Geneva Trams - Simplon Postcards

The Swiss 'Standard' tram was designed in Zürich to replace their large fleet of two-axle cars. It was influenced by best practice in PCC, Milano 'Peter Witt' cars and the latest Oslo cars. Brown Boveri et Cie (BBC) built the first prototype as Zürich 351 in 1939. The second prototype 401 from Schweizerische Waggon- und Aufzügfabrik, Schlieren (SWS) followed in 1940 - this was a lighter tram than 351. They set the pattern for almost all modern bogie trams built for service in western Europe. Orders were placed for both designs of tram, becoming 1351-1415 and 1501-1552 after the 1945 Zürich renumbering. The last lightweight car 1549 lasted until 1987 and the last heavy cars remained until 1998. Lightweight and heavyweight single-ended cars were offered to other operators plus an intermediate double-ended car. Geneva had cars 701-730 which were heavyweight cards designed to pull trailers. Lightweight trailers were supplied to run with them.