The earliest trams in Australia operated in the latter decades of the 19th century, hauled by horses or "steam tram motors" (also known as "steam dummies"). At the turn of the 20th century, propulsion almost universally turned to electrification, although cable trams (established in 1885) lingered in Melbourne. In cities and towns that had trams, they were a major part of public transport assets. In the middle of the 20th century trams fell out of favour, in part because of deferred maintenance during World War II and declining patronage resulting from increased private car ownership. Lines were closed or severely cut back except in Melbourne: its network of 24 routes covering 250 km (155 mi) is now the largest in the world. Since the turn of the 21st century tramway networks have been reconstructed in Sydney and Newcastle, extended in Adelaide and brand new systems have been built on the Gold Coast and in Canberra (marking the first time these two cities have had trams). Restored vintage trams are very popular in their various forms. Most operate on sections of former operational lines such as at Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria or on purpose-built tracks in association with museums such as at St Kilda, South Australia; Whiteman Park, Western Australia; and Launceston, Tasmania. Less authentic but invariably popular are replica trams that offer tourist experiences such as at Victor Harbor, South Australia and Portland, Victoria. History In the 19th century numerous horse drawn systems were established, with Adelaide and Brisbane establishing reasonably large systems (for their day) and retaining their horse-drawn trams when other systems had adopted steam or cable traction. Victor Harbor and Gawler in South Australia are examples of small, single-line horse-drawn systems which survived until 1955 and 1931 respectively; the Victor Harbor tramway reopened in 1986. Following a short lived experiment with a privately run horse tram line in Pitt Street in the 1860s, Sydney adopted steam trams, which were operated by the state government. By comparison, Melbourne adopted cable trams, the infrastructure (tracks and winding-houses) was owned collectively by the local municipal councils, but operated initially by a private company. The Melbourne cable tramway system became arguably the largest in the world in the late 19th century, with some cable lines retained until 1940. Sydney operated only two cable tram lines (in North Sydney and along New South Head Road) and eschewed the high capital outlay