Inside the red brick building on the corner of Gertrude and Nicholson Streets, heavy machinery turned underground cables that pulled cable trams around the city. Cable trams ferried visitors to the 1888 Centennial International Exhibition from the city centre. The system endured for over fifty years and this was the last engine house to remain in service, closing on 23 October 1940.

The is tram engine house was built in 1886-1887 for the Melbourne Tramway Trust who leased it to the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company. The building was designed by Alexander Davidson, an architect in the employ of the trust, and built by Martin and Peacock at a cost of 11,137 Pounds.

The building was the third, and one of the biggest, of twelve engine houses on the cable system, of which eleven were built for the trust and one for the independent Northcote system. The Nicholson Street building drove three cables and was the last operating engine house in Melbourne.

The building is finely detailed, with the window sills and supporting volutes in blue-stone, while the window dressings, representative cement cable and brackets are in pre-cast units.