Adelaide F & F1 Type "Dropcentre" 244, 264 & 282

Type: Bogie, drop centre, combination
Built: 1921-1929, Pengelley (MTT - 262, 283, 284)
Capacity: 60 seated, 170 crush load
Motors: 4 x 40 hp or 4 x 50 hp

Weight: 19.64 - 20.10 tons, xx t
Length: 49 ft 0 in, 14.94 m
Width: 8 ft 10 in, 2.69 m
Height: 10 ft 6 in, 3.20 m

The dropcentres ran right up until the closure of the Adelaide tramway system, when the last public trip was made by No 269 to Cheltenham in November 1958. No 282 became the last conventional street car to operate on any part of the Adelaide system, running under it's own power to Glenelg on 28^th February 1959, on the first stage of it's journey to the Museum. Unlike many other cars in our fleet, 282 arrived at the Museum fully intact and only minor work was required to prepare it for operations. It is a fully authentic Adelaide dropcentre tram.

F1 264 was discovered in 1977 on a farm in Clare where it was being used as a sleepout. It was acquired in May 1981 under a joint arrangement with the State Transport Authority. Restoration commenced in May 1983 and was completed in November 1986. This car was restored using electrical equipment and trucks from scrapped M&MTB W2 class cars.

It was fitted out in it's original tuscan red and cream livery, with a varnished interior, in conjunction with the STA as a Jubilee 150 project. It was launched at St Kilda on 28^th September 1986, during a COTMA Conference in Adelaide. It then ran over 6000 kilometres on the Glenelg line before commencing regular service at St Kilda on 3^rd February 1987. No 264 was one of a number of trams to receive a repainting between 1995 and 1998.

The body of F 244 was found near Murray Bridge being used as a holiday house. It arrived at the Museum in April 1999. It is one of the 50 F Type dropcentres used in the Adelaide Fleet. It was obtained both as an example of the F Type and also because it had never had motorman's exit doors cut into the end bulkheads.

The essential difference between the F and F1 types is in the underframe. The original F had a steel/wood underframe, whereas that in the F1 was all steel.

264 is used regularly in operatons. 282 is currently in storage in the North Tram Shed.

Here are some more images of our dropcentres. Firstly, there is a Large version of the 264 picture at the top. Below we have 282 during the fleet reshuffle day. Small, Large.

Other Interesting Imformation
By a coincidence, the original electrical equipment from 264 was that used in the construction of No 381.