Overcrowding on Sumner trams leads to accidents

The sea breeze is really fresh here. It’s no wonder people flocked to Sumner for seaside amusement. The tram company even organized entertainment to attract visitors, like the Stanmore Band playing selections and fireworks being discharged from Cave Rock. The Christchurch Star reported on one of these excursions in 1890, saying nearly two hundred people came out, and it was declared the best-arranged one to visit Sumner.

In 1906, on a summer’s day, the ten o'clock morning tram to Sumner was about to leave from outside the Royal Exchange in Cathedral Square. The Kitson Locomotive, a steam tram fueled by coal, had four carriages, and its open-top upper decks were also full. People would come to promenade on the beach, stroll through the village, or get refreshments at the Cafe Continental beside Cave Rock. Children could have donkey rides on the beach or ride on a hand-pulled merry-go-round.

The Tram Company, though, had a poor record for overcrowding. This was likely an attempt not to disappoint the day-trippers, but it led to serious consequences like trams over tipping or deaths. By 1919, after a fatal accident at Heathcote, Commissioner S. E. McCarthy found that the train was loaded beyond safe limits and that overcrowding was common and connived at by the Tramway Board for financial reasons.

There was also a dreadful accident in 1898 involving a 14-year-old boy named Bowron. He tried to jump on the Sumner tram, fell between two cars, and a wheel passed over his leg. He died shortly after being admitted to the hospital.

Sumner was considered one of New Zealand's most delightful seaside resorts, about eight miles from Christchurch and reached by steam tram. During summer months, thousands of pleasure-seekers would come here. The tram would leave Cathedral Square, go through busy streets and past suburban residences, then cross the Heathcote River. The line would then follow the seashore with basaltic cliffs on the right until it reached the township of Sumner.