First a little about myself, My name is Lockhart Olsen. I served some time as Conductor at two of Sydney's Tram depots, those of Dowling St and Rozelle.
On this site I am going to endeavour to take you for a ride over various routes.The purpose of this site is to examine the Sydney Tramway System, (Western Suburbs as well as the Southern suburbs).
Type of rolling stock in use were:-
'O' class trams were of the footboard type, configured as 2 open smoking compartments (fitted with a pull down Canvas blind for use in inclement weather),followed by 4 enclosed compartments with sliding doors (these being Non-Smoking), these were followed by 2 more open smoking compartments, the same as the front ones. Destination signs were carried, with the front and rear being mounted outside and below the driver's window. This necessitated the driver or conductor leaning around the front of the tram to change destinations, the side boards were also changed from the outside,by the conductor leaning backwards out the compartment and winding the knob until the destination required appeared (No OH&S in those days!)
This class of tram could be run as a Single or coupled set, although a few were of the direct control type and could only be operated as single units.
The coupling system was of the tongue type, where a tongue of metal entered the opposite coupler and was secured by a pin. Air and Electrical controls were carried in cables and pipes connected between each unit from connectors located just below the driver's window.
The affectionate name for these trams was the 'Toast rack',their capacity being 80 seated and 40 standing although this was often exceeded, especially on Race days,Royal Easter Shows and Peak hours.
The 'O' class tram weighed in at 17tons 11cwt 1q, were 45'5" over Bumpers, and were 9' over running boards,they ran on Two four wheel bogies,from Rail to Roof they were 10' 8 and a half"
'P' class trams were of a slightly better design,although they were still of the footboard type, in that all compartments enclosed with sliding doors,all destination signs could be changed from inside of the car.
The coupling system was much improved in that all connections were carried in the coupler. There capacity was also 80 seated,40 standing.
The 'P' and later 'P1" class trams weighed in at 16tons 12cwt, were 46'10" over automatic couplers and 9' wide over footboards, and ran on Two four wheel bogies.
'R' class these were a much improved vehicle in that they had upholstered seats in the compartments at each end and wooden seats in the drop centre (smoking) section. They were only able to run as single units, being direct control. There being 16 seats in the smoking section and 16 in each of front and rear compartments.
They weighed in at 17tons 13cwt, were 47' over bumpers,were 9' wide over center running boards. They had a capacity of 48 seated and 86 standing.
The 'R1' type were almost identical to the 'R' except this class only had one centre door and thus had a seating capacity of 56 with 86 standing.
The last types to consider were the 'OP' and the 'PR1' these being variations of the 'O' and 'P' respectively, the 'OP' was an 'O' class reconfigured to have all compartments enclosed by sliding doors, while the 'PR1' was a 'P' class configured as per the 'R' class with entrances at each end as well as a single door in the centre.
The colour scheme of the Sydney tramway system was green body below windows,cream upper body and chocolate roof, with red bumpers bars.All Sydney trams carried illustrated destination signs on front and rear to assist the signalmen in the various signalboxes to identify the route need for that service.
It will cover the routes emanating from Rozelle depot and the workshops at Leichhardt, as well Coogee,Maroubra,La Perouse and Randwick Racecourse.
On this site you will be able to take a ride on various routes through the eyes of the author.The routes covered will at this time will be Fort Macquarie or Young St to :-
Leichhardt Coogee Beach Balmain Maroubra Beach Birchgrove La Perouse Glebe Point Matraville via Botany Lilyfield St Peters Darling St Wharf to Canterbury West Kensington via Crown St Pyrmont the Ryde line For information on Sydney's Tramway Depots click here
Other routes will be added as time allows so, join the tram at Fort Macquarie. or Young St and sit back and hopefully enjoy your tour or return to the
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