Sydney Trains - Track Fast Electric Parcel Vans - Red Rattlers - 1980s

Step back in time and witness a piece of Sydney's rich transportation history in this video. Join me on this journey back to the late 1980s, when you could drop a parcel off at your local "Track Fast" depot and have it arrive at its destination the same day. Behind the scenes the hard working Electric single deck "red rattler" parcel vans whined through the suburbs delivering packages.
In this video we take a look at these work horses and the process that had them crank up the kilometers all over the Sydney train Network. For 60 years these cars delivered their service to the people of Sydney.
Join us as we pay tribute to the legacy of the Red Rattlers and commemorate their significance in shaping Sydney's transportation landscape.
Whether you're a railway enthusiast, history buff, or simply curious about Sydney's past, this video offers a unique glimpse into a bygone era.
#trainspotting #sydneytrains #redrattler #sydneyrail #train #transportnsw
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[@MrButtonpresser]

I remember the parcel vans in the 1960s, all manner of boxes and parcels piled up on the platform. It was a great service.

[@ZalMoxis]

I used to love riding the Red Rattlers in the 70's and 80's.... the stainless steel carriages were good too.... SRA has never been the same since....

[@Class_38]

Thanks for preserving this unique piece of history Barrie.

[@kwas101]

I remember these at Summer Hill station. They must have been timetabled as they stopped, and stayed for a bit. It seemed like they were there every morning, and then one day they were gone, and no one seemed to notice!

[@xennialnick]

One of my fondest childhood memories was going to my nan's house which was at Panania and backed onto the railway. Back then in 86, as you know, the line ended at East Hills and she or my pop would take me out at 10:48am everyday I was home sick from school just to see the PV, and we'd wait for it to turn around at 11:15am. Driver always looked out for us and gave us a special whistle. They also used that line for V-set testing at night. Good times!

[@andrewr2825]

Thanks for highlighting the lesser known operational part of the Sydney system. I remember Trackfast, and I think Blue Spot parcels service when working in an agricultural merchant in Sydney. All those forms to fill out, but the service was good and reliable. Great video mate!👍🏻👍🏻

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Andrew. Thanks very much. Yeah unfortunately I didn't have any blue spot footage but I remember them well. Thanks for your kind words.

[@DeniZen28]

Fascinating piece of, what I guess is, little known history. I recall them slowing down on suburban platforms and chucking out a parcel or two and then speeding away again. I love the ramping up sound of the diesel electric motors, there’s so many memories blended in with that mesmerising tune. I would often drift into a fugue with the sound as I sat on the train bleary eyed, going to Sydney Central Station for my office job nearby there . Thanks for capturing this footage back in the 80s and especially the sound. Your great foresight and dedication to keep the footage and post it decades later is greatly appreciated. You say 25th of July 1989 was the end of the parcel trains … that’s >35 years ago, time marches on.

[@nicknolan1765]

Thanks for the great presentation and fantastic old footage! I really enjoyed watching that 😊

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Thanks Nick, glad you enjoyed it. 😃

[@GregBurton-md8ow]

Thank you Barrie, my father Frank Burton was a guard on the Parcel vans. I have an old photo of him sorting parcels at Central. Great memories!

[@jonginder5494]

I recall quite vividly catching trains via Hornsby with my Mum in the late 70’s and early 80’s and being quite fascinated by parcel vans. They seemed to stop do some quick business and then bugger off just as fast. I am pretty sure the ones I saw were often single cars. They definitely had a distinct look.

[@jamesmcinerney2882]

I was a Sydney guard in the 1980s and was on the parcel van roster from 1980 to 1984. Working the vans was the most fun I had during my railway career! Hard work at times, but lots of freedom and some really good 'piss offs'! ;) I particularly enjoyed working the early morning 'mixed' (P1) run to Penrith, Ropes Creek and Riverstone. Thanks for rekindling some very happy memories!

[@stephenwalsh1332triumph]

I used to hate the ticket snappers 😅

[@waynee6042]

Thanks for the vid mate. Some memories of a time gone forever. Trackfast: now there's a name from the past. And props to the trainspotter who had the foresight to record those pieces of history in action.

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Wayne, my pleasure. Yes there are hours of footage from this era thankfully all digitized now and saved from the mould.

[@beckyfields9084]

Hi Barrie there two old parcel. Vans parked up out at the old Merriwa station in the Hunter Valley

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Becky, that's a great tip. It might be worth a trip, thank you.

