Gisborne's battery trams

Two of Gisborne's four trams, one presumably decorated for some visiting VIP.

Rather than go to the trouble of installing a reticulated electric power system, Gisborne decided to use battery-powered trams and Edison-Beach battery-electric trams were in use from 13 April 1913 to 8 July 1929. There were two trams from the Federal Storage Battery Car Company of New Jersey and two from Boon & Company of Christchurch. A.R. Harris of Christchurch was the New Zealand agent for Edison Batteries. The trams' maximum speed was a mere 20 mph (32 km/h), and initially they were restricted by the Public Works Department to half that. There were two inland routes: Ormond Rd, and Gladstone Rd to Te Hapara (Lytton Rd). They were uneconomic and were replaced by buses.