Railways and Tramways of Australia

3 March

Sydney O Class tram no. 806, the prototype of this class, probably at Tempe Depot, late 1950s. The O Class eventually had 626 members. Photo: Len Manny, City of Ryde Libraries, 2951.

The Sydney tram

Sydney O Class tramcar no. 806 entered service on 3 March 1908.

The expansion of Sydney’s electrified tramway network brought the need for an increase in the tramcar fleet. This need was very capably met with the introduction of the O Class. The O Class was a bogie crossbench tram with four open compartments and four enclosed compartments. Seating was provided for 80 passengers. Each tram had four motors.

A total of 626 O Class trams entered service, making them Australia’s most numerous class of tram. Number 806 was a prototype car built at Randwick Workshops. The remainder were built by the Meadowbank Manufacturing Company from 1908 to 1914.

The O Class trams were the most iconic of Sydney’s tramcars. Generally trouble-free in their operation, they were popular with crews and well-regarded by passengers. They were built to a crossbench design, where seating was provided in a series of compartments that each opened to a footboard, and were commonly known as ‘toast rack’ trams because of their appearance.

As the mainstay of the Sydney tram fleet for over 40 years, the O Class operated on all electrified tramways. They were highly successful and were the most widely used type of tram in Sydney. Their ability to operate as coupled sets made them useful for busy city lines.

After many years of reliable operation, the fleet of O Class trams began to dwindle from 1953. They were withdrawn from regular service following the closure of the tram lines along Sydney’s George Street in 1958.

Four O Class trams have been preserved: 805, 957 and 1111 are held by the Sydney Tramway Museum, and 1187 is at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum at Brooks, Oregon, United States of America.

For many people, the O Class was the Sydney tram.

Bibliography

D Budd, Sydney Tramway Museum: visit souvenir, South Pacific Electric Railway Co-operative Society Ltd, Sydney, 2004.

R Lee, Transport: an Australian history, University of NSW, Sydney, 2010.

K McCarthy, ‘The introduction of the O Class tramcars – 1908’, Trolley Wire, no. 179, December 1978, pp 3–9.

K McCarthy & N Chinn, New South Wales tramcar handbook 1861–1961, Part One, South Pacific Electric Railway Co-operative Society, Sydney,

     1975.

I Saxon, A century of New South Wales tramcars, volume three, the electric era: 1908 to 1961, Sydney Tramway Museum, 2022.