Between 1896 and 1900, 97 C-class trams were built by three Sydney firms; Bignall & Morrison, Hudson Brothers and Clyde Engineering with bogies supplied by the Peckham Motor Truck & Wheel Co, Kingston, New York.

There were four different body types, with variations in width, length, number of windows, and seating capacity (20-26).

The interior featured varnished timberwork, and there was a clerestory roof with sidelights of coloured glass.

They mainly operated from Ridge Street Tram Depot, and to a lesser extent from Rushcutters Bay, Ultimo and Waverley.

In 1907, four (23, 25, 38 and 39) were sold to the Victorian Railways as replacements for trams destroyed by a fire at Elwood depot.