203-282, 415, 455, 467, 468 & 483 Standard

These trams were built with the use of reconditioned Brill 21E trucks and GE59 motors of withdrawn older trams. They had air brakes and English Electric K3 or BTH B510 controllers. Their platforms were 149 mm lower as the saloons and the wheel ø 851 mm.

The series 203-282 entered service in 1932-1937 as the replacements of the small open trams. These new tramcars got the numbers of the old cars they officially replaced. This did not mean that a new car got the truck and equipment of the old car with the same number. Instead it got (freshly overhauled) truck and equipment from the stockpile. Often a new tramcar was put in service on the same day or the day after the old tram with the same number was withdrawn. In 1935 also three similar cars were built to replace trams lost in accidents, two São Luís trams and a Brill: 415, 468 & 483. In 1940 two more followed to replace São Luís trams that collided with each other: 455 & 467.

The trams built until about the Summer of 1934 had at each side on the roof four hemispheric ventilators, the later cars had two flat ventilators at each side. Of 260 the original hemispheric ventilators were later replaced by an equal number of flat ones.

Eighteen cars (203-220) were modified in the 1950’s to single-ended and worked with the trailers 101-200. These 18 cars were withdrawn in the early 1970’s when trailer operations were reduced. Nine more cars were withdrawn until 1979. The bodies of seven cars (231-234, 250, 259 & 268, not in sequence) replaced around 1986 the original Caixote bodies of 737, 738 and 741-745 getting the numbers of the latter. The bodies of two cars (276 & 226) were modified to single-ended around 1986 and placed on the trucks of 736 and 739 receiving the numbers 761 and 762. Ten more cars were withdrawn in the 1980’s, one of them (260) joining the museum fleet. The bodies of the other 39 cars were used in 1995/6 for Remodelados series 541-585.