Tait train

Heritage red rattler train welcomes back Melbourne passengers for the first time in years. Eighteen years after financial trouble took Melbourne's red rattlers off the rails, tait train, the historic electric trains tait train back on track and available for the public.

For almost half a century from to , Victorian Railways VR of Australia built and introduced over Tait trains, used across Melbourne's suburban rail network. Named after Canadian Thomas James Tait, they were initially built as carriages to be hauled by Steam traction before being electricfied under Tait's initiative. They were used in a number of formations right up until , by which time they had all been withdrawn. Their aged wooden bodies were simply not fit for the lines of the time and presented a real risk of fire compared to more contemporary rolling stock. Ironically, some Tait trains were disposed of by being burned, with others sold off for scrap and others entering preservation. A Tait Train pre-electrification hauled by a Dd Class steam locomotive. Occasionally, in the last 20 years, steam-hauled sets of Tait trains have returned to the mainline on special excursion tours using refurbished sets.

Tait train

The train is actually a swing door train [1] from the Melbourne Train Network despite being called a tait [2] in the game. This is due to its narrower body profile and its swing doors as opposed to sliding doors. The trains in Melbourne were retired on the 26th January following their displacement by new Hitachi trains, however some remained in use as maintenance or workshop vehicles until the s. Taits on the other hand lasted until The train has to have special care in order to avoid crashes and so only runs on weekends when less trains are running. It is hauled by diesel locomotives on non-electrified sections only. Trainways [Alpha] Wiki Explore. Wiki Content. Discord Help. Explore Wikis Community Central.

Carriages; M, D, T and M were part of the consist.

From previous posts, regular readers will know that I am a bit of a plane and train nut. To me, there is so much romance and nostalgia in these proud icons from yesteryear! They almost have personalities! In April , I had the very great pleasure of travelling on the inaugural passenger run of a restored Tait train , here in Melbourne For many older Melburnians, this may bring back memories of train travel many years ago. This restoration is an electrified set of four carriages dating back to the s, which have been lovingly restored at the Newport train works, in the south of Melbourne.

Heritage red rattler train welcomes back Melbourne passengers for the first time in years. Eighteen years after financial trouble took Melbourne's red rattlers off the rails, the historic electric trains are back on track and available for the public. Today's launch marks the first time the Tait train has been certified to carry passengers on Melbourne's suburban railway network while operating under its own power since Steamrail volunteer Alex McLennan said they had been through some "devastating" times trying to get the trains up and running, so today was "exciting" for everyone involved. Steamrail Victoria had been successfully operating tours and public shuttle trips of the Tait trains from the mids until when their operator West Coast Rail folded. The volunteer organisation struggled to find another operator. Then in the early hours of the morning on March 4, , a fire was lit at the Newport Railyards destroying a newly restored swing door train as well as damaging the workshop and other carriages.

Tait train

Built between and , these started out as carriages behind steam locomotives. In they were converted to Electric Mutiple Unit. The Tait was converted to an Electric Mutiple Unit in and run on a trial on the first electricified line, the Showgrounds line. Built in , the series 1 was the first of the Harris's to be built, sporting both a new door layout and new seat layout, these revolutionised the way people commuted around Melbourne to this day. The Harris Series 2, while very much like the Series 1, was built with modifications were the Series 1 lacked, such as a guard window and the first time a gangway existed letting commuters go from carriage to carriage without having to exit the train. The Hitachi was originally designed to be a Harris Series 3, but chosen to be called Hitachi after the designer. The Hitachi sported a whole new aero-dynamic design, and a metro-esk seat layout as Melbourne had grown so much that the railway network needed to be converted to a Metro. Built in and 's the Comengs were made to replace the aging Tait and Harris train. The Comeng was named after the manufracturer Commonwealth Engineering, and was the first train in Melbourne to sport air coniditoning. After the success of the Comeng, Metropolitan Tranist chose the Harris S2 needed a refurbishment based on the Comeng to life extend them.

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In , four motors, M, M, M and M were modified to include driving cab at both ends, taking on new numbers M—M. On the standard gauge was , , , , and which had worked on the Daylight Express on Saturday. The car was coded BT, and lasted in service until RTL class. File Size. Red Rattler by David Nice. Tait car D under the lights of three road of Newport Workshops. One-car operation commenced in , after the conversion of M the previous year and the end of union disputes over their introduction. From , some of the earlier Swing Door carriages were withdrawn and scrapped. Description Discussions 0 Comments 20 Change Notes. From through to , ACP and BCP carriages were withdrawn from steam service in preparation for electrification. Flying Scotsman was suggested as an alternative.

They were introduced in by the Victorian Railways, and last operated in , although a number of the carriages were converted for other uses and are still operating. A program to refurbish the Harris trains was begun in The refurbishment, which was made to look similar to a Comeng interior, included individual vinyl foam type cushions on an integrated plastic frame to replace the former more traditional vinyl sprung seats, air conditioning, and a new colour scheme.

But funding had to be arranged. Australian Model Engineering. Westinghouse Air Brake Company. They were replaced by the Blue Harris trains. ICS [author] 19 Jun, pm. Initially numbered 1G—97G, they were built between and , with clerestory roofs, and nearly identical passenger facilities to the T series trailers — Internally, the car was divided into three second-class compartments; the outer two at a little under 17 ft across and the middle compartment at a little under 23 ft. This restoration is an electrified set of four carriages dating back to the s, which have been lovingly restored at the Newport train works, in the south of Melbourne. For boat trains in general and other specific services, see Boat train. From the mids the cost of replacing damaged glass windows was becoming prohibitive, and so one in three windows was sheeted over, with plywood on the inside and painted steel on the outside. However, the entire class was recoded M in , [7] being given numbers M to M. One-car operation commenced in , after the conversion of M the previous year and the end of union disputes over their introduction. Flinders Street Port Melbourne. During Easter, and for the three weeks around Christmas and New Year, the G cars were removed from suburban service and used to boost the capacity of the country rail network, taking advantage of the reduced number of suburban passengers at those times. It runs on batteries as people get in the way of the overhead wire.