Historic Photo of the Day: 2025-10-31

Today's historic photo of the day: Exactly 38 years ago today, W5 class tram no 774 runs a route 15 East Brunswick-Moreland shuttle trip in Moreland Road, Brunswick, Vic, October 31, 1987. No 774 is one of 120 W5 class trams built by the M&MTB between 1936 and 1939. The W5s were the first significant class to feature wide bodies - building on the success of the small fleets of five W4 class trams of 1933-35 and five CW5 trams of 1935. No 774 herself was built in 1936, and was the last Melbourne tram to retain square framed windscreens and 3 centre doors. Just about all W5s were modified by the 1970s to close off the narrow central doors and to fit driver windscreens with vertically sliding upper panels with rounded upper outer corners. However, no 774 somehow escaped these mods and was easily distinguishable in the 1980s as something of a remnant of earlier years. She was withdrawn from regular service in 1989 and is today an exhibit at the Hawthorn Tramway Museum. At that time, this 1.2km of east-west track along Moreland Road from Holmes Street Brunswick East to Moreland was served by route 15 which ran via Swanston Street in the City then St Kilda Road to St Kilda Beach. However at certain times at nights and on weekends, it ran as a shuttle with timetabled co-ordinated connections at Holmes Street into and out of route 1 East Coburg trams, and it is one of those yoyo trips we see 774 running here. The Moreland Road track remains in service and today, and it now carries route 6 trams through-running full-time from Moreland to Glen Iris via City Swanston Street. It also provides access for route 1 trams to Brunswick Depot and this section west of Sydney Road also provides access to Brunswick Depot for route 19 trams running along Sydney Road.