Y-class Melbourne tram

Last updated

Y-class
Manufacturer Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board
Constructed1927
Number built1
Fleet numbers469
Capacity53
Specifications
Car length13.87 m (45 ft 6 in)
Width2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)
Height3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Wheel diameter673 mm (26.5 in)
Weight16.8 t (37,000 lb)
Current collector(s) Trolley pole
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)

The Y-class was a one-member tram class built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board. It entered service in September 1927 initially operating a 24-mile tourist service, before being used on regular services on the Burwood line and all night services from Camberwell depot in company with the Y1-class. [1] [2] [3]

In 1965, it was transferred to Glenhuntly depot to avoid running into the city due to a lack of number boxes. [4] It was withdrawn in April 1965 and retained as a driver training car. [5]

It has been preserved as part of the VicTrack heritage fleet at Hawthorn depot. [6]

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The X2-class was a class of six trams built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board. Developed from the X1-class, they differed in having larger wheels, angled windshields and only two doors.

The Y1-class was a class of four trams built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board built as a modified version of the Y-class to trial one man operation. Initially used on East and West Preston routes from Collins Street, from 1934 they were transferred to the Toorak line. From 1936 they were used on Burwood services from Camberwell depot. In 1933, 613 was used on Victorian Railways' Sandringham railway station to Black Rock line.

The Melbourne tram network began in 1884 with the construction of the Fairfield Horse Tramway. However, the purpose of the line was to increase land prices in the area, and it soon closed during the depression in 1890. The first genuine attempt to construct a tramway network was the construction of the Richmond cable tram line by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company in 1885. Over the next few years, 16 more cable tram lines were constructed, as well as numerous other horse tramways. The depression of the early 1890s slowed further expansion of the cable network. The first electric tram line was the Box Hill and Doncaster tramway which opened in 1889. This was a pioneering line in what was then the countryside and thus didn't receive much patronage. It closed in 1896. The next attempt at an electric tramway was Victorian Railways' St Kilda to Brighton line, which opened in 1906. Later that year, the North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company opened lines to Essendon and Maribyrnong. Many local councils formed their own tramway trusts and built tramways within their own constituency. The most successful of these was the Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust.

References

  1. "60 Years of the M&MTB" Trolley Wire issue 186 February 1980 page 14
  2. Cross, Norman; Budd, Dale; Wilson, Randall (1993). Destination City Melbourne's Electric Trams (5 ed.). Sydney: Transit Publishing Australia. p. 29. ISBN   0 909459 18 5.
  3. Y Class Vicsig
  4. "Hawthorn Depot Closed" Trolley Wire issue 97 April 1965 page 11
  5. "Melbourne Tram Notes" Trolley Wire issue 98 June 1965 page 13
  6. Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board Y Class No 469 Melbourne Tram Depot