The C-class trams were a class of single bogie end-loading electric trams operated on the

Sydney tram network The Sydney tramway network served the inner suburbs of Sydney, Australia from 1879 until 1961. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth of Nations (after London), and one of the largest in the worl ...

History

1898 Sydney C-Class Electric Tram No 11 (6940476099)

Between 1896 and 1900, 97 C-class trams were built by three Sydney firms; Bignall & Morrison, Hudson Brothers and

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 ...

with bogies supplied by the Peckham Motor Truck & Wheel Co,

Kingston, New York Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by the United ...

. There were four different body types, with variations in width, length, number of windows, and seating capacity (20-26). Three (289-291) were built as trailer cars, later being fitted with power equipment. A typical C-class tram featured a single saloon passenger area comprised two longitudinal timber benches facing inwards, accommodating 22 seated passengers, with standing room in the centre aisle. The interior featured varnished timberwork, and there was a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper ...

roof with sidelights of coloured glass. Sliding doors at each end led to outside platforms where the driver controlled the tram. The driver was protected by an overhanging canopy, where passengers entered and left the car. C-class trams towed steam tram and

cable tram A cable car (usually known as a cable tram outside North America) is a type of cable railway used for mass transit in which rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by relea ...

trailers, and many ran coupled together. There were also examples of C and D classes being coupled. Some of these C/C and C/D combinations became permanent, with the inner end driving controls being removed. They mainly operated from

Ridge Street Tram Depot Ridge Street Tram Depot was part of the Sydney tram network. History Ridge Street Depot was originally a cable tram depot and winding engine house that opened in 1886. On the conversion to electric operation the depot was extensively rebuilt in ...

, and to a lesser extent from

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutter ...

, Ultimo and

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

. In 1905, three (14-16) were sold to

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

. In 1907, four (23, 25, 38 and 39) were sold to the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, b ...

as replacements for trams destroyed by a fire at Elwood depot. Mass withdrawals began in 1917 with all out of service by 1926. From 1924 until 1963, one tram (37) saw service on the jetty at

Byron Bay Byron Bay (Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

as a locomotive-hauled car.

Numbers

*Bignall & Morrison: (1896/97) 4-8, 289-291 *Hudson Brothers: (1898) 9-17, 29, 33, 59 (1899) 19, 22-28, 30-32, 34-51, 53-58, 60-66, 76, 77 (1900) 18, 20, 21, 52, 67-75 *

: (1899) 78-91, 94-97 (1900) 92, 93

Preservation

Seven have been preserved: *11 by the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle Hill. Although often des ...

restored in 1961 to original livery at

Randwick Tramway Workshops Randwick Bus Depot is a bus depot in the Sydney suburb of Randwick operated by Transdev John Holland. History In 1881 the Randwick Tramway Workshops were established on the corner of Darley Road and King Street, Randwick as the main workshops ...

*29 and 290 in operational condition 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 ...

*12, 33 and 37 under restoration at the Sydney Tramway Museum. Sadly No.12 was destroyed by fire during a vandalism attack in 2016 *95, at the

Illawarra Light Railway Museum The Illawarra Light Railway Museum operates a mainline narrow gauge light railway, a miniature gauge railway, and a museum located near Albion Park Rail near Wollongong, south of Sydney History The Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society Ltd. ...

Albion Park Albion Park is a suburb situated in the Macquarie Valley in the City of Shellharbour, which is in turn one of the three local government areas that comprise the Wollongong Metropolitan Area, New South Wales, Australia. Although it is surround ...

as a carriage

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:C class tram Trams in Sydney Tram vehicles of Australia

History

Numbers

Preservation

References

Further reading

External links