The R1-class trams were a class of trams operated on the
Sydney tram network. Their design was a development of the
R class.
History
When
Clyde Engineering
Clyde Engineering was an Australian manufacturer of locomotives, rolling stock, and other industrial products.
It was founded in September 1898 by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen buying the Granville factory of timber merchants Huds ...
were delivering the last of the
R class in 1935, it was decided to modify the final five to a design with a reduced drop-centre, eight more seats, no internal partitions, and one less door each side. These modified trams were classified as R1 class, and a further 50 were ordered from Clyde. In the late 1940s, a further 250 were ordered from
Commonwealth Engineering
Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.
History
Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth Engi ...
. Steel shortages delayed their construction, with the first not delivered until September 1950. During construction the order was reduced to 100, with the last delivered to
North Sydney depot on 17 September 1953.
The original five tramcars modified in 1935 (numbers 1933 to 1937) could be distinguished from later production runs by their side windows (which indicated the original door spacing for the R class) and the underframe which was built to accommodate a larger drop-centre.
One (2018) was written off after a single day in a traffic accident at
Petersham. Most remained in service until the end of tram operations in 1961.
[
When the Sydney tramway system closed, some of the class were disposed of by burning at Randwick Workshops, despite some being less than 8 years old at time of being burnt.
]
Preservation
Ten have been preserved:
*1933, 1951, 1979, 2001 and 2044 at the Sydney Tramway Museum
The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney.
History
Construction of th ...
[
*1995 the last tram to run in Sydney, statically displayed Tramsheds in the old Rozelle Tram DepotBought for a bargain $50, Sydney’s last tram on track for a makeover]
'' Inner West Courier'' 5 February 2015
*1936 at The Brisbane Tramway Museum, Ferny Grove (yet to be restored)
*1948 and 2064 retained privately
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:R1 class tram
Trams in Sydney
Tram vehicles of Australia