The Tramcars
Eight tramcars form the preserved fleet at Haddon — seven from Melbourne’s street network and one from the Victorian Railways’ own seaside tramway. Together they trace the evolution of the Melbourne dropcentre tram from 1921 to 1940.
The collection was chosen deliberately rather than accumulated by accident. Each car represents a distinct stage in the development of Melbourne’s standard tram: the L class of the early trust era, the original W design and its W2 refinement, the steel-framed W3, the wide-bodied W4, the three-doorway W5, and the sliding-door SW5 that pointed the way to every Melbourne tram that followed. Alongside them stands VR 41, a survivor of the Victorian Railways’ broad-gauge electric street railway from St Kilda to Brighton Beach.
Several other cars passed through Haddon as parts donors — W2s 222, 499 and 505, L 105, W3 656, SW5s 809 and 843, SW6s 890, 901 and 947, and W7 1008 among them — their components giving the preserved fleet the spares needed to keep running. That practical, unsentimental approach to preservation is part of the story too.
Fleet Directory
| VR 41 | Victorian Railways bogie dropcentre tram, Newport Workshops, entered service 1923. Restored to operation 2005. |
|---|---|
| L 103 | MMTB L class, James Moore & Sons, 1921. Restored to late-1950s condition, completed 2008. |
| W2 357 | MMTB W2 class (built as W class), Holden Street Workshops, 1926. Stored operational. |
| W2 407 | MMTB W2 class (built as W class), 1926. Restored to later-service condition. |
| W3 663 | MMTB W3 class, Preston Workshops, 1933. Major restoration undertaken from 2009. |
| W4 670 | MMTB W4 class, 1933. The Association’s first complete restoration, finished 1992. |
| W5 792 | MMTB W5 class, Preston Workshops, 1937. Under restoration to original condition. |
| SW5 849 | MMTB SW5 class, Preston Workshops, 1940. Returned to operating condition at Haddon. |
Each tram’s page covers its Melbourne service life, how it came to Haddon, its restoration story and its full technical specification.