Dudley Horscroft wrote:
> I have received a query re whether any Melbourne trams still have trolley poles. My thoughts are that the only possibilities are
> the Restaurant cars, the City Circle cars, and the Ws on 78/9. Plus of course the Ws in storage (a recent email said there were
> about 200, which sounds a lot).

Hi Dudley,

I'm not as quick off the mark as others, but do have some information to
add ...

> Query 1 - are there any operational cars with poles?

Depends on what you mean by 'operational cars' ...

W3 667 was the last tram to operate with a trolley pole in Melbourne
when it was used in "The Pacific" filming.
AFAIK it made the entire trip without de-wirement.
See: http://tdu.to/14138.att?size=o

If you want to include all electric vehicles on the Melbourne tramway
system, then there are still vehicles with trolley poles in everyday
service - and they have trolley wheels, not skids.
.... I'll leave that hang as a tease for now! :-)

> Query 2 - where are the stored Ws stored, and do they have poles? Are they ever likely to re-enter service?

Stored at Newport, Preston and North Melbourne. Yes, they would mostly
have poles. They may re-enter service. If it's in Melbourne it will be
with pantographs. If it's on some other line - probably a museum - then
perhaps with poles.

Melbourne seems to have a policy of replacing any W tram with any body
problems with a tram from storage ... it's easier than repairing wooden
bodies.

For example, 928 has been made into a "City Circle" tram after sitting
at Preston for some time and has been waiting (at least since last
September) to enter service.

See: http://tdu.to/96634.msg

.... and an update from last week:
http://tdu.to/5016-862-928_PWS_26Feb2010.jpg

Mal Rowe - in a city with trolley poles ... and trolley wheels ... in
everyday service