Data sheet:
- Manufacturer: Girona.
- Measurements:
- Width: 2.00 m
- Height: 3.59 m
- Length: 8.90 m
- Began service: 1906.
- Decommissioned: 1963.
- Restored: 1986.
Vehicle history:
The jardineres (open-sided trams) were the open trams, without sides but with a roof, which from 1873 to 1966 ran on the city's general tramway network. Although the different open-sided models were always made up of a few units, they were very popular as they were operated in good weather and took passengers to the beaches.
The design of the open-sided tram was based on practical elements. On one side, the trams had little ventilation and with the heat the journey became unbearable. Soon the open-sided tram model made in the US by the company J.G. Brill & Company was incorporated. On the other hand, the first trams were pulled by horses or mules, so removing the sides of the vehicles was also a way to lighten the weight making the task easier when the heat made it more difficult.
When the electric tram arrived 1899, tram companies could not afford to have vehicles with built-in engines that only operated in summer. As a first solution, the previous open-sided trams were added as trailers to the new trams. Five years later, another model patented by J.G. Brill & Company was implemented; an electric tram with detachable side walls.
In 1906 the metal company in Poblenou, Can Girona, was commissioned to build the first series of electric open-sided trams to reinforce the summer service for the different lines on the seafront. Tram 129 is one of nine vehicles that were built.
Tram 129 stopped running in 1963 and in 1971 it was put back into circulation on the tram's farewell journey.
In 1986, the open-sided 129 was restored using the chassis of the Blue Tramway number nine vehicle that had been decommissioned. This is the only open-sided tram that has been preserved from the general network of trams in Barcelona and was restored keeping its original colour. This is why one of the trams of the Blue Tram network is red.
