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From issue: February 2002

Up to Wellington's Heights

by John Daniels

A new museum in Wellington celebrates an intriguing piece of New Zealand's transport history.

The Kelburn cable cars of the original system, probably in the late 1970s. Picture: Wellington City Archives

One hundred years ago, in February 1902, Wellington's cable cars ran between Kelburn and the city for the first time. Almost a century later, in December 2001, the Wellington Museums Trust Cable Car Museum, featuring a set of those 1902 cars, celebrated a successful first year open to the public. The opening of the museum in December 2000 resulted from the combined efforts of many people and organisations, and marked the end of a story with some surprising twists and turns.

The top of the Kelburn cable car line soon after it opened. What remains of the building at centre right, which was the system's winding house, now houses the cable car museum. Picture: Alexander Turnbull Library, ref.no. F104796-1/2*

The cable car system owed its origin to the development of the suburb of Kelburn in the late nineteenth century. Although the area was close to the city centre, the topography was steep and the new suburb could not easily be served by a tramway system. The developers, looking to successful precedents in Dunedin, saw a cable car system as the solution. So in 1898 the Kelburne and Karori Tramway Company was formed to construct and operate a cable car between Lambton Quay and the recently formed Upland Road. The system, designed by a young engineer James Fulton, used a possibly unique combination of funicular railway and San Francisco-style street cable systems to provide the new suburb with efficient transportation. After World War II the system was purchased by the Wellington City Council.

Looking down the Kelburn cable car line towards Wellington Harbour at about the time the cars first started running Picture: Alexander Turnbull Library, ref. no. F8120-1/2*

Fulton's original design was for two grip cars, from which the gripmen controlled the braking system. The design was apparently based on the Dunedin cars. Early in 1904 trailer cars were added to cope with increased patronage. These cars had originally served as horse-drawn street tramcars in the 1880s. The old tramcars were modified to serve as the trailer cars, but retained some of their original features.

Moving one of the vintage cars into the Museum while it was being developed. Picture: Peter O'Neill

For seventy-six years the Kelburn cable cars plied the steep incline, carrying residents, Victoria University students, and tourists to and from the city. The whole system, with its increasingly antiquated Edwardian cars, became a symbol of Wellington and one of the city's best loved features. Generations of Well-ingtonians have stories to tell of travelling on and in the cars, sitting precariously on the raked outside seats, and stretching out feet to mark the tunnel walls. The sounds of the cars and the gripman's bell linger in the memories of many.

Garry Bennett at work on one of the signs while the vintage cable cars were being prepared for display in the new museum. Picture: Peter O'Neill

The cars had a good safety record. On a few occasions braking misjudgements caused overruns at the city end and cars ran into the ticket booth, but otherwise problems were minor. Nevertheless, by the 1970s questions were being raised about the future of the system. In 1973 a worker on the new motorway was run over by an ascending cable car. Although responsibility for this accident was unclear, it sparked a series of inquiries which led first to the removal of the trailers and eventually, in 1978, to the demise of the old system. It was decided to design a completely new system, which operates today.

Recreating the past in the cable car museum: passengers of years past. Picture: Celia O'Neill

The old tracks and most buildings were removed, but the 1902 winding house, containing the old driving machinery, was left at the top of the tracks. The old cars went in several directions. One set is well cared for at the Wellington Tramway Museum at Paekakariki. Two grip cars and one trailer were stored at city council bus depots. One trailer was used in a play area and unfortunately modified.

Detail of a restored vintage cable car in the museum. Picture: Wellington Museums Trust

Over the years thought was occasionally given to the future of the stored cars but nothing eventuated. The old winding house was used for various purposes and became increasingly run down. Then in 1993, the city council unveiled a plan to redesign the Kelburn entrance to the Botanic Gardens, requiring demolition of the winding house. A public meeting was called to seek reaction. Instead of the expected approval, the council faced a barrage of opposition from Kelburn residents and others strongly supporting retaining the winding house and setting up a museum featuring the old cable cars. The council bowed gracefully to public opinion, abandoned the grand entrance plan, and put its support behind the museum idea.

