Trams in Sydney - Rolling Stock

Rolling Stock

Perhaps the most renowned of the electric trams that operated in Sydney were the O and P class trams, known at the time as the footboard cars, after the surrounding footboard that conductors precariously balanced upon. These were later known as toastrack trams for their crossbench wooden seating layout. They had a seating capacity of 80 and a crush capacity of 150, and it was this capacity that was their selling point for Sydney's crowded system. They were commonly coupled together to run as double trams. 626 O class and 258 P class trams were constructed from 1908, and some remained in service until 1960. The first modern corridor style trams, the R class, were introduced in 1933. The final order of cars was for the R1 class in the early 1950s. The R class were unable to be coupled together, but offered their passengers a more comfortable ride away from the elements. They also featured mostly upholstered seating. Some of these cars had not been in service long enough for a major overhaul before their withdrawal in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Upon withdrawal, most cars were stripped of their metal components and bogies, then burnt in an area of the Randwick Workshops known as 'burning hill'. But some were sold as stripped shells to private users to be used as shelters, storage shed, etc. Some were preserved, mostly at Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus.