Where've ya been by rail?

Bigged · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject:

Taits were a real experience, I loved them even though they were built by the Alcatraz electic Chair company.
You had to be real good with the brake as they only had a straight air No4 brake and you only had 2 goes fuck that up and the 3rd had nothing.
If you Knew your shit you could fuck around with the field tapping and acceleration relays, This was in a box right next to you and contained 750 volts of low tension goodness to remind you if you fucked up! Rodney Dangerfield

Now you could get a wedge out of the kit and manually step the accelleration relay up in the peak "Ye gods it was like driving a rocket sled" you know all for the sake of keeping time Ahem!
Now when it rained water pissed in everwhere and as I said Low tension was 750 volts so you touched nothing.
The whistle used to be mounted in the center of the roof and was connected to the tooter valve via copper pipe. Now sometimes a dropper on the overhead would break off at the top and it would hang down,
Guess what it used to come into contact with?
Yep you guessed it the whistle. Zap Bang Flash,, Shit in Undies!! Rodney Dangerfield

thats why they put them on the side in later years!

One day I changed over with a new bloke on a parcels coach at flinders st from memory it was 11cm anyhows he says on change over she goes pretty well but it takes off real rough.
No worries I said and waited for the signal.
the stick came off and here I am talking to the guard and rolling a smoke.
I released the brake put it in flat out and put my knee up against the controller to prevent the deadmans switch going off, (Taits had a spring loaded controller and you only had to hold the button down whilst in neutral, If powering and you let go the controller it would spring back to nuetral and the device would activate, I'm only explaining this to show I was doing nothig wrong)

Anyway these things had 13 or 12 (Cant quite remember) steps of acelleration here I am talking to Walter (The Guard) and the acelleration relays are clicking but I'm going nowhere.
I'm looking at the control switches and Amp meter but nothing all of a sudden it goes click click for the 12 or 13 time and fuckin hell we were off.
It was like engaing Hyperdrive on the Millenium Falcon, fuck I was pressed back into the rear wall like driving a nitro burner at Calder park complete with distorted face from the Gs.
By the time I got to release the throttle and finally stop poor Walter was flat on his back about 10 feet into the parcels compartment.
Fuck what an experience I have never accelerated so fast in all my life!
We got towed into the collingwood sidings and that parcels coach was never used again.
I later found out that all but one of the resistance grids had burnt out and when it finally picked up the last one it was straight 1500 volts traction with no resistance straight through to the traction motors, man that was a experience I will never forget or regret having for that fact!

Now Comengs they had a piss weak brake and occasionally if you knew you were having trouble pulling up you would give them a notch in reverse it really coulkd make the diiference between stopping on the right side of a stick or platform.
They didnt like it much and used to flash various fault lights at you but fuck thats why they put fault lights on them.
_________________
What you say here stays here!. Rodney Dangerfield

TheLoadedDog · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject:

That's fucken excellent.

Ta!
_________________
The idiot who, in railway carriages,
Scribbles on window-panes,
We only suffer
To ride on a buffer
In Parliamentary trains

parkeshub · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 310 Location: Fox World

Cobraking/42101 · Fuckwit Crusher Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Posts: 693

Rightio lets see how the memory works then.

Syd-Bris-Syd on the brissy limited.
Syd-Murwilimbah-Syd Gold coast motorail.

As above on the worm several times.

Bathurst- Syd loco hauled to Lithgow then spark to Syd and return
Bathurst-Perth on the Indian to Adelaide then the Trans Australian Adelaide-Perth.
Perth- Bathurst on the Indian.
Parkes -Syd-Parkes on the Indian several times mostly up front on the second CLP but twice as a passenger on board.
Parkes- Adl on the Indian as passenger.
Adl-Alice springs-Adelaide on the Ghan as passenger twice.
Brisvegas-Cairns-Bris on the sunlander.
Syd-Melb Intercapital daylight.
Melb-Syd Sydney Express.
Worm both ways twice.
Syd-Dubbo-Syd on the worm.
Orange-Syd-Orange on the worm.
Junee-Syd-Junee.
Junee-Melb-Junee.
Both on the worm.
All of the Sydney metro/interurban lines by various sparks V sets,U boats,single deck suburbans.
Thats all.
Oh yeah and the Overdue Melb-Adelaide.

Somebody · The Peanut Gallery Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 304