Abandoned Oz - A Look in a Restored Sydney Red Rattler Train

[@lindab424]

Oh wow, the old red rattlers. The first trains I rode on as a kid. So hot in summer. Most of the time the doors were kept open in an effort to stay cool. Can't remember how many times we kids got into trouble for sticking our hands out of the doors and windows. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

[@MrButtonpresser]

Those seats with the embossed logos takes me back to the 60's as a kid. I remember asking Mum why the seats were so often slashed.

[@robynstephens166]

Oh wow. I have not seen the inside of the old Red Rattlers for ages and a day. I can even smell them in this video. Yes, they had a smell might of been the ozone from the motors. Wow, the memories of hanging out of the open doors on a hot summers day or shutting everything on a cold rainy winters day and being outside for a tad when going from carriage to carriage when rocking and rolling. Great days

[@AbitLippy]

I'm dripping with sweat just watching. Good memories.

[@ianeland2323]

Vivid memories travelling on all these as a commuter during late'70's into mid '80's. Freezing cold on a winter's morning and stinking hot on a summer's afternoon. Most people tried their best to help by keeping as many doors and windows open to try to get some air in. If you were travelling on either Northern or North Shore in the afternoon and were on the left side of one the red rattlers carriage, you also had to pull the small shutters down on the windows to try to block the blazing sun. Fun times.

[@yindyamarra]

So good to see these old carriages restored

[@dash8brj]

One year I remembered to go to the transport heritige display I managed a ticket on the red rattlers as they had them in service that year. it still makes me chuckle when I see the smoking penalty notices and a fine of $20. The fine would be a lot more these days thats for sure! The red rattlers are an absolute blast to ride on. edit: The current penalty for smoking on a train is $300. So don't even think about having a cheeky durry on the train or you might end up paying for it dearly!

[@petergmred2005]

Loved the rattlers. Fully opened doors,smoking durries-real miracle that there wasnt alot of deaths.

[@danielbear3802]

I remember riding to school on them and hanging out the doors like an idiot. Really was a different time back then

[@owyman]

Thanks for sharing your idiotic memories. I remember as a schoolboy taking the shortcut across the railroad tracks to my friends house in a somewhat similarly idiotic manner. Guess it's a thing.

[@quarkcypher]

Jumping out of carriage doors before the train had stopped was popular too, but dangerous. I also recall, as a teenager in the 70's, walking and exploring the rail tunnels in the CBD in Sydney; early hours of the morning when the trains weren't operating of course.

[@shonaguthrie848]

Same

[@owyman]

@@quarkcypher some of my teenage friends jumped out early, inevitably ending in a faceplant. One friend was shoved out the door early by a reckless teenage buddy, resulting in an admittedly hilarious cartwheel along the platform. He wasn't injured, though luckily.

[@russtorque2993]

School kids of today can't hang-out the windows, all windows are fixed closed

[@chuckselvage3157]

I remember those from the 80s before the Tangara came into service. Fun times heading to the city from Jannali on a Friday or Saturday night. I miss those days.

[@Anon-fv9ee]

The Tulloch trailers were withdrawn around 2004. At that time some S-set power cars had their motors and running gear removed and the driver’s cab converted into an extended vestibule; these re-purposed trailers replaced them. The withdrawn Tullochs were marshalled at the Rozelle Goods Yard and for a time you could see them from the City West Link road.

[@davidmaynard8828]

How many memories has this bought back, used to catch the red rattlers from West Ryde to Burwood daily to work. My uncle worked at Tullochs for years before going to Bradford Kendall's foundries. Good days when we actually made things.

[@murraykitson1436]

" Train Whistle Blowing " was a most heartwarming addition to this presentation ! It enhanced the historic and nostalgic atmosphere beautifully ! Also perfect timing on your part 👍 .

[@MicksA]

I’ll never forget jumping on those loud hot tulloch carriages when they formed part of the S/L/R sets to get to Bondi beach. Best days 😂

[@shotsimple3445]

7:45 interesting that it is a $40 fine for standing in the stairway but $20 fine for smoking 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@hcrun]

Gawd! The number of days I commuted to work and travelled around Sydney on these trains between 1964 and 1984. Good to see that there is a set still existing.

