Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 12, 2010

Class B and Class E, normally referred to as Gullfisk (Norwegian for "goldfish"), were a class of 46 trams built by Strømmens Værksted and Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk for Oslo Sporveier and Bærumsbanen of Oslo, Norway, in 1935 and 1937. They were the first aluminum trams to operate on the Oslo Tramway and the first bogie trams to operate on street lines. They had contemporary modern electronic equipment, a streamlined shape, and comfortable accommodation. Six prototype trams were delivered by Strømmen in 1935, with four different motor solutions, from AEG, Siemens, Vickers and Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri (NEBB). None of these were particularly successful, and the 40 serial production trams used conventional motors from ELIN. These were delivered in 1937, with 20 being used by Oslo Sporveier mainly on the Kjelsås Line, but also on other services. The remaining 20 trams were leased to Bærumsbanen, that used them on the Kolsås and Østensjø Lines, and later on the Ekeberg Line. From 1967, Oslo Sporveier transferred all its trams to Bærumsbanen, where they remained in use until 1985. The class has been involved in several fatal incidents, including the Strømsveien tram fire in 1958. Six trams remain at the Oslo Tramway Museum; whilst Oslo Sporveier has kept two and converted them to maintenance vehicles, painted them yellow with zebra stripes.