27 April, 2015 11:11AM AEST

Tram tells stories of Bendigo's war

A new talking tram is doing the rounds of Bendigo telling stories of the Great War.

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A 'new' tram is trundling the streets of Bendigo, telling stories of the city's involvement in the Great War.

It's not actually new, of course. It's a tram that was built in the 1880s in South Australia that has resided in Bendigo as the No. 18 for many years.

It's now tram No. 45, and it's been fitted out and painted as a tram that would have seen service during the First World War - the kind that, in the early days when motor cars were very few, would have been packed with young men going to recruiting offices - and to troop ships.

Mick McGowan is the project manager for the Anzac centenary tram and has overseen the painstaking restoration.

"It was a tram that had been operating as a talkie tram," he said.

"It had been mothballed and had been residing down at the Gasworks for some time.

"We were approached by the RSL and Lisa [Chesters, MP] to prepare a tram for the Anzac centenary.

"There were certain criteria. It had to be a tram that operated during the First World War.

"It had to be a tram that carried troops at that time and it just so happened that No. 18, as it was known to us here in Bendigo, was the tram available at that time.

"There were other criteria that we applied in selecting No. 18 as well. As you can see from the interior, it's quite an open interior.

"It means we can carry quite a number of people using only one person as opposed to a traditional two-crew tram."

A feature of the tram is the commentary dedicated to stories of the First World War.

"It's a commentary that's dedicated to the events of the First World War, but certainly incorporates a very local flavour.

"We talk about a number of local identities who went away to war who did return; families who experienced loss in the war, and the stories associated with that."

Is there anything different about the tram today from 1914-15?

"Very little actually. The only thing is that the tram is more open that what it was, but it certainly has all the timber finishing that it had when it was built, and from a driver's point of view, he'd just step straight into the cabin and it'd be just like riding a bike.

"It'd be so familiar he could just take off and it'd be just like he was driving it a hundred years ago."

A brass plate bear the driver's control says '85. What is the significance of that?

"That's actually 1885, and it speaks wonders for the technology employed on the trams way back that it still survives today, and still works just as well and just as effectively today as it did way back then."

The Anzac Centenary tram leaves the Bendigo depot 10am every day to tour the city.