C type Adelaide tram

{{Short description|Class of 20th-century tram in Adelaide}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2022}}

{{about|a class of tram that first ran on the street tramways of Adelaide, South Australia in 1918|an overview of the city's tram types|Tram types in Adelaide}}

{{Infobox tram

|name = C type

|image = Adelaide Tram 186.jpg

|caption = C186 at the Tramway Museum, St Kilda
in November 2008

|manufacturer = Duncan & Fraser

|assembly = Adelaide

|constructed = 1918

|numberbuilt = 20

|numberservice=

|fleetnumbers = 171-190

|depots =

|designer =

|predecessor =

|successor =

|carlength = 10.36 metres

|width = 2.41 metres

|height = 3.18 metres

|wheeldiameter =

|wheelbase =

|weight = 11.2 tonnes

|capacity = 40

|acceleration =

|deceleration =

|doors =

|lowfloor =

|traction motors = 2 x 50hp General Electric 202s

|axleload =

|powersupply =

|collectionmethod = Trolley pole

|electricsystem =

|wheels driven =

|steep gradient =

|bogies = JG Brill Company 21E

|minimum curve =

|gauge = {{RailGauge|1435mm}}

}}

The C type Adelaide tram was a class of 20 drop end, California combination trams built by Duncan & Fraser, Adelaide in 1918 for the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT). All were delivered in 1918, but as they were receiving second-hand motors from the E type trams, the last did not enter service until September 1919. When the MTT introduced an alpha classification system in 1923, they were designated the C type.{{cite book|title=Destination Paradise|date=1975|publisher=Australian Electric Traction Association|location=Sydney|page=19}}"Adelaide's Desert Gold Trams" Trolley Wire issue 237 May 1989 pages 3-10[http://www.trammuseumadelaide.com/413552654 C type tram 186 (1918)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104084132/http://www.trammuseumadelaide.com/413552654 |date=2017-11-04 }} Tramway Museum, St Kilda

Because they were much faster than existing trams, they were nicknamed Desert Golds after a contemporary racehorse. At least 10 were transferred to the isolated Port Adelaide network in 1930, the last returning after the Albert Park line closed in November 1934. The last was withdrawn in 1953.