This is another photo from the Dairy Farm 1967 Annual Report. This photo shows the East Point ice-making plant operated under the Dairy Farm Refrigerated Trading Division. Dairy Farm started to get involved in the ice-making business in 1918 when it acquired the business of Hong Kong Ice Company. As a result, Dairy Farm’s official name was changed to Dairy Farm Ice and Cold Storage Company Limited. By 1967, Dairy Farm had five ice-making plants, and they were located at Castle Peak, Chekiang Street, and Kun Tong in Kowloon and Aberdeen and East Point on Hong Kong Island. I am surprised that the annual report still calls this location “East Point”. By 1967, this area was commonly known as Causeway Bay. There is a canal allowing the ice from the ice-making plant to be transported by boat. In 1968, a crossover (across the canal) and a conveyor were built, allowing the ice to be transferred to a loading dock at the typhoon shelter instead of at the canal.
I still remember ice making was still popular in the sixties in Hong Kong as the demands were still there. Though in Hong Kong island and in Kowloon, convenience stores all had electric ice water chests to store the soft drinks, this was not the case in the New Territories and the surrounding islands. Convenience store owners still had to buy chunks of ice and put them in the ice chest to keep the soft drinks cold.
A: Daimaru Department Store
B: Old Roxy Theatre (closed in 1974 and redeveloped as high rises)
C: Dairy Farm East Point ice-making plant
D: Victoria Park
E: Yee Wo Street
F: Causeway Road.
G: East Point Canal
H: Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter
Comments
Re: Ice conveyor system
Hi There,
I believe the covered conveyor system is already under construction in the photo above. See the bright straight stripe along the 'canal' there.
T
Ice Conveyor System and the Circular Tram Loop
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I did not pay enough attention to the fact that the silver rectangular-shaped line structure along the canal was actually part of the conveyor system. I only focus on the crossover section of the conveyor spanning from the ice-making plant, across the canal to the other side. When the photo was taken, it appeared that this section of the conveyor system had not been built yet. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
After rechecking the photo, I would like to bring out another interesting facet that has nothing to do with Dairy Farm but is related to the Hong Kong tram track system. In the bottom of the photo, in addition to the two parallel tram tracks from Yee Wo Street to Causeway Road, there is also a circular tram track looping from the eastbound track back to the westbound track. This tram track loop is for the Causeway Bay tram to make a return to go westbound back to the Western Market in Sheung Wan after reaching its last stop.
Even though the Hong Kong tram track spans all the way from Kennedy Town to Shau Ki Wan, the tram ride comes in overlapping sections. One section of the tram ride is from Western Market in Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay. The last stop for this eastbound ride is just outside Roxy Theater which is shown in the photo as item B. Back in the sixties, after everyone was off the tram, a track operator would switch the track so the Causeway Bay tram would move along the loop track and return to the regular westbound track. The tram driver would then switch the tram label to “Western Market”. On its first stop, which is also across the street from the Roxy Theater, the tram would pick up passengers for the westbound ride back to Sheung Wan.
Additional Photos of Dairy Farm East Point Ice-Making Plant