MOTAT's Trams

December is the 50th Anniversary of the iconic tramway at Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology. Alan Curtis began volunteering as a tram driver at MOTAT in 1963. A MOTAT open day on November 19 will be looking for more volunteers like him.

MOTAT tram driver volunteer Alan Curtis first began driving them at the age of 21.

The opening day brochure for the MOTAT Tramway on Saturday 16 December 1967. Photo: Graham Stewart

Auckland No 253’s first test run under power at MOTAT on the evening of Friday 24 November 1967 with Ian Stewart at the controls and many more tramway builders and pioneers in the background. The 600-volt Direct Current was supplied by the Auckland Regional Authority’s trolley-bus reticulation system, initially from the Point Chevalier Substation. Photo: Graham Stewart

Taken on the opening day of the tramway at MOTAT on 16 December 1967 – Alan Curtis is fifth from the left (at back with glasses). This features a line-up of the original MOTAT Tramway volunteers holding a model Auckland tram. Photo: Graham Stewart