The W class is a class of electric trams that operates in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tram model series is a cultural icon to Melbourne. While a number of older variants have been withdrawn from service and later sold to cities such as Seattle and Copenhagen and private enthusiasts, those that remain in Melbourne are classified by the National Trust of Australia and operate on the City Circle tourist route, the North Richmond to Prahran / St Kilda Beach route (Route:78/79) and the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant fleet.

History

W class trams were introduced to Melbourne in 1923 as a new standard design. They had a dual bogie layout and were characterised by a substantially timber frame supplanted by a steel under frame, a simple rugged design, and fine craftsmanship (particularly the older models). The W Class was the mainstay of Melbourne's tramways system for 60 years. A total of 748 trams of all variants were built.

The original and most numerous W2 variant was supplemented in the late 1930s by 120 W5 (or "Clyde") class trams with wider cabins, and more powerful motors, however these were notorious for being difficult to drive smoothly. The W6 followed on, and became the most popular W class tram with crews and passengers alike as they were fast, smooth and comfortable, compared with earlier W variants. Construction came to a halt for some years, with the final 40 W Class trams emerging from the Preston Workshops in 1956, when the need to provide something more capable of dealing with Olympic Games crowds than Bourke Street's buses prompted the last expansion of the network.

The W7 Class with its pneumatic sliding doors (later retrofitted to most W5 and W6 trams too) and softer suspension proved popular with passengers. It was not until the 1990s that the W Class was finally considered 'surplus' to rolling stock requirements.

In 1992 an official mass withdrawal of the W class was announced by the then transport minister Alan Brown, this was generally due to the fact that over 200 W class remained in service while the newer Z class trams were in storage in varying locations, displaced by the newer A and B class vehicles. The public outrage over the dissappearing icons brought about a reconsideration of the withdrawal policy, so it was decided 53 W's would be retained for tourist purposes. The popular zero-fare city circle tourist route commenced in 1994 using 12 of the 53 trams retained.

The remaining 150 or so withdrawn W's are in storage at Newport Workshops, their fate is undecided, although an embargo on the sale of these trams to overseas interest was placed on them. The government has made the odd donation to tram museums abroad, the most recent tram was gifted to Princess Mary, and Prince Frederick in 2006.

Today

In mid-2000 the remain W class fleet was removed from service after a series of incidents involving brake problems. The returned to service in a limited way in May 2001 on the City Circle route. The remainder followed in late 2003 after installation of speedometers and a 40km/h speed limit, replacement of trolley poles with a single pantograph, and new brake systems. Today numbering 53, they run regularly on the route 78 / 79 service from North Richmond to Prahran / St Kilda Beach, as well as the inner city route 30 along Latrobe Street. These routes were chosen due to their limited interface with other routes, and their relatively low speeds.

The zero-fare City Circle route also operates using the W class to the delight of many tourists. The oldest W class trams remaining in service, dating from 1936, run this route. Others have been converted for use on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant service which cruises the suburbs in the evening.

The condition of the W class fleet was been criticised by the Rail Tram and Bus Union, who in September 2008 demanded remedial works be carried out, or the fleet taken out of service due to poor maintenance standards. A Yarra Trams spokesman said that the fleet met maintenance standards, but required more cosmetic work than other trams due to the wooden structure.

Yarra Trams maintenance of these icons has been under public scrutiny for some time. Yarra Trams have a budget that applies to all trams.

Disposal

Approximately 200 later model W class trams remain stored at various locations around Melbourne such as the Newport Workshops, with the future use of these trams is unknown. A number of these were used in the filming of the HBO mini-series The Pacific, including W3 class tram number 667.

A number of W-class trams have been sent overseas, including five that went to Seattle between 1978 and 1993, where they operated as Seattle's own heritage streetcar line, George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, between 1982 and 2005. Since 1990, public outrage over the sale of these popular trams to overseas interest has forced an embargo to be placed on the sale of these trams to any overseas interest.

Two unrelated MATAs, the Dallas MATA and the Memphis MATA both run W class trams on their downtown streetcar service.

In 2005 a tram was restored at a cost of $25,000 and given as a wedding present from the Victorian Government to Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. Shipping line Maersk transported the tram to Denmark free of charge, waiving the estimated bill of $40,000.

Subclasses

W2

The W2 were introduced in 1927 and remained in service until their final withdrawal in mid-1987.

The 406-strong class was the backbone of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB)'s vast fleet during their heyday from the 1940s to 1960s. Most class members had been converted from the earlier W & W1 classes.The trams featured two enclosed saloon areas at either end of the tram and an open "drop-centre" section in the middle. A trademark feature of these vehicles until the 1970s was their uncomfortable wooden bench-style seats,a feature they shared with most other Melbourne trams of that period.

Mechanically, they had four under-floor motors powering two sets of the MMTB's "Number one" bogies. The driver's controls were made by Westinghouse, among others.

Towards the end of their useful lives, many class members were converted to service (non-Passenger) stock such as carborundum rail scrubbers, Permanent-way vehicles, rail grinders & breakdown units. A large number of units were also sold to museums and public transport operators in Australia and around the world with a large number still running today.

From 1978 until 1982 many W2s were painted by well-known Australian Artists as part of the "Transporting Art" program.

The last W2 to run in regular service in Melbourne ran in mid-1987 on the number 86 City to Bundoora route although a small number were used well into the early 1990s during extended tram shortages.

SW5

The SW5 class was introduced between 1939 and 1941 and are still in use today.

SW5 class trams have sliding doors, improved drop centre seating and round cornered windscreens to differentiate themselves from unconverted W5 class trams. Trams 840 - 849 were built as SW5 class trams initially, while other trams were converted from W5 class trams in the 1980s, with two conversions in 1956.

Fleet numbers SW5 class trams have unusual fleet numbers, with most W5 class trams retaining their original fleet numbers as a different class.

After 1983-86 The SW5 class was essentially the same in appearance to the later classes owing to the addition of sliding doors to replace weather blinds. The main differences retained were the square saloon windows, and the internal wooden bulk heads.

During the mass withdrawal of the W classes in 1994-96, the majority of this class was retired in preferance to the higher class W's, this was due to the discovery of asbestos in the controllers.

• 681 - 682, 721 - 734, 736 - 750, 752 - 755, 757 - 760, 764 - 765, 767 - 770, 773, 775 - 777, 780 - 781, 784 - 791, 793, 796 - 797, 800, 802, 805 - 812, 814 - 816, 818 - 819, 824, 828 - 830, 834, 836 - 838, 840 - 849

W6

The W6 class was introduced between 1951 and 1955 and are still in service today. At their introduction, W6 class trams were popular with passengers and crew alike for being fast, smooth and comfortable. Today a total of six are still in service in Melbourne with Yarra Trams.

W6 class trams initially begun as a sub group of the SW6-class trams, but later became their own class. They are similar to the W7-class trams. Two of the trams are in the hands of preservation groups, one of which is used as a café tram in Bendigo.

Three SW6-class trams also operate as restaurant trams, operating in the evenings, providing first class meals and service with all food cooked and prepared on the trams.

The Cab controls are the same as of other W class trams.

References

External links

• List of SW5 class trams at vicsig
• List of W6 class trams at vicsig
• Railpage Tram Photo Gallery
• http://www.wclasstrams.com W class tram information site.