Re: Red Rattlers be damned!

["Shane Polle" <shanep@amc.aust.com>]

The cars might have been stiff, the seats comfortable, but if you where in a older
style car with sash windows and a train went the other way at 100clicks.
The windows really did rattle. I've been woken up more than once or twice
by that method. The sash windows were also on the blue and white car version
of the red rattler and the early EMU interurban cars. The internal doors also
made a lot of banging noises, along with the loose light fittings and couplings.

AFAIK the term "red rattler" has been around for a long time, why. Because the
cars where red and as I said above, they rattled, they squeeked and they groaned.
They also skidded a lot in the wet and lite up the sky at night with their sparks.

I miss them.

The term may or may not have been stolen, but has been used for decades (I'm 32),
so it is correct.

Shane

> As an expat NSW railfan living in Victoria for the past 28 years, I object 
> to the NSW press and some misguided railfans calling the old single decker 
> electric cars "red rattlers". This is a term unfortunately stolen from
> Victoria where it was used (quite correctly) to describe the Tait cars on
> the Melbourne suburban system - believe me, they did rattle and shake! They
> had two sliding doors for each compartment (one each side) and loose fitting
> windows and, like the old P class Sydney trams, really required some formof
> diagonal bracing to stiffen them up. When they started to move, the 
> underframe moved first and the roof followed, if you get what I mean. By
 > comparison, the Sydney Leeds type cars were steel bodied and gave a firmand 
> solid ride and DID NOT RATTLE!!! With their high seat backs they were more 
> comfortable than Tangaras and newer stock.

> Roger Lloyd