Returning SW5 849 to Service

SW5 849 arrived from Preston Workshops in 2008 essentially sound but incomplete — a decade in the reserve fleet had seen doors, windows and fittings removed for trams still in service. Its path back to operation was a patient, methodical overhaul.

Parts, and Where They Came From

The overhaul leaned heavily on sister car SW5 843, which had been dismantled once 849 proved the better preservation candidate. Doors and windows from 843 were selected and sized to fit. A damaged end apron — the curved panel below the driver’s windscreen — was replaced with one from SW5 809 stock, re-rolled to the correct curvature, sandblasted and primed before fitting.

The Unglamorous Essentials

Sliding-door trams live and die by their door gear. After ten years idle, most of the seals in 849’s door engine pistons had failed; the pistons were fully overhauled and refitted. The multiple head and tail light assemblies were prepared and installed, marker light housings refitted to the aprons, offside conductor bells and external mirrors added, and the painted-over glasses in the driver’s bulkheads removed — small reversals of decades of service-life expedients.

The bodywork told its own story about 1970s workshop practice: panels fitted late in the car’s service had not been adequately primed, and paint was flaking from them. Test patches were rubbed back before the honest conclusion was reached — strip the panels completely and start again from a proper primer coat. Inside, timber beadings were removed and revarnished, ceilings and upper bulkheads repainted, and a set of timber dropcentre seats refurbished.

Commissioning

Beyond cosmetics lay the commissioning programme: calibration checks of the electrical and pneumatic systems, lifting inspection, and test running for acceptance and driver training. The car was shunted under power at Haddon within months of arrival, and after its refurbishment was completed, 849 joined the operating fleet — the youngest tram at Haddon and the one most familiar to anyone who rode Melbourne’s W-class trams in their final decades.

Full technical details are on 849’s tramcar page. The parallel campaign on W3 663 ran through the same years — two very different restorations sharing one small workshop’s time.