Peak Tram, upper terminus

Mon, 06/27/2016 - 20:42

Postcard with text printed on the back:

Published by M. Sternberg, Wholesale and Retail Postcard Dealer at No. 51 Queen's Road Central and at No. 34 Queen's Road Central, Hongkong.

Date picture taken
1900 (year is approximate)

Comments

There is another image on Gwulo dated to about 1910:

Peak Tram - Barker Road without a pavillion
Peak Tram - Barker Road without a pavillion, by annelisec

If you compare both images, they are based on the same photo but still are different. The Sternberg postcard seems to be the (original) photo, whereas this one is hand coloured.

On both images retaining (concrete) walls uphill on Barker Road near the tram station can be seen (see http://gwulo.com/node/33440).

 

I think one of those multi-sided water tanks can be seen on the hillside behind the letter "G" in the Gwulo watermark.  

The most recently constructed building seen in this photo is the Tramway Managers House, built in 1892-3. So the photo was taken later than that.

Of the buildings not seen because they had not yet been built, I think Ligoniel was the earliest and was completed by 17 February 1902. Since there is no sign in the pic of construction having started, and assuming construction would have taken a few months minimum, the photo was taken in 1901 at the latest.

So the date range of the pic is 1892 to 1901. Corrections welcome.

As Klaus mentioned above, Barker Road is seen in the photo. Its construction started in October 1897 at this end of its route and the whole road was completed in 1898. Therefore this photo was taken sometime after October 1897.

The date range of the photo is therefore narrowed to between October 1897 and 1901.