Overcrowding on Sumner trams leads to accidents

In 1906, on a summer's day, the ten o'clock morning tram to Sumner was about to leave from right here, outside the Royal Exchange in Cathedral Square. An excursion to Sumner was a popular trip for Christchurch residents looking for fresh air and some fun by the sea.

The locomotive's four carriages would be full, and even the open-top upper decks would be packed. This Kitson Locomotive was a steam tram, and it ran on coal. You'd see sacks of coal right through the side of the open window, waiting to be stored away in the cab to fuel the steam furnace later. The leather-aproned driver would stride towards his engine, passing the conductor who had done a good job filling the carriages to their capacity. A man might even be waiting in front of the locomotive to speak to the driver.

The Tram Company actually organized regular entertainment at Sumner to get people to use their trams. They had an annual "first day of summer" event when the weather was warming up, usually around the second weekend of November. In 1890, the Christchurch Star reported on one of these, saying nearly two hundred people went, accompanied by the Stanmore Band, and there were even fireworks discharged at intervals from Cave Rock.

But on a more serious note, the Tram Company had a poor record when it came to overcrowding. They probably didn't want to disappoint day-trippers, but their eagerness led to serious consequences, including trams overturning, or worse, deaths. In 1919, after a fatal accident at Heathcote, Commissioner S. E. McCarthy reported that the train was loaded with passengers beyond safe limits and that overcrowding was common, even connived at by the Tramway Board for financial reasons.

There was also a dreadful accident in 1898, not the company's fault, but caused by a 14-year-old boy named Bowron trying to jump on a Sumner tram. He fell between two cars, and the wheels of one went over his leg just above the knee. He was taken to the hospital but died shortly after admission.

Sumner was considered one of the most delightful seaside resorts in New Zealand, about eight miles from Christchurch, and thousands of pleasure-seekers would come during the summer months for the sea breeze. Leaving Cathedral Square, the tram would hurry through the busy streets, past suburban residences, and then cross the Heathcote River, where the line followed the seashore with basaltic cliffs on the right, until it reached the little township of Sumner. People would then hurry to the beach, many of them staying on Cave Rock for the day, enjoying fishing, sea-bathing, swimming, or even donkey and pony rides.

As the sun would drop behind Clifton Hill, shadows would form across the nearly empty beach. A photographer named Henry Thomson would even sit on Clifton Hill to capture the end of a busy day, with the beach peaceful, the tide going out, and the last Kitson Tram pulling out from Sumner. As it crossed the tram bridge over the sandy beach, Thomson would open his camera and expose the photographic plate, capturing that moment forever. The tram would then make its way through Redcliffs, Ferrymead, and down Ferry Road to Woolston.