The last trams in Brisbane, 1969

The Brisbane tramway network served the city between 1885 and 1969.

The music accompanying the archival footage of the 199-kilometre tram network and its routes is an attempt to evoke a wistful sense of loss in viewers.

Much of the footage appears to have been shot by an amateur enthusiast and its super-8 aesthetic adds to the charm of the clip.

The tone of the segment shifts abruptly from misty, colour-saturated memories to black-and-white news footage of the somewhat comic aftermath of buses driven by tram drivers crashing throughout the city.

This jarring change in mood exemplifies the limitations of working with archival footage from different sources in a production of this kind.

This excerpt comes from the Seven News Brisbane special Queensland: Flashback 150 Years, broadcast on 30 May 2009. It was produced for the 150th anniversary of the state of Queensland. Queensland formally separated from New South Wales on 6 June 1859.

Notes by Beth Taylor