[@flamingfrancis]

Remember these from when I was a youngster...they provided a great service even if a bit slower than road deliveries. Imagine just how fewer courier trucks there might be today is they were still in service. Guards vans used to also carry a fair amount of parcels. I remember travelling in some on the Newcastle trains (Dad was a SM). The old Pay Cars from this era were also really interesting. Lots of outer stations had parcels offices usually near the ticket office, also had Goods Yards with sheds for collections.

[@phillipg1588]

Had driven many a parcel van back in the day. They were good jobs, heading around the network, stopping a stations picking up and dropping off parcels. Then back to Sydney Terminal to what was called the mortuary siding where all the parcel vans were lined up and emptied. Mortuary siding long long gone now.

[@larryskeeper1197]

Waiting to catch the train from Waitara as a young student of the 60s, I wasn't sure if the approaching train was my ride. Asked the ticket operator, his reply was that I'd need a label to get on that one. Bit embarrased to realise it was the parcel van!

[@thruthelens7100]

HET have one preserved but not operational, stored ag Eveleigh Carriage works

[@noelhass3712]

Interesting clip, I'd always known that both Melbourne and Sydney had dedicated vans for parcels in Metro area, something we did NOT have here in South Australia. I became a sta Railcar Driver in 1985, my offsider who I would later work with on locomotives at Gillman Yard, had been a Railcar Driver with South Australian Railways, then sta. He'd told me in SAR days, the Redhen railcars carried parcels around metro Adelaide.

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Noel, I don't know if you've seen my STA videos from the 80s I have a whole Adelaide playlist that might be up your alley. thanks for watching.

[@noelhass3712]

@@trainspottingwithbarrie No, wasn't aware of sta clips, I'll have to have a look, thankyou! 😉👍

[@neilsmith1736]

G’day those cars depicted in storage were at the back of 5 road and were directly behind the caravan park as it was known back in 1980 - 1988 as the running shed maintenance staff. An assortment of dongas that were temporary accommodation in place consisting of locker/change, lunch, ablutions and Senior Foreman’s Office. The Red Rattler set running around these days was a stable for the parcels van. They tried to have it moved to Eveleigh Metropolitan Workshops for Storage and Lorry Love the Shed Manager at the time wouldn’t allow it to be placed their for fear of vandalism that was happening. And so it stayed for a long period. Every so often Ray Lee Elec Foreman and some Elecs would raise the pantos and let them sit with the equipment on. Those were the good old days back when Mortdale was a car sheds.

[@bluehouse2112]

I used to catch the parcel to school from Kingswood to Parramatta on the days that I slept in. It took forever and I always got in trouble for being late and I blamed it on the parcel van. There was a single red rattler attached to the first two cars. It sounds strange now but in the 1970s it was quite normal.

[@bofhzip]

I nearly cried when they demolished the Parcel Office at Bankstown station last week to make way for the metro. :(

[@trevormaxwell8134]

Yes thanks for saving these units 😮😊

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Thanks Trevor. And thanks for watching

[@dberk71]

Thanks Barrie i remember my ASM at the time gleefully taking a slegde hammer to the parcel room after Trackfast was withdrawn.

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

I remember a lot of staff found the service a disruption. That story sounds like what happened at Homebush 😂

[@johnmaddox4403]

Little pocket rockets these were, all motored, very fast take off. Nice seeing the yellow strip wings that the diesel railcars got, got me thinking, if they ever made a passenger version double ended car like the parcel van, ie a single car red rattler electric railcar? Used to see a couple of parcel vans together at old chatswood station, for a while i thought the terminal platform at old chatswood station was just for them, with the official parcel house on the platform, but later got a terminating service to that platform from city. Jm

[@vivienfleming4723]

Perhaps someone may be able to solve a mystery for me. I no longer live in Sydney, however upon visiting around a year ago I was walking on the road beside the East Hills line at Narwee. Suddenly what looked like a single carriage red rattler emerged from around a bend. I was astonished and grabbed my phone to take a photo. In the time it took me to do that, the train became obscured by a tree and disappeared out of sight. I suspected it was a parcel van or scrubber car but have been unable to confirm it. I'd love to know what I saw. Thanks for the informative video Barrie.

[@stephenwalsh1332triumph]

Red Rattlers standing in the wide open side doors,wind in your face, hoping the ticket snappers we're not around!😅

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

What a great memory. Best air-conditioning ever. Thanks for watching

[@androidemulator6952]

A great distribution network - fixed time deliveries- ;!- pity not brought back !. ;)

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

I agree completely. Thanks for watching

[@andrewtailby4364]

One of the cars has on the outside brake test car sitting at merriwa and the other not 100% sure it was used for packages. Mostly are heavly stripped so to speak or full of stuff making hard to photograph the inside

[@chuckmaddison2924]

The one thing I find disappointing is Australian Diesels don't make as much smoke as the British .

