All JEM kits are HO scale and are designed to run using Tenshodo SPUD motor bogies
(not supplied) for equal wheel cars, and David Voice maximum traction kits for the
HTT cars. Dummy floors and wheel-sets are provided with every kit so that the model
may be built for static display. Kits consist of cast polyester resin components,
dummy trolley pole(s) and a brief history and instruction sheet packed in a stout
cardboard carton which is designed to house the completed model. Operating trolley
pole kits are available from other suppliers to suit JEM kits.
JEM Kits is a 'kitchen table' enterprise which began when fellow enthusiasts wanted
supplies of components which I was making for my own use. In 1995 the first complete
kit was issued, this being the Adelaide C type car, known as the Desert Gold. This
kit is now discontinued. Twenty of these dome roofed California Combination cars
operated on the Adelaide system, some of them working part of their lives on the
isolated Port Adelaide routes.
By February 1996, two Birney kits were available from JEM. Kit 5G2 covers the four
Birneys as operated on the Port Adelaide system, and 5G6 represents these same cars
in their final form in Bendigo, in the Australian state of Victoria. The simple
design of these kits makes them an ideal project for the new-comer, while still
providing a worth-while model for the more discerning collector. These cars are in
regular tourist operation in Bendigo in both forms. Note that they are LEFT HANDED
compared to Birneys in the U.S.A. These cars are available assembled and painted in
Tuscan red and cream on the 5G2 model, or the SEC green and cream livery on the 5G6.
The famous Glenelg trams introduced in 1929 are still running in revenue service in
Adelaide. JEM kit 5H will provide you with a body shell and components to build one
of these cars. This kit first appeared in the model shops in February 1997 and it is
relatively straight-forward to paint and assemble. About half the original fleet of
thirty cars is still operating in original form, although their trolley poles have
been replaced by pantographs, and much of the 'timber-work' is now fibre-glass.
These cars are available assembled and painted in the silver livery of the 1950s to
1970s or the Tuscan red and cream seen currently.
In late 2001 work was completed on a Hawthorn Tramways Trust bogie car kit with an
SEC variant of the same car to be released subsequently. This kit is quite complex
and should be attempted only by experienced and patient kit builders. This car is
also available painted and assembled in either the original HTT grey and white, or
the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board early livery of brown and cream.
If you would like more information or are interested in ordering one of these kits,
please contact me.
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