A historic tram of the NZH again. This time the A600 series. The first articulated tram of the Netherlands.
The NZH ordered 10 of these, build by Beijnes and delivered in 1932, for use on the Haarlem - Leiden route. Haarlem did not allow tramcars longer then 10 meters in the city center, so the AB500 series could not be used. Therefore, the NZH came up with an articulated tram, of which each section was below the 10 meter limit, and both sections carrying a different vehicle number (so to comply with the rules, they were officially two coupled tramcars).
When the Haarlem - Leiden line ended operation, these trams where used on the The Hague - Leiden - Katwijk/Noordwijk route, until the NZH tram network was replaced by buses on 9 november 1961.
Late 1950's, in Leiden
In Metrosimulator:
The model has been made in Sketchup by Johan, who also made the Sketchup objects for the earlier NZH A500 series trams. I am converting it for Metrosimulator, and ofcourse animating it.
Yes I know... the wrong coupler type for this tramtype. Will replace that later...
The articulation, and the different vehicle numbers to comply with the rules of Haarlem.
Yes, it's bidirectional too.
In 2024 this tram type is expected to carry passengers again for the first time since 1961, as at the NZH museum in Haarlem, a fully functional replica of the last tram (the A619/A620) is currently being build, based on original drawings from the archives. It is planned to run on the The Hague tram network when it's finished; https://denieuweblauwetram.nl/
