Sapporo Streetcar 240 series

The Sapporo Streetcar 240 series is a Japanese streetcar type operated by the Sapporo Municipal Transport Bureau on the Sapporo Streetcar network since February 1960.
==History==
The 240 series cars was a series of streetcars manufactured for the Sapporo Streetcar network. A total of eight cars were manufactured in February and April 1960 by the Sapporo Sogo Kōgyō Cooperative, a cooperative of a number of minor rolling stock manufacturing companies based in Sapporo; three companies, Fujiya Tekkō, Naebo Kōgyō and Taiwa Sharyō, manufactured the cars using equipment from scrapped 150 series cars as well as spares for those cars.
Operation began in February 1960. 245 was scrapped in 1970 after being involved in an accident; its electrical components were reused to build 720 series car 721. 242 was retired in September 2020 while 248 was retired in September 2021. 243 is expected to be retired in spring 2024.
==Design==
The 240 series cars feature a curvy design. Initially, the cars used a top-mounted headlight; this was later changed to dual headlights mounted on the front of the car. The cars's original livery was the Sapporo Municipal Transport Bureau's corporate colors of a tan body with green accents; in later years the cars would be repainted in their second corporate livery of all-over green.
243 was repainted back into its original livery in August 2023 as part of a crowdfunding campaign.
==Specifications==
Construction of the cars is of steel. The cars use a nose suspension drive system and ride on Kawasaki KW-181 bogies; prior to this, they used a type of bogie manufactured in-house by the Sapporo Sogo Kōgyō Cooperative. 
Their original current collectors were bow collectors; these were later changed to Z-type pantographs. 241 had its pantograph replaced with a single arm pantograph in 2018.
==Preservation==
248 is preserved in front of the Sapporo Sun Plaza hotel in Sapporo, Hokkaido; it was previously located at the locomotive wash at the Horokita Depot before it was relocated. Some parts were restored to their original condition, such as the rollsign destination indicators.
Category:Light rail vehicles
Category:Streetcars
Category:Fujiya Tekkō locomotives
Category:Naebo Kōgyō locomotives
Category:Taiwa Sharyō locomotives
Category:Sapporo Streetcar trains
Category:Sapporo Sogo Kōgyō locomotives