The AGE
Alas, this distinguished senior citizen of the tracks is one of 25 W-class trams scheduled to be replaced by newer trams. As The Age reported yesterday, the State Government intends to phase out the Ws on all but the City Circle route - making things a little crowded in the workshops at Newport and Preston, where old trams go to die.
Yesterday afternoon, we joined No. 870 as it swayed and clanked its way on Route 78 from North Richmond to East St Kilda, then back again. With no unexpected curves or corners to cause undue upset, but a couple of significant hills to cause significant mechanical wheezing, the route runs from the Victoria Street end of Church Street to the Brighton Road end of Chapel Street.
The official reason for ridding Melbourne of the W-class trams is that they do not meet contemporary structural or technical requirements. For vehicles so old - they were introduced in 1923 - they are surprisingly contemptuous of the elderly and infirm who have to scale them rather than simply get on or off.
They are also slow and ponderous (ask any driver caught behind one). In winter they are travelling fridges and, in summer, turn into mobile saunas.