The cable car museum is housed in the part that remains of one of the few surviving buildings of the original system. Picture: Graham Stewart

Things started to move. Wellington Cable Car Heritage, headed by Peter O'Neill, was formed to work with the council and provide volunteer support for the project. The council commissioned con-servation plans for the winding house and the cars. The Historic Places Trust agreed to register the building as a category 2 historic place. Later the Wellington Museums Trust developed the museum.

The winding house as originally built was a twin gable structure housing a steam engine and driving machinery. When the steam plant was removed in 1933 the boiler house wing was removed. Over the years other alterations destroyed much of its original character. However, the conservation plan prepared by conservation consultant Michael Kelly and architect Ian Bowman showed that sufficient of the original building was left to justify its being conserved. Fortunately, most of the original 1902 driving machinery, and the big electric motors installed in 1933, remained in the basement. Upstairs, the large open space where cars had been serviced lent itself well to development as a museum, featuring a car set as centrepiece. Deferred maintenance, damp problems, and structural weaknesses all had to be addressed.

The three stored cars had also deteriorated since leaving service in 1978. Housed in damp and dirty locations, the cars had suffered rust and damage to wood and paint work. Many fittings had disappeared. A conservation plan for the cars was prepared by Michael Kelly and conservator Jack Fry. How to treat the paintwork was a major issue. The Wellington City Corporation standard red and cream had become dirty and dull, and there were numerous damaged areas. One school of thought was to remove the old paint and repaint the cars in their original colours. Proponents argued, very reasonably, that this is what the council had done regularly when the cars were in service. The other side favoured retaining the old paint, cleaning and retouching as required, to preserve something of the original character of the cars. The agreed solution was to conserve as much as possible of the existing paint, and to retouch missing or badly damaged areas. A pleasingly authentic finish was achieved. Retouching was specially challenging as the red paint had faded to a multitude of different shades. Numerous carefully labelled little tins of mixed shades of retouching paint were used!

As well as the paint treatment, there was metalwork to be de-rusted and painted, woodwork to be repaired, and broken glass to be replaced. Brass fittings such as door handles and grips were an expensive problem. Many had disappeared and replicas had to be made, but some original fittings such as headlights and buzzers were found and reinstated.

Meanwhile, in the basement, retired mechanical engineer Bill Pitt oversaw the refurbishing of the driving machinery. First a huge clean-up was needed. Local members of the International Guild of Knot Tyers made a very difficult splice in the wire driving rope to reinstate the endless driving rope. The 1933 electric motors were too large to be used in the museum setup, so a smaller motor was used to drive the machinery in a convincing simulation of the old system. The 1902 machinery is one of the few haulage systems of that era left anywhere in the world.

While the conservation work proceeded, the Wellington Museums Trust agreed to manage the museum and began to plan the displays under the direction of Museum Manager Emmanuel Makarios. Wall panels showing the origins and history of the system, and its place in the city's life, were installed. A continuous video shows historical film footage of the old cable cars, including clips from a 1920s silent comedy film The Adventures of Algy.

Funding for the project came from many sources. Wellington Cable Car Heritage and other volunteers provided hundreds of hours of voluntary labour and specialised skills. Private donations came from Wellington families, trusts and pub charities. Wellington City Council funded conservation plans and work on the winding house. Lottery Environment and Heritage funded work on the machinery. Wellington Museums Trust provided displays and meets ongoing staffing and operational costs.

By October 2000, 100,000 visitors had come through the doors, well exceeding targets. But the museum is not going to stand still. Celebrations to mark the centennial of the old cable car system will be held in February 2002. The Museum is considering the feasibility of restoring and displaying the third grip car. This was one of the original cars and was used only when the others were out of service, so it was not modified as extensively as they were. This would allow the car to be restored to its 1904 appearance.

The winding house, now the Cable Car Museum has been registered by the Historic Places Trust as a Category II historic place.

John Daniels is a former Director of the Historic Places Trust.

The centennial celebrations for the cable car system will be held on the weekend 23-24 February 2002. For more details, check the Museum's website.