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

The ALCOs did have a bit of a smoke show on throttle up before the turbo kicked in. I'm not familiar with the UK stuff. Thanks for watching

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

"BlueSpot" was also used as a slogan for parcels, great memories there Barrie, rather use TrackFast than "Swift & Shift Couriers"....

[@CityConnectionsMedia]

I know C3770 is preserved. It was sold to a private buyer and stored on their property, and at the moment its getting a cosmetic restoration. However the owners prefer people not to know about it due to vandalism so I can't say where it is. It still has that dent on the front and the big parcel decals on the side though.

[@paulevans868]

I'd love to see this restored to full operating condition as it would be a great sight doing the rounds on our suburban network

[@DKS225]

For some years after the end of Trackfast parcel services some former parcel vans were kept on to retrieve trackside rubbish and seats that were thrown out by vandals. Having said that Historic Electric Traction has preserved one of the former parcel vans number 3653.

[@leokimvideo]

I remember these, they went like rocket ships

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

They sure were. Thanks for watching.

[@aussiebloke51]

I remember being disappointed when I thought is was our train coming only to find out it was just a parcel van! You forgot to mention that at that time there were also 'rail motors' that went through the suburbs to places like Mittagong. I was always fascinated by the radiators of the roof and the big headlamps. (I grew up with steam trains from Wollongong.)

[@davidmcgowen4594]

I once "snuck" a ride in the drivers cab of a Parcel Van from Gymea to Miranda in 1982. They were fast!!

[@MrAnsairDude]

THIS SHOULD ALREADY HAVE 10 THOUSAND VIEWS BARRIE this video was a piece of the beautiful history of trains that once roamed our network with the silver sets tangaras and rattlers the package services should have been preserved for people to see in the future after it was retired I’m not going to lie but the Red rattlers converted into parcel vans looked much alike of the 46 classes which was pretty cool thanks for giving us this information Barrie!

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi MrAnsair, thanks so much one can only hope it will. Yeah I agree either a 46 or a diesel Rail motor with the whiskers. It was always exciting seeing one come around the bend. Thanks for the kind words.

[@MrAnsairDude]

@@trainspottingwithbarrie do the 46 classes still run mate also no problem

[@mulgabill5006]

I remember in 1987 working at Erskineville building Trotting Gigs for Bill Freebairn and dropping off Gig parts for the Parcel Train at Erskineville Station. Great memories.

[@robertcoleman4861]

Hi Barrie, I loved riding the red rattlers as a young man looking out the open doors & hanging on cheers Bob.🍺

[@kevinthompson4494]

Hi Barrie....My wife has informed me that there maybe a 90% chance there is a parcel van carriage at Thirlmere but best to check.

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Thanks Kevin for the tip. I will check it out. 👍

[@jagarg6573]

2 of these parcel vans are now in storage at Merriwa nsw 3361 & 3562

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hey, thanks for that information, I'm glad some of them are still kicking. Thanks for watching

[@jagarg6573]

@@trainspottingwithbarrie Great watch .. well done

[@rogerjones2275]

I believe there was an early morning "mixed" service out of Penrith that comprised 2 Parcel Vans, plus a passenger trailer (T) and a Passenger Control power car (C). It ran as a combined parcels and passenger service.

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Rodger, I wish I had seen that and recorded it back in the day. Thanks for commenting and watching.

[@bruce_just_]

Got any footage of these vans operating out of Chullora TrackFast shed? On the site of the current Pacific National site, north of/adjacent to the old Chullora Industrial Branch/Elcar Branch line.

[@christophermoore753]

I grew up in the south never knew as a kid this existed. Maybe one did pass through

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

They were reasonably regular on the Illawarra line, obviously as far as the overhead could take them. I don't ever recall any at Helensburgh but they may have gone down that far. Thanks for watching

[@trevormaxwell8134]

Thanks for sharing ok Barrie

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Hi Trevor, thanks for watching, you all watching makes it worth it.

[@claytonleslie]

Great video Barrie. I often wonder why some parcel vans adorned the yellow whiskers attributed to the rail car fleet, e.g. 600, 620 and 900 class. Any ideas???

[@trainspottingwithbarrie]

Possibly for visibility, "oh look, here comes the parcel van, better grab that parcel as it flies past" possibly. Great question.

[@claytonleslie]

@@trainspottingwithbarrie Probably correct. At least they didn't paint the CPH class railmotors in candy. That would've been too much!