The Linke Hofman Standard tram – the bench

The sound of adjusting the back of a wooden bench in a historic LH Standard tram. In this type of cars, passengers were able to adjust the backrests of the benches depending on the direction the tram was going in.

The Linke Hofman Standard tramcars were manufactured in the years 1924-1929 for the public transport company in Wrocław. The structure of the body of these modern vehicles was made entirely from steel. Platforms constituted the only exception – as elements often subject to damage, they were manufactured from wood covered with metal sheet in order to reduce maintenance and repair costs. The tramcar could accommodate 60 passengers at a time, including 20 seats. After WW2, LH Standard tramcars appeared also on the streets of Katowice and Warsaw. In Poland they were in operation until the year 1977. Car No 1076 arrived to Krakow in 1985 as one of the first exhibits for the museum of transport, the creation of which was planned at the time.

The tram belongs to Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne S.A. public transport company in Krakow and during the recording it was being exhibited at the Museum of Urban Engineering. The car is in operation and is occasionally used in the streets of Krakow. The LH type tramcar recordings were used in the audiovisual installation "The Ghost Tram" under the "Sounds of Changes" project.

Sound recording: Marcin Dymiter aka Emiter
Photo: Bruno Fidrych, Museum of Municipal Engineering