Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: Dopravni Podnik Hlavniho Mesta Prahy

Here's another shot of 7029 in Zvonarka.

When I was living in the tiny Prague neighborhood of Zvonarka (adjacent the equally tiny neighborhood of Amerika), I was awoken one morning by the sound of a tram on the Zvonarka wye. The Zvonarka tram stop isn't currently active, as people living in Zvonarka and Amerika now use the Bruselska or I.P. Pavlova stops usually, but when there's trackwork blocking a line they'll sometimes terminate trams here. It wasn't the case on this particular day, however, as they were shooting a movie or TV show, and needed a tram stop and a tram, so they called up DPP! 7029 was masquerading as tram service 11 on this occassion, although Zvonarka isn't on tram 11's route. I never found out which movie or TV show was being shot, though.

Finally...another T3!!! The Tatra T3, introduced in 1960 and produced until 1990 (although I've found newer builder plates than that, possibly from rebuilds) is probably the most successful tram design ever, 13,991 of them serving faithfully in 49 cities in 10 countries. This of course doesn't count the endless variants like the T4 (almost the same tram in spite of the different number), the K2 (articulated), and many, many more. 1,185 were built for DPP, although now the fleet is down to 750 due to wear and tear, the Prague Spring (some of them were destroyed in the invasion and revolt, if I'm not mistaken), and a handful of accidents. Only a handful are in their original configuration, with 6149, seen here, and 6102 being the best preserved ones, and hence the ones used for display and charters. Many people argue that the T3 isn't obsolete yet, so the whole idea of one being in a museum is probably a little odd to some people. 6149 is, however, quite old, having been built in 1962. One way or another, they're still a part of everyday life for any normal person in Prague, and I ride them almost daily.

After the success of the Tatra T1, it was replaced by the T2, pictured here. The T1 had been based on the American PCC trolley, but I think that the T2 bears a much closer resemblence to it. A number of these still survive, but only a few have been preserved in Prague, and none of the ones in DPP's fleet remain in regular service.

#608 was mentioned earlier, it being a trailer in the 297/638/608 set. #5001, however, is much more interesting. Starting in 1951, DPP began replacing their old (mostly) CKD four-wheel trams with Tatra eight-wheel trams, the most numerous being the T3. The T3, however, wasn't introduced until 1960, so really I'm being misleading. The first of the breed was the T1, pictured here. I'm not aware of whether 5001 was the first, but it's the oldest surviving T1 in DPP's fleet. #5002 is sometimes used on service 91, and I have at least one photo of it on Flickr.

Here's another look at 4217 and 728.

Both 4217 and 728, in spite of being outside apparently awaiting an assignment, aren't regular service units or historic units assigned to service 91. Instead, being too old for regular service, with 4217 being built in 1915 (formerly #355), and 728 being of unknown, but similar vintage (at least from what I can gather), 4217 is used to switch equipment around the museum, but 728 is the mysterious one. I haven't had time to ask what it's for.

DPP #4053 was never intended as a passenger tram, but instead was built specifically (in 1917) for moving construction materials for the DPP's MOW crews.

DPP #3063 is one of the later four-wheel trams built for DPP, having been completed in 1942, while World War II was still going on, and much of the rest of the world was shifting towards eight-wheel trams.

DPP #2294 was built in 1932, and is currently displayed coupled to trailer car #608 (out of view).

DPP #2222 is currently displayed as part of a three-car set with trailers 1111 and 1219. 2222 was built in 1930, and 1111 and 1219 were built in 1928 and 1931. Hmm...a lot of numbers. :-)

Here's another shot of #2210 at Stresovice.

Here 2210, built by CKD sometime in the 1920s, works historic tram service #91, preparing to depart the loop at Vozovna Stresovice (which is also the stop for the public transport museum) for Vystaviste.

DPP #109 paired with trailer car #526 (out of view) was built in 1901, and trailer car #1314 is paired with tram #357, seen in another of my photos. 1314 was built in 1931, and is called "Krasin" by some of DPP's workers.

Built in 1913, DPP #500 was intended for use in the summer, especially for tours and charters, and continued in this role until 1972. I'm not aware of whether it still runs, but it wouldn't surprise me.

#494 is not a tram, of course, but a 1959 Skoda 8 Tr. Trolejbus, or Trolleybus to English speakers. Many Czech cities still use Trolleybuses, although they're much newer, of course. These cities include Plzen, Hradec Kralove, Ostrava, Zlin, and Brno, and there may be a few more which I'm forgetting. In any case, this bus is now definitely historic, not only because of its age but because DPP stopped running trolleybuses in 1972.

#357 was built in 1915, and I'm pretty sure I've seen it running charters before, although I could be misremembering. Like 297, it also has a trailer, #1314, although both are configured to run on the left side of the street, as Bohemia, and later Czechoslovakia had left hand running until 1939, when the Nazis converted the country overnight by force.

Well, you know about 88 and 275 if you've seen the dedicated photo for them, so...I'll describe 297. What you can't see here is that 297 is actually a three-car set of 297, 638, and 608. Today, it's very common to see T3 and T6A5 trams running in pairs in Prague (I usually only note the number of the lead unit, or the number of the unit visible), but prior to the 1980s it wasn't uncommon to see three-car sets, and an unpowered version of the T3 was even experimented with for a time. In any case, as for 297 itself, it was built in 1909, although it was rebuilt in 1946.