Bill and Sue-On Hillman: A 50-Year Musical Odyssey
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HILLMAN ASIA ADVENTURE 2018
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11. HONG KONG
Victoria Peak Tram
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The Peak Tram is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. It provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong. The Peak Tram's route from Central district to Victoria Peak covers a distance of about 1.4 kilometres and an elevation of just under 400 metres.
The upper terminus, The Peak is located below the Peak Tower shopping and leisure complex at Victoria Gap, some 150 meters below the summit of Victoria Peak. The station comprises a single track, with platforms on both sides. One platform is used for boarding, the other for exiting the tram.

The lower terminus station, Garden Road, is located on Garden Road near St. John's Cathedral. 

 The construction was begun in September 1885 and in May 1888 the line was officially opened. Most of the heavy equipment and rails needed for the construction were hauled uphill by the workers with no mechanical support. As a revolutionary new form of transport for Asia at the time, the tramway was considered a marvel of engineering upon its completion. 

The original line used a static steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for residents of Victoria Peak. Despite that, it carried 800 passengers on its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year, transported in the line's original wooden-bodied cars.[The tram's existence accelerated the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid Levels.


Peak Tram Car from 1956, now plinthed near the upper terminus,
and still carrying a headboard celebrating the line's centenary in 1988

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HONG KONG CONTENTS

INTRO 1. Arrival 1a. Ride 2. Aberdeen I 3. Aberdeen II 4. Aberdeen III 5. Aberdeen IV 6. Aberdeen V 7. Up Peak
8. Peak Views 9. Victoria Peak 10. Victoria Peak 2 11. Peak Tram 12. Walkabout I 13. City Tram 14. Walkabout II 15. Choy Family 16. To Hotel
OUTTAKES


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Bill and Sue-On Hillman
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