Valmet RM 2 - Concept and Construction

Concept and Construction

The trams were, like the older Karia HM IV and Valmet RM 1 types trams built for the Helsinki tram network, based on Swiss Standard Trams of the time but with numerous changes. The RM 2 was shorter and narrower than the Helsinki trams and had no middle doors. They were constructed in collaboration with Tampella and Strömberg, who provided the bogies and electronics respectively. As a result the RM 2 class, along with the similar RM 1 and RM 3 classes, were also referred to as VTS trams. Due to the Tampella-built bogies and rubber dampened wheels the RM 2 trams ran extremely silently and smoothly, earning them the nickname "ghost cars" (Finnish: "Aavevaunut"). The RM 2 class had 1+1 seating arrangement (instead of Helsinki's 2+1) to maximise capacity.

During the early 1950s, when the RM 2 class were ordered, there was an ongoing struggle in the decision-making organs of Turku on whether the tram network should be expanded with light rail lines into the suburban areas or closed down. The design of the RM 2 class was optimised for usage on light rail lines, with a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph). However, by the time the trams were delivered in 1956, the expansion plans had been abandoned apart from a short expansion of line 2 completed the same year. As a result the RM 2 trams were never used for the purpose for which they were optimised for.

All RM 2 trams had couplers for towing two-axle trailers. In 1958 one four-axle trailer, number 141, was built by the TuKL workshop. Unlike the existing trailers it was equipped with an automatic Scharfenberg coupler, and RM 2 48 was fitted with a similar coupler to tow it. During the first year in service the 48+141 combination was used on line 2, after that on line 1 during rush hour.<