipment: Manufacture or renewals of sheaves, pulleys, pulley frames, grease boxes, check bars, rubbing bars, manhole frames & covers, cabled pick-ups, grip hatches and special tunnel tools.
• Engine houses: Repairs & replacements of engine & boiler components & fittings, feed pumps, engine shafts, cable drivers, tension carriages, cable drums & engines, tools & equipment.
• Buildings: Repairs & maintenance of engine houses, car depots, head office, repair shops, together with maintenance of hydraulic lifts at head office and repair shops.
• Miscellaneous: Repair & maintenance of tar carts, drays and other horse drawn equipment.

However, after construction of the bogie trailer cars, all body and paint work for these cars was carried out at Brunswick Depot, as there were difficulties in transporting the long bogie cars back to Nicholson St. The bogies and brake gear of these cars continued to be maintained at Nicholson St, carried there by horse drawn lorries.

Maintenance of bell punches and ticket nippers was carried out in a small workshop room at MTOC head office, 673 Bourke St, Melbourne.

Repair Shops – Construction & Operation

The construction of the Nicholson St repair shops was very similar to that of the car depots, with the exception that it was a two storey building. The ground level was used as the engineering workshop, engine room and machine shop, with the exception of a small office on the Nicholson St frontage used for repair shop administration, particularly in the areas of timekeeping, job costing and other relevant details.

The upstairs area immediately above the ground floor office was occupied by the repair shops’ Superintendent, his staff clerk and assistant, together with a store. The remainder of the floor was occupied by wood machinists, car builders, carpenters, pattern makers and painters. The paint shop was located at the rear of this floor and was partitioned off to prevent drying paintwork from being spoiled by dust and dirt.

A hydraulic lift was built about midway through the building to elevate cars from ground level up to the wood shop or paint shop. From the lift a combined traverser and turntable was used to convey the dummy or car to the wood or paint shop, and turn it into the bay desired. A plan of the repair shop is available at Figure 18. Note the water tank stand, which supported a water tank above the roof level. This was required for fire fighting purposes, which was a considerable risk due to the amounts of paints, thinners, oils, timber and other flammable materials held within the workshops.

Figure 18. Floor layout of Nicholson Street car repair shops.

From the Macmeikan report.

Repairs and overhaul of grips was performed separately to the dummies and cars, being handled by the engineers’ shop, to which the grips were directly delivered from the depots via lorry. All rolling stock was delivered to the workshops via the Nicholson Street line or via cartage by a special horse-drawn lorry from the car depots.

All engine house and permanent way repairs performed at the Repair Shops required the collection by horse-drawn lorry of the various items. In addition, permanent way curves, special work, and other track related components were fabricated at the workshops.

The power for operation of all machinery was provided by a steam plant, the engine driving a main line of shafting, driving both the woodworking machinery on the upper floor via belt drive as well as the engineering machinery on the ground floor. Each machine was fitted with the appropriate gearing and reduction drives for operation at the correct speed.

The more important machines were as follows:

• Centre lathe used for turning engine shafts, approximately 15' long by 16" diameter, crank discs about 4' 6" diameter, sheave pins 9" diameter and other similar work.
• Large faceplate lathe used for mounting and turning complete sets of driver segments, machining sheaves (including 13' and 14' diameter cable drivers).
• Grinding machines for dummy and car wheels with the axle mounted between centres and geared to revolve at very low speed. Two saddles, one for each wheel, were employed with grinding wheels running at high speed, being revolved by a special belt drive. The grinding wheels were fed to the car wheels very slowly by large ratchet wheels operated by pawls on long levers, moved by a bar clamped to the axle. The feed of the grinding wheels could be manually operated if required.
• Cutting machine for grip dies. These machines slowly revolved disk saws with special tooth formation to cut the double bevelled end on the dies.
• Special grinder for rope pulleys and drums. The machine was specially adapted to take the various types and sizes of pulleys used in the system. Easy changing of grinding wheels to suit the various types of pulleys and drums was also a special feature of the machine.

Special equipment for boring out cylinder liners in situ at the engine houses, and work of a similar nature was maintained at the Repair Shops. This equipment, including a steam engine, gearing, piping, cutter bars, feed, screws, etc., was kept in first class order at the Repair Shops. It was always an operation carried out by the workshops staff under the Workshops’ Superintendent. A portable steam boiler was also kept available for work to be undertaken where steam was not available.

The blacksmith’s shop had 16 forges in constant operation to cope with the forging requirements of the system. The rolling stock, including grips, called for many forged components, and in addition, engine house and permanent way forgings were numerous. All cartage was performed by the Repair Shops.

Repair Shops – Maintenance

The staff employed at the Nicholson St repair shops carried out all maintenance work, including to building and plant, under the management of the repair shops superintendent. The style of the building meant that maintenance of the facility itself was low, with the exception of the plant, including machines, engine, boiler and hydraulic lift equipment, which were quite maintenance intensive. This upkeep was generally carried out on weekends in order to minimise disruption to normal activities, but if lengthier work was required it was usually carried out during the Christmas holidays. Minor maintenance work was performed at night or on Saturday afternoons.

At Easter, machines were checked over and stock of all machine tool equipment was taken. Under the supervision of the Machines & Engineers’ Shop foreman, it was possible to maintain the various machines and equipment in good order, and have available all cutting tools and accessories for which the operators were made responsible. Lockers were provided for the safe keeping of these items.

Maintenance of horse-drawn vehicles attached to the repair shops, which were regarded as part of the standard equipment, was maintained by repair shops’ staff, which included a wheelwright.

Maintenance of tracks inside and outside the repair shops was carried out by the permanent way staff.