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Description
One of the historical trams once used in Poznan, Konstal N was the first Polish tram built after the Second World War. It was built mainly in Konstal factory in Chorzów between 1948 and 1956, but it was also manufactured by Shipyard No. 3 in Gdansk and Sanok Wagon Factory. Because Poland was in dire need of city transport, its construction was based on German Kriegsstraßenbahnwagen (War-time Tram), a cheap and easily-made design from the times of war.

Aside from Poznan, it was used by most of the Polish cities with tram lines: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Szczecin, Upper Silesian cities etc., while Łódź, Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz, Elbląg and several others used a narrow-gauge version.

Konstal N was easy to manufacture and maintain, and was generally reliable, but it was not very safe machine. Some of the versions did not have closing doors, so the passengers could "stick" outside during the rush hours (such practice was called "graping", because people would hang from the tram like grapes from the branch); though dangerous, it was allowed, since Konstals were not driving very fast.

It proved disastrous during the accident in Szczecin on December 7th 1957. An overloaded tram derailed while coming down the slope when its brakes failed. 15 people were killed and almost 150 were injured, making it the worst tram disaster in Polish history. In the aftermath, the tri-wagon trams were banned and replaced with twin-wagon ones, electrically-closed doors were installed to prevent "graping", and extra rail brake was installed to support the electromagnetic systems.

Konstal N were still used by Poznan City Transport in 1980s, but were retired soon thereafter and replaced with newer designs, such as Konstal 105N. Since then they were sometimes launched on special occasions, mostly for the "0" tourist line that travels near the historical sights, such as the Cathedral or the Old Town.

Description
One of the historical trams once used in Poznan, Konstal N was the first Polish tram built after the Second World War. It was built mainly in Konstal factory in Chorzów between 1948 and 1956, but it was also manufactured by Shipyard No. 3 in Gdansk and Sanok Wagon Factory. Because Poland was in dire need of city transport, its construction was based on German Kriegsstraßenbahnwagen (War-time Tram), a cheap and easily-made design from the times of war.

Aside from Poznan, it was used by most of the Polish cities with tram lines: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, Szczecin, Upper Silesian cities etc., while Łódź, Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz, Elbląg and several others used a narrow-gauge version.

Konstal N was easy to manufacture and maintain, and was generally reliable, but it was not very safe machine. Some of the versions did not have closing doors, so the passengers could "stick" outside during the rush hours (such practice was called "graping", because people would hang from the tram like grapes from the branch); though dangerous, it was allowed, since Konstals were not driving very fast.

It proved disastrous during the accident in Szczecin on December 7th 1957. An overloaded tram derailed while coming down the slope when its brakes failed. 15 people were killed and almost 150 were injured, making it the worst tram disaster in Polish history. In the aftermath, the tri-wagon trams were banned and replaced with twin-wagon ones, electrically-closed doors were installed to prevent "graping", and extra rail brake was installed to support the electromagnetic systems.

Konstal N were still used by Poznan City Transport in 1980s, but were retired soon thereafter and replaced with newer designs, such as Konstal 105N. Since then they were sometimes launched on special occasions, mostly for the "0" tourist line that travels near the historical sights, such as the Cathedral or the Old Town.