[@markmansfield2585]

On a hot day we’d stand by the doors and the air forced up through those grilles would cool us down.

[@ondrejhybler9371]

Another great video Phil, I remember riding on the Tulloch sets to Starthfiled in the mid 1990's. I still remember a hand full of them used to go from Lidcombe to Olympic park in 3 car sets, they where painted in the grey colour scheme, this would of been in the early 2000's, on the Big day out services, oh and I still think a few used to go from Central to Penrith in 2000 for the Olympics. A trip down memory lane.

[@Sauleta1981]

I rememebr the rattlers when i was a kid from mid late 80's to when they stop in 90's and rode on them. Breifly rememebr the single cars, but more the double decks and oh and the windows.. Cant forget the parcel train suprised they didnt have an old one there. I rode in one when a toddler when dad worked on railways it was only one time.

[@davidb1630]

I can remember in 1966 waiting with my mum or dad on the Lindfield platform playing a game of guessing whether our train would have some of the double-deckers. At the time we often got 1928 wooden carriages with holes in the floor about 10'", 20cm across. It was nothing to get those. What memories. I am 64. I miss the noise and the smell of the brakes.

[@murraykitson1436]

@@davidb1630Especially that rich , nourishing asbestos brake lining aroma in the City Circle tunnels !

[@davidb1630]

@@murraykitson1436 ohhh, yeahhh.

[@geoffreythurtell8761]

I’m 67 and can remember being excited at Easter 1964 when we caught the train from Eastwood station and it had double deckers. It would have been one of the first sets to have double deckers.

[@masteryoda498]

Cool video, I liked the old trains, especially the red rattlers.

[@Waspfella]

Another excellent pice of work !!! Congrats .

[@jonathanparle8429]

I travelled on these rattlers all the time as a kid however most of the time it was the earlier ones with the incandescent lighting. I was actually travelling on one at the exact time the Granville Train Disaster occurred though I was travelling between Turramurra and Hornsby at the exact moment it happened. It was the school holidays and I was going to Hornsby to buy something from a Hobby store there. The red rattlers were deafening when going through tunnels. I remember that all the doors were completely manual (at least on the ones I travelled on) and half the time (especially in Summer) they'd just be left open when the train was travelling. This added additional excitement to any given journey when there was no seating room left and you'd have to hang on and hope for the best near the doors. Once, someone threw a watermelon into our rattler carriage from another rattler headed on the opposite direction on a long high speed straight part of the track, so the impact speed was probably something like 160 kmh plus. It hit one of the silver poles and shattered. Had it hit a human I hate to think of the consequences. Whenever one of those new fangled double deckers appeared in a set, it was with much relief. They were incredibly luxurious compared to the rattlers. But I remember always being torn between choosing which deck to travel on outside of peak hours (the only times you had such a luxury). The upper deck windows were smaller and you sat higher up relative to the window line so actually looking out the windows wasn't as comfortable or as easy as it was with the lower deck. And without any airconditioning, the lower deck was usually cooler too. I usually chose the lower deck both because it was a bit cooler and also because it was far easier to see outside. It was also interesting to look at the old signage - it instantly brought back the memories as clear as day. And looking at the old network diagram it is easy to forget that there was no train line between East Hills and Glenfield back then.

[@leokimvideo]

There's a whole Red Rattler train abandoned behind Pickles Auction at Chullora. I saw it when I worked on the Furiosa film. The train is unusual because it's trapped on a segment of track that is now closed off. It's also weird because it has so many power cars. Once your done just leave some money of the fridge.

[@AbandonedOZ]

Hey mate! Great to hear from you :) I have explored the Reds in Chullora but can’t upload the video until they are moved (which won’t be anytime soon). They are in such a bad state but hopefully some attempt can be made to restore them at some point. Anything can be done with $$$. Again, good to heard from ya and keep up the great work! 😊

[@leokimvideo]

@@AbandonedOZ Great work nup, LOL, i'm about to walk from this joke of a platform, it's turned to absolute crap now. Being a KZbin Partner is akin to being in a abusive relationship. My channel has been choked and destroyed by their systems.

