O-class Melbourne tram
| O-class | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Duncan & Fraser |
| Assembly | Adelaide |
| Constructed | 1912 |
| Number built | 4 |
| Fleet numbers | 127-130 |
| Capacity | 54 (as built) 49 (as modified) |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 13.11 metres / 43' 0⅜" (over bumpers) |
| Width | 2.63 metres / 8' 10" (over footboards) |
| Height | 3.53 metres |
| Wheel diameter | 838 mm / 33" (driving) 508 mm / 20" (pony) |
| Weight | 16.6 tonnes / 16.30 tons |
| Traction motors | 2 x 50hp GE 202 2 x 65hp GE 201G |
| Power supply | 600 Volts DC |
| Current collection method | Trolley pole with trolley wheel |
| Bogies | Brush 22E |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
The O-class were a group of four trams built in 1912 by Duncan & Fraser (Adelaide) for the Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust (P&MTT) upon the recommendation of W. G. T. Goodman, Chief Engineer and General manager of the Adelaide tramways. They were allocated P&MTT fleet numbers 21 to 24. At the time of their introduction, they were by far the largest street-vehicles in Melbourne, and earned the nicknames 'Zeppelins' and 'Dreadnoughts'. Proving to be less than satisfactory in service, they were later sold to the Hawthorn Tramways Trust (HTT) in August 1916 as "surplus to requirements", however P&MTT soon ordered replacement tramcars. Co-incidentally they retained their fleet numbers (21 to 24) whilst at Hawthorn.
All passed to the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) on 2nd February 1920, when that body took-over the HTT. Originally known as 'Metropolitan Cars', they were classified as O-class and renumbered 127 to 130 circa 1922. The O-class were the very last of Melbourne's Maximum Traction trams to be up-graded from 50 horse-power (hp) motors to 65 hp, which required their Westinghouse T1F controllers being replaced by General Electric (GE) K 36 JR or GE B 23 D controllers at the same time, each tram being so treated between mid 1922 and mid 1923. Initially they were used on the Wattle Park and Burwood routes; the M&MTB transferred them to Glenhuntly depot after it was opened in 1923, and they were known to have been used on the East Brighton line. Due to safety concerns about conductors collecting fares whilst balancing on the footboards, a centre aisle was cut through five of the six cross-bench seats, thus reducing the seating capacity. For reasons not fully understood, these tramcars were more expensive to maintain than other similar types; together with their unpopularity with passengers (unconfirmed reports of doors opening and/or closing unexpectedly) the O-class were amongst the first electric trams to be disposed of by the M&MTB once sufficient standard W-class trams had been constructed to render smaller groups of older non-standard cars surplus. They were never painted in the M&MTB green livery.
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