Red Rattler, once again rattling through Dandenong Ranges.
The Red Rattlers are the Swing Door and Tait units, creating a sense of nostalgia from a bygone era.
The Public Transport Corporation set of Taits has been undergoing restoration since being off the mainline in 2004. This set has been under the care of ElecRail (Steamrail’s Electric Rail Division) and you gotta appreciate the wonders of this beauty.
In 1981, the Public Transport Corporation (PTC) would start the removal of the remaining Tait fleet. ElecRail was one of the groups at the time wanting to acquire a four car Tait set and this would be 317M-208T-230D-381M. ElecRail. The PTC set is a Tait set that features windows at either side of every door and painted in the 1937–1956 Rose Red and Moonstone Grey stripe livery (honestly, this is one of the best liveries to ever exists).
The Taits were a common sight in preservation since 1985 until the late 2004, where the then operator of the network — Connex Melbourne slowly put them away back into the storage yard due to network operational requirements at the time.
Since being stored at Newport Workshops in 2004, the Taits undergoing reactivation works to bring them back to scratch and eventually to be used as the heritage flagship of electric suburban power but it would be a timely process to get them up running.
Since 2016, the Taits was given a federal grant to restore the PTC ‘Public Transport Corporation’ Tait set back into operational condition with the ‘proposed’ Belgrave Line express.
It wasn’t until 2021, the Taits has been under their own power once again, proving its worth to various organizations related to the Red Rattlers.
Over the last six months, the Public Transport Corporation’s (PTC) Tait set has been undergoing a comprehensive reactivation and testing period and now this has been completed.
My brief for this photography adventure is to capture them in quintessential locations, with various scale, focusing on the environment
Starting out at the iconic Newport Workshops, the Tait pulls out onto the Werribee mainline, heading towards Melbourne’s Spencer Street. By coincidence, the Comeng was heading towards Newport which resulted with this contrast between the first generation and the fifth generation electrics trains that commuters take for granted.
Its worth mentioning, the General Electric Corporation motors are camshaft controlled which results with the various notches, audible sounds as from shunt, series, parallel before going into weak field. The motors whined as it departed Newport.
Waiting at Flinders Street, an iconic art nouveau station with an iconic Red Rattler to compliment a scene in a sea of modernity. As the Tait trundled in Platform 4, the platform went
From here, the photographer wanted to get out of urbanisation for once. So venturing east towards the Dandenong Ranges seems like the best idea.
Trundling through the Dandenong Ranges (Tecoma), the PTC Tait set makes its presence known as it’s prepares to conclude it's down journey to Belgrave where media proceedings would take place.
Tecoma always worked for a electric mutiple unit but always left questioning if it would for locomotive hauled services… I guess we find out later in 2022.
Photographer Note: What I wanted to achieve is something unique, different and tells a unique story. Back in July 2021, I’ve got the same shot of a Tait here but the photo never got its justice, as a perfect image with a story to tell. Hence why this resulted with a recreation of an old shot… that turned out perfect.
Photographer Max Thum used his phone to capture the moment on video.
For the shuttle trip, the photographer went to Upwey and went onto the road bridge on the Melbourne end. This unique vantage point offers some unique perspectives not seen in Metropolitan Melbourne due to the geographical location of Upwey.
Both perspectivies from both angles allowed the photographer to experiment with the landscapes and the environment with huge success. Both evokes scale, depth and the true environment of the Dandenong Ranges.
Hawthorn, found out something interesting. Since photographing here last time, it has been mentioned to me that the canopy on Platform 2/3 are actually from the old Melbourne Terminus (now Flinders Street Station). This ended up to be the perfect shot that ended up to be the best one since my last attempt back in August 2021.
The station features Edwardian styled wooden buildings complimented with an rare brown and cream combination, which is rare for the design Edwardian stations (as they tended to be more red and cream).
As the Tait, nears the end of its first passenger run, the Tait trundles past Kensington, bound for Flinders Street where the train would terminate. Another example of Federation Free Styled stations still preserved today, in this modern era.
Here’s an official statement from ElecRail (Steamrail Victoria), and whilst we can be proud of this asset, this has many more stories to be told for future generations.
Steamrail Victoria: Tait Media Release.
The first public operation of the Red Rattler will be in May, being shuttle trips from Berwick to Dandenong and Pakenham (date to be confirmed).
The train will also operate to Belgrave, where passengers can connect with Puffing Billy for a journey through the beautiful Dandenong Ranges.
A very special trip is planned for July where the Red Rattler will parallel with a steam hauled train in the inner eastern suburbs.
Further Reading on The Gauge.
