variants. After experimentation with a PCC streetcar, construction of Ws resumed in 1951, with more SW6 and later W6 and the final 40 W-class trams (W7) emerging from Preston Workshops by 1956, when the need to provide something more capable of dealing with Olympic Games crowds than Bourke Street's buses prompted the last expansion of the network. In April 1971, W7 1024 became the first tram to carry all over advertising livery when it was painted for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, followed by Heinz (June 1971), Preston Market (August 1971), and Channel 0 (October 1971). It was fitted with 400 light bulbs on its roofline. It was joined by W6 900 in 1973. In 1977 W2 546 was fitted with an experimental Siemens pantograph. The W7 class with its pneumatic sliding doors and softer suspension proved popular with passengers. It was not until the 1990s that the W class was finally considered surplus to rolling stock requirements. Mass withdrawal came with the introduction of the B2 class (although the previous Z and A classes had enabled withdrawal of W2s), with the remaining weather blind trams being removed by 1993, all of the 1980s SW5 conversions besides no.728 (which remained in service until 2011) by 1994, and many SW6/W6/W7 classes. In 1998, all Ws remaining in service were withdrawn due to a strike, and, although unintended, this would become the end for the Ws which were not running on routes 30,78/79 and 35. In 2014, all non-city circle Ws were withdrawn, in 2018, the restaurant trams, and in 2019, the remaining non-W8 class trams. This left only the upgraded sliding door W-class trams, modernised from 2013 onwards, which were designated the W8 class. Removal from service In 1992, an official mass withdrawal of the W class was announced by transport minister Alan Brown. That was generally due to the fact that over 200 W class remained in service, while the newer Z-class trams were in storage in varying locations, after being displaced by the newer A and B class vehicles. Protests over the disappearing icons brought about a reconsideration of the withdrawal policy, and it was decided 53 Ws would be retained for tourist purposes. The popular zero-fare City Circle tourist route commenced in April 1994, using 12 of the 53 trams retained. When the network was privatised in August 1999, 30 W-class trams were allocated to M>Tram and