The H class Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 have been the mainstay

Mainstay

Mainstay is a Christian rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band was formed in 2003 and is signed to BEC Recordings. While a lot of the band's music has decidedly Christian lyrics and messages, their music appeals to a large secular fanbase as well. Their music style has been compared to...

 of the Glenelg tram

Glenelg Tram

The Glenelg Tram is a route from the centre of Adelaide, South Australia to the beach-side suburb of Glenelg. It is Adelaide's only remaining tramway, running at approximately 15-minute intervals, and is part of the integrated Adelaide Metro public transport network...

 line in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 for 75 years since the line was converted from railway

Railways in Adelaide

The rail network in Adelaide, South Australia, consists of five lines and 81 stations, totalling 125.9 km. It is operated by Adelaide Metro, and is part of the city-wide Adelaide Metro]public transport system. Apart from the Glenelg Tram, Adelaide's railway system is serviced entirely by...

 to tramway

Trams in Adelaide

Until 1958, Trams in Adelaide formed a network spanning most of suburban Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since 1958...

 operation and electrified in 1929. Currently operated by TransAdelaide

TransAdelaide

TransAdelaide was a publicly owned corporation which provided suburban train and tram services in Adelaide, South Australia, under contract to the Government of South Australia....

, most of the class have been replaced by new Bombardier

Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

 Flexity Classic

Flexity Classic

The Flexity Classic is a model of light-rail tram manufactured by Bombardier. Although it is marketed as the most traditionally-designed member of the Flexity family, it is nevertheless a modern bi-directional articulated tram with a low-floor section allowing improved accessibility, especially to...

 low-floor tram

Low-floor tram

A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....

s.

Overview

The cars were specially built for the conversion of the line by local manufacturers A. Pengelley and Sons. They have many of the characteristics of American interurban streetcars of that period and their heritage ambience has been carefully maintained. Although the H-class trams have been through several refurbishment programmes over the years (incorporating more up-to-date features like safety glass, fluorescent lighting and upgraded bogies), they still retain varnished wood and etched glass interiors, a classic Tuscan Red and cream exterior colour scheme

Colour Scheme

Colour Scheme is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the twelfth novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1943. The novel takes place in New Zealand during World War II; the plot involves suspected Nazi activity at a hot springs resort on the New Zealand coast and a...

 and neither heating nor air-conditioning in the passenger saloons.

The H-class regularly run as double sets at busier times. All services are operated by a crew of driver and conductor (driver and two conductors on coupled sets).

Most of the H-class trams were replaced during 2006 by new Bombardier

Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

 Flexity Classic

Flexity Classic

The Flexity Classic is a model of light-rail tram manufactured by Bombardier. Although it is marketed as the most traditionally-designed member of the Flexity family, it is nevertheless a modern bi-directional articulated tram with a low-floor section allowing improved accessibility, especially to...

 low floor tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s with vigilance control. However, five H-class were specially refurbished in 2000, with the intention of retaining these cars for special weekend and holiday operations and are due to be fitted with vigilance control plus electromagentic track brake

Track brake

Track brakes are a form of brakes unique to railborne vehicles. The braking force derives from the friction resulting from the application of wood or metal braking shoes directly to the tracks...

s.

5 H-class trams are retained in service including the first and last units built. #351, #367, #370, #374 and #380 are kept in service alongside the newer Flexitys although #374 has been in storage since 2004. They are almost always coupled in pairs of two trams.

All the other units were sent to Tram and rail Museums around Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Specifications

H-class Trams
Track Gauge:	Standard Gauge Standard gauge The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge... 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Power Source:	600 V DC Direct current Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...  overhead wire
Traction:	4x 48 kW (65 hp) traction motor Traction motor Traction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion .... s
Maximum service speed:	80 km/h
Number in class (in 2005):	21 (out of original 30) - 15 operational - 5 non-operational - 1 restaurant tram
Unit numbers: (most cars have been re-numbered during their lives. Numbers carried today are not necessarily the number as built)	#351 – #380
Introduced:	1929
Built by:	A. Pengelley & Sons, Edwardstown, S.A.
Passenger Seating Capacity:	64
Weight:	23 tonne Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... s