[@peternakitch4167]

My first memory of the ‘red rattlers’ was a six year old in 1970. My mum and brother and I travelled in them from St Mary’s (in Western Sydney) to Taronga Zoo and back.

[@sykogemini]

I miss these old carriages but they were so hot in summer. No a/c and those windows did let much air flow. You could always open the doors while moving to get some air

[@lokey972]

Loved the tulloch carriges.my nan would steal me away from western sydney every friday to give my mum a break when she had twins.riding a tulloch carrige or even been blessed by a red rattler was always the highlight of my weekend even thou i was going to get fish and chips and take a ferry ride to get to my nans apartment the trains were always the best 😍😍

[@buda3d2007]

Only had them as a small kid in the early 80's, by that time they were really in bad shape, internal water features on a rainy day etc, I remember riding them in pitch dark between Sydney and the gong at night when the lights did not work, that was an experience.

[@carlbliim4456]

Travelled on them from Panania to city circil manym any times. No air conditioning and smoking permitted.

[@christinesleep7465]

I can remember riding in a red rattler from Sydney to Melbourne early 80s. It had separate compartments and being a young mother with two very young babies, I was able to occupy one with a lovely friendly nun.

[@paulsz6194]

I don’t think Red rattler’s ran interstate. First of all, they didn’t have any toilets, they didn’t have a cafeteria/ food prep carriage or reclining seats for passengers to sleep during their journey. Interstate trains before the arrival of the XPT had similar font & rear ends for regional trains but that’s where the similarities ended.

[@geofftefl]

@@paulsz6194 Red rattlers​ never operated beyond the Sydney metro area, you're absolutely correct, and the person who 'remembers' her trip to Melbourne on one is definitely mistaken.

[@paulsz6194]

@@geofftefl I think the previous writer was getting confused with the NSW 900=800 class rail cars, as they were painted in the old SRA colours.

[@margaretgood580]

I remember travelling on the red rattlers way back as a young kid.. pushing up those windows manually inside the carriage were a pain in the BUTT.. absolute scorcher during the summer 🥵

[@EmperorJake]

I remember seeing one of those Tulloch trailers in an S-set at Circular Quay in their last days of service in the late 90s, I thought it looked so old fashioned with its tiny windows

[@murraykitson1436]

You can certainly hear the compressor working overtime in 3708 ; there appears to be an air leak , and this could be why this can only be used as a static display for now . I remember incandescent lights with globes marked " NSWGR " . Fluorescent lights on trains were an innovation on the double decker carriages . It probably won't be long before the current interurban rolling stock also becomes museum pieces , hopefully not scrap! The restoration work is a credit to those involved ! 👍👍👍

[@prudencepineapple9448]

I got my arm stuck in the window of one of these back in the early 1970s. I panicked as Miranda station loomed. Likewise, I finally worked out that by straightening my arm, I was able to retrieve my elbow from the window. Lesson learned. I also remember the greenish leather seats with the embossed embalm of NSW Trains. I also remember the horse hair that acted as a cushion. Not only that, but I was able to travel on the old route 399 double-decker bus, the 399 from Randwick to the city. The highlight was going upstairs.

[@paulsz6194]

They weren’t leather, but made from durable vynil. If you were were to emboss leather that way, it would burn & leave charred marks.

[@doug3117]

It was about 60 years ago that I saw my first double-decker carriages whilst waiting on platform 3? at Hornsby with Dad. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our train and I couldn't get on.

[@davebased5919]

My first impression of a double decker carriage was not quite at Hornsby, but Ashfield, at about the same time frame as yours.

[@ajmilagros]

Although I don’t feel that I am that old - I am old enough to remember riding in those carriages

[@randomgirl2650]

I used to go from Granville to Parramatta in the 70s. I was quite little but my big sister used to take me on the train.

[@Divadosaurus]

Ahh, memories of boarding a rattler and waiting for the train to start moving for fifteen minutes in full summer heat. The smell of brake dust and, I'd assume, vinyl off-gassing. Memories of riding along with my foot holding the door open. Nostalgic yes, but I'm glad we've moved on.

[@Steven_Rowe]

My late gather in law, Roy Leembruggen deaigned the Tulloch double deck trailers, it was his idea.

