The museum's future had been in doubt because it was in the Royal National Park and was right in the path of the proposed southern expressway (F6).

Founded in 1950, the museum was the idea of pastry cook Norm Chinn and school principal Ken McCarthy, who were later joined by two others.

Mr Chinn, 81, of Loftus, now the only surviving member of the group, said they were members of an association that was fighting to stop the removal of the tram network from Sydney's streets.

"When you are 21, you think you can do anything,'' he said.

"After the Rockdale to Brighton-Le-Sands tramway closed in 1949, we asked if we could have a tram.

"My mother wasn't impressed when I told her we might have to put it in our front yard. They gave us one tram, then a second.

"And as they say, the rest is history.

"From the start, we wanted it to be a living museum, where people could enjoy the experience of riding a tram.

"That's common in museums today, but it was novel back then.''

Today, the Sydney Tramway Museum has about 80 exhibits, and thousands of visitors each year take a trip down memory lane.