Melway Edition 1 shows tram tracks going down Ackland St, St Kilda, long before the St Kilda railway line was ever converted to light rail.

What tram route ran down this street?

I think it could have been the old Route 16 long before the light rail took over, then it was through routed with Route 69 - the of course Routes 69 and 16 became Route 16.

15 from Moorland and 16 from the city was the service that used to terminate at Acland street before the light rail..

Also route #55 from West Coburg.

Although this route had been cut back to Domain Interchange (As #55 currently runs) by the mid 1980s when I first remember it.

That's correct about a few of the route 55 services extending to/from Acland St.    However, in the 60s and 70s, it was limited to a few peak services, with the remaining West Coburg services terminating at Domain Rd (as it was then known).  Before the interchange was built, they had to turn into St Kilda Rd and shunt just past Domain Rd, often causing a bank up of trams (which was made worse because they then had to wait for the lights to permit them to turn into Park St).
In the MMTB public timetable of September 1976, the am services on the route to William St left St Kilda Beach at 7.50, 8.05 and 8.22.   The timetable doesn't state that all were through routed to West Coburg, but certainly at least some of them were.  Interestingly, it refers to the route numbers applicable to this route being 53 and 55.   I assume that route 53 terminated at Dudley Street (but I can't recall ever seeing this number in use).  
There were even fewer services in the pm, leaving Dudley St at 5.04 and 5.16.

That's correct about a few of the route 55 services extending to/from Acland St.    However, in the 60s and 70s, it was limited to a few peak services, with the remaining West Coburg services terminating at Domain Rd (as it was then known).

When the link from William St across Queens Bridge and down what was then Hanna St (now Kings Way) was first opened, there was full-time service between West Coburg and St Kilda Beach via William St (plus short workings W, Coburg-City via William St in peaks).  The St Kilda Beach extension was made a peakhour-only service in late 50s, I think.

The routes that used Acland St were 15 (Moreland) and its short working 16 (City).  But in previous years, before St Kilda Junction was altered and the connection between Fitzroy St and Wellington St (leading to Dandenong Rd) was removed, there was also route 67 (St Kilda Beach-Caulfield (i.e. Balaclava Junction, via Dandenong Rd).

I think it could have been the old Route 16 long before the light rail took over, then it was through routed with Route 69 - the of course Routes 69 and 16 became Route 16.

16 & 69 were through-routed on weekdays in December 2000 due to the ongoing W class withdrawal. 16 no longer ran down Acland St on weekdays, but continued to serve it on weekends.

In October 2004 all 16 services were extended to Kew, 69 was deleted as a full time route & 96 became the sole route on Acland St.

Hard to imagine having two routes down Acland Street during peaks today!

Kind Regards


Craig