[@Woodland26]

I rode in all these example in my days as student. I usually stayed in the door vestibule area as school children are suppose to leave the seat for the paying adults. In those days to travel you need to buy a ticket from the station ticket windows and it is amazing how many different tickets they have, quite specific to your destinations.

[@waggafletcher]

Smoking was seemingly mandatory on these trains. And faces hidden behind newspapers at peak hour. Open windows (and doors) offered 'air-conditioning'.

[@ktipuss]

For a long time only the second and second-last cars on an 8 car set were non-smoking. Then in the early 1970s every trailer car became non-smoking, and a few years later all cars were made non-smoking.

[@michaelhatherly6508]

Nice Video - Shared/Scheduled

[@dulcinealee3933]

I like the blue & white train. I hated how the carriages were not enclosed and interconnected. I feared even opening those awful heavy stiff doors and never tried to cross from one carriage to another just too scared because all there was were those 2 chains on either side. The sideway seats next to the stairs on the double decker trains were the worst idea. Very uncomfortable seats & those single manual opening doors. Single decker red rattlers before my time but vaguely remember the last of them Fines for smoking and hanging out windows were not much back then.

[@williamdom3814]

I hated it when they painted the red rattlers blue and white, the same with Sydney buses. Most of the single carriages I travelled on were the type with manual doors which were always open in the summer I'm surprised I didn't fall out as a school boy travelling right next to the open doorway.

[@dulcinealee3933]

@@williamdom3814 what the red rattlers ( the single decker red rattlers I assume you are referring to not the double decker red trains which I don't refer to as a red rattler) were once painted blue & white? that's not right. I can't remember that at all. I thought Sydney buses was separate from City Rail ( or whatever they were called) hence the different colour schemes.

[@geoffreythurtell8761]

@@dulcinealee3933 There was a time when the trains and buses were in the same department, called the Public Transport Commission (PTC). The PTC was headed by an ex British Rail executive who thought it was a good idea to paint all of the trains and buses blue and white. This is about all he achieved! I used to marvel at the old trains where the blue paint had been sprayed directly over the rusty steel…

[@paulsz6194]

I also wonder how stringently those fines were enforced!

[@northislandguy]

Ah the manual doors. Remember my dad holding me back from trying to peek outside while the train was moving 😂

[@mulishajp]

i think this channel should be now called Abandoned Sydney

[@romaredford898]

Yes i remember riding on them 🇦🇺🚉

[@static-san]

Love to see the old "Sydney System" panel! All the old bits long gone...

[@tedes72]

Funny how they’ve taken away more than they have added

[@rosscollins8449]

I road thees trans to school in the 80s It was grate

[@johnellison3030]

Haven't seen one of these for years. I used to love hearing them roll by late at night when I was young. And like all the other young kids, we used to hang out the doors and smoke between carriages. And write graffiti on the seats and walls. Or was that the bus? I don't remember anymore. LOL. Great video mate.

[@alanwing5191]

Excellent video might want to mension a future video on the old toronto line near Newcastle previously running out of fassifern station

[@andrewchan548]

I miss those old trains I wish it will still in service right now

[@quarkcypher]

I don't miss them.They have historical value, but were poorly designed and dangerous. I much prefer the modern carriages.

[@neilforbes416]

9:40 Correction - Carlingford has been transformed into a *TRAMWAY* line!

[@fruitopia6798]

These appear to be a later model, they didn't "rattle" anywhere near as much as the older ones, the ones with the manually opening doors operated well into the 1980s, quite often the doors/windows would get stuck in the open position or you needed some muscle to close them, same thing with the seats, sometimes you had to travel backwards cause the seat was frozen in one position, I recall many cold winter mornings with the windows and doors stuck in the open position and freezing cold air blowing through, people used to smoke in the carriages or stand in the space between them, I think they all had ashtrays installed? Safety requirements in those days were pretty relaxed, I expect some people must have fallen out, if that happened nowadays they would be suing for $millions

[@rakeau]

Bit funny seeing people with their smart phones on these old trains! Oh to have a time machine...

[@oufukubinta]

Much nicer looking than the tin cans that replaced them

[@johnnyrocket80085]

Anyone else remember the old rattlers that didn't have automatic doors? Going to school in the middle of summer with the train doors wide open.

