"On 8 May 1954 tramcar No. 24, which had been left unattended, rolled down the hill on the north side of Sturt St, derailed and smashed into an empty office at the Buck's Head (and not into a crowded hotel bar, as folklore would have it). No. 24 was badly damaged, never ran again, and was later scrapped. The hotel only lasted another six years and was demolished in 1960."

The tram driver, known as a "Motorman" was at fault, for not ensuring the points for the junction at the Sturt and Lydiard St. North were set for the curve into Lydiard St. North. Also he did not put the brakes on correctly. Had he set the points, the tramcar would have rolled around the curve. He did not, and the tramcar rolled down the Sturt Street hill, derailed at the curve to enter into Bridge Street and rolled across the road into the hotel. The driver was later dismissed despite the intervention of the Union. Fortunately in 1954, Sturt Street was a quiet street with few cars compared to today.

No. 24 attempting to get a drink in the Buck’s Head Hotel.
The Courier Ballarat Photo – duplicate of a photo held in the Ballarat Historical Society colllection.

This image shows the Buck’s Head Hotel at the corner of Grenville St. and Bridge St, with the S.E.Dickens grocery store in the background. Ballarat Courier photo of 17/2/1960 at the time of the announcement of the sale of the two buildings for redevelopment. The tram crashed into the building at about the point of the canvas awning on the right.

The Sturt St. hill – the tram rolled away from the top of the hill, just on the right hand edge of the photo.

Photo from Alan Bradley of the BTM collection.

The map below shows the route of the runaway tram (the red line) from the corner of Lydiard St. North and Sturt St. to the corner of Grenville and Bridge Streets. Map from a portion of the "Greater Ballarat Association" map of July 1968 with some additions.

Tramcar No.24 was one of group of ex-Melbourne tramcars bought in 1930 by the Electric Supply Company (ESCo) to replace the 1905 tramcars. It began its life in 1916 as Hawthorn Tramways Trust No. 2, later renumbered to 108 by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board and known as a "M" class tramcar. The Museum has three tramcars of the same origin in its fleet, number 26, 27 and 28.