Way back in January I booked a ticket to travel on a special tour organised by Steamrail Victoria. It wasn't a steam train, that are better viewed rather than ridden on, but an old Melbourne electric suburban train, of the type I had ridden on many times when I was young.
The train was to leave Newport Workshops and heritage train storage on Sunday, to arrive at Flinders Street Station at 10.37. The train failed to proceed in a punctual manner from Newport and arrived at FSS at 11.15. I managed to pass the time by eating half a sandwich I had brought along.
My acquaintance from the Gold Coast had boarded the train at Newport and set up his camera to record the trip in the front carriage. However, to me it looked like there was a mass of people to board the front carriage, so I chose the last carriage. As it was, the train was longer than train fans expected and the front carriage did not get overloaded. My carriage had a seated load of people.
Some of the carriages that make up the train set are motor carriages, and some are trailer carriages. I correctly guessed the last carriage would be a motor carriage.
The train trip was fabulous. I loved it. The train was rough, very noisy, roaring through the tunnel under the M1 Motorway. It reached 75km/h, say 47m/ph. I received a phone call that briefly took my attention away. The seats had no ergonomic features at all but were so well padded and comfortable. I never realised how much of the Glen Waverley train line is raised, and once leaving Jordanville, the train began to climb a hill, what railway people would call a bank. The electric motors roared away but failed to keep the train up to a good pace. It then had to slow as being a not stopping train, it had caught up to a normal stopping all stations train in front.
I had to be elsewhere the afternoon, and so after a brief chat to my acquaintance who filmed the trip, I caught the next suburban train back to the city. The train being so late had killed my plan of having brunch in Glen Waverley.
I wrote more about the Tait trains back here. I only took two photos on this trip. I just sat back and enjoyed the experience.
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I always think trains and other transportation are such a man's interest. Maybe some women like them, but every enthusiast I have known has been male. Maybe it's the Y chromosome!
ReplyDeleteI love trains and trams and I am a woman . I also have female friends who are passionate about trams and they try to travel them all over the world as I do. I hate cooking and sewing so I missed out on that chromosome . I often wonder why .
DeleteBoud, I do know some women who are interested in public transport and its history, but they are certainly the minority. There were quite a number of older women travelling on the train, generally with a male. It was not just about the train but restoring or reliving memories of what train travel was like when I was young, and that was my primary reason.
DeleteAnon, my mother missed out on those genes too. She would say, I am a gardener, not a cook or a stitcher.
DeleteElegant interior.
ReplyDeleteThey were rather elegant Kirk, but it was elegance with much comfort, aside from the seats.
DeleteThat carriage interior looks interesting. How old would it be?
ReplyDeleteJayCee, I don't know as I can't see any train number to find out. But I did find that the last one was made in 1949.
DeleteThe carriage design reminds me of the era
ReplyDeleteRoentare, exactly as they would have been back when I rode them as a teenager.
DeleteI love trains and have had some memorable journeys . In 1971 we had to load our car onto a freight train in Cloncurry because of floods . We sat in an antiquated baggage carriage with a toilet bowl present for a number of hours. The train had to stop over a swamp for a few hours and mosquitos . Eventually we reached Cloncurry and drove in to Melbourne .
ReplyDeleteIs this a timber carriage on the exterior Andrew ?
Reached Charters towers
DeleteThat's a great memory, Anon. Yes, they are timber and because of the fire risk, they were never allowed to run through the underground City Loop.
DeleteWhen travelling was elegant.
ReplyDeleteBob, the interiors certainly were.
DeleteI would have liked a photo of the old and comfortable seating. It sounds like a great trip in spite of running late.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, I clicked the link and saw them.
DeleteI love train travel, but I would not like the sound of the electric motors roaring. Could you talk to your neighbours without yelling?
ReplyDeleteHels, it was at times a bit of a struggle to hear what people were saying, and certainly hear the person who called me. You would have travelled on them, I am sure.
DeleteI'm pleased you enjoyed your train ride.
ReplyDeleteIt was pure fun Margaret.
DeleteOld trains always have an air of excitement about them. My brother used to sneak on the train back from school to home. He would attach himself to a grown up and follow in their wake without paying.
ReplyDeleteThelma, the railway people at train gates here (authority people) seemed very serious about their jobs, and I am not sure if someone would get away with that back then. Your bros did well.
DeleteI like travelling by train - soothing and interesting.
ReplyDeleteYes, both JB. And you can just gaze out the windows and dream.
DeleteLooks like great fun. I'd do that.
ReplyDeleteIt really was, TP.
DeleteI'm so glad you had fun.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
I did Sandra, even if I felt a bit rushed about the rest of the day.
DeleteI'm sure Ray was with you in spirit. ~hugs~ It's wonderful that you enjoyed a day out.
ReplyDeleteDarla, it was surprisingly good fun.
DeleteI loved travelling on these trains on my first trip to Aus in the 1980's I was taken by how they were even more old-worldy than the surviving 1930's and 40's trains then running in London. One journey was amusing because the door kept sliding open so I just gave up and enjoyed the extended view, perched on the seat looking down into the streets directly below me as the viaduct had a very low parapet wall.
ReplyDeleteAnon, and people used to keep the doors open when the weather was hot. I don't remember people ever falling out. Nowadays people become hysterical about the danger of a train moving with a door open.
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