[@isaiah513623]

I remember those trains and they were rattlers and I can't remember when they were phased out, maybe in the 80's?

[@Thebibs]

Otford, Cowan Ropes Creek and Sandown Lines on the map

[@williamdom3814]

Back in the 60s and early 70s when I lived in Berowra, North Shore trains terminated at Cowan. I remember one time when I was still at school the train failed to stop at Berowra and we had to get off at Cowan. Trains weren't very frequent in those days so everybody had to hitchhike back to Berowra.

[@RangaTurk]

9:26 It used to say on the 1985/86 Sydney System map that the white and black dot represents the parking available at the stations. If that is the case why does Berowra station have one black dot on the yellow Cowan - Emu Plains line and one white dot on the red Main Northern Line? It seems to correspond to the instances of station skipping and frequency of services if you remember the services on the Illawarra line from those days and the blue Illawarra trains have not stopped at Erskineville and St. Peters since July 1980 and that fact corresponds with the dots on the Sydney System map.

[@paulsz6194]

Warwick farm racecourse as well! This was also before the East Hills line was extended to Glenfield, so it’s an early 80’s one.

[@kmarshall20]

Do not lean out of the Windows or Doors Keep wholly within the car When Standing near Doorways Keep a Firm Hold If you can get in that far.

[@paulsz6194]

Does anyone know what those conical-shaped items are on top of the carriages at 2:41 ?

[@ktipuss]

Air ventilators

[@davidstiles5747]

I went on that train So W3 is what it is known as today but originally it was an S3a That re-targeted them W sets when the S sets came out

[@adrianpeds]

I can smell the vinyl

[@RangaTurk]

Funny enough back in the day the Tulloch cars looked like they had brown leather floors and orange glowing lighting with some of the original type flouresent light tubes. Same with the bulbs in the older single deck carriages.

[@user-ix4zy2rv1l]

Asbestos express haha

[@SuperNathan90]

I think they spoilt some of the signs by putting the new logo on them. they should of put the 7L logo on it

[@just_passing_through]

Now you’re talking my language

[@creativecontent99999]

They are nice but far too clean to be real

[@lucienleech-larkin7544]

There Was A Multi-Platform Station Near Clyde, Called Clyburn, Which Was Basically An Industrial Station For Comeng And Other Rail Employees; I Think The Remains Of These Clyburn Platforms Are Still Visible! Unless I'm Mistaken, Clyde Itself Has Fallen Into Disuse! I Remember One Night In The Eighties, Riding Home After A Shift To Springwood, Waiting Patiently At Lidcombe Station While The Driver Raced Up The Stairs, And Over To The Late Night Bottlo, And Came Running Back With A Six-Pack Under His Arm!! That Was Australia, Before The Karen's Turned It Into Shit!!

[@johnbrownscombe323]

Please don't call them "Red Rattlers". That is a MELBOURNE expression that seems to have crept into Sydney after the event. They were never called that in Sydney when they were active. I'm old enough (76) to remember.

[@AbandonedOZ]

I personally call them red sets and i know Red Rattler is a Melbourne expression. I was just going by what was shown on info boards at the heritage expo.

[@ktipuss]

@@AbandonedOZ - Understandable; the media started to use "red rattlers" for the Sydney single-deckers in the mid 1990s when their withdrawals were happening in earnest. The original term red rattler refers to the Melbourne "Doggie motors", the swing-door sets originally built in the 1880s and converted to EMUs in the 1920s. The media are responsible for a lot of confusing terms..... They don't do a lot of research.

[@AussieAF]

$20 fine for smoking is good value.

[@quarkcypher]

The wages were a lot lower back then, so quite substantial. I was glad when they banned smoking on all carriages. Sometimes I would enter the smokers' carriage by mistake and it was difficult to breathe.

[@jwc713]

Loved the diesel/oily kinda smell of the red rattlers. Happier days b4 the West cast aside the Lord Jesus Christ for secular delusions.

[@quarkcypher]

Weirdo!

[@paulsz6194]

?

[@HyperHorse]

Red rattlers are crap. How about you do an interior walk around of the QVB instead?

[@babesmate]

I remember how shaky these red rattlers