One of those days.
Hi Sunnyboys and other non iced confectionary, I got up for work this morning at about 3am. I had actually woken up about 15 minutes before the alarm went off, fully refreshed and looking forward to a great day at work. The day started off however a little bad. When I got to work, there was no parking for me. Given I had started before public transport started, this was a bit of a problem. So what happened was, I was sent way to a station on the line I was running first, and my train was delivered to me, by my trainer. He was not happy that he had to drive. For the Gunzels out there, the train was a Comeng, which is pretty much the workhorse of the Melbourne fleet, and a fairly nice train to drive, for something that is getting up around the 20 year old mark. So I did that run, then straight onto another train. This time I was hoping not to get a Comeng. I had gotten a bit sick of them of late, and a change would be nice. This train was not a Comeng, no not a Seimans either, it was a Silver, aka Hitachi. Now for those of you who don't know, the Silvers are on the way out. There are only 8 of them running, if they run at all. They are dirty, cluncky, there is no air conditioning, and generally they are not much fun to drive. To make matters worse, the one I had, was a slug, and this was only the second time I had driven one, the last time being over a year ago. Oh I was soooo happy when that run was over and done with. I knew the next run would be done on a Comeng, because the roster requires a split of the train for this one. The next train turned up, and it wasn't a Comeng, it was a Seimans, one of the new trains. Now this is going to be interesting, because the job was to run the train out to Williamstown, then back to Newport, split the train into two 3 car sets, and then get a lift back to Flinders Street for tucker (meal break). Instead I drive the train out to Willi, then back to Newport, then back to the city empty cars. Finally tucker time! After tucker, I wasn't feeling to well, but I still ad to drive a train out to Werribee and back, oh the agony of it all, by now I was really stuffed, I'd had enough, my eight hours were nearly up, so I bailed. In a way it was an interesting day to have driven three of the different types of trains on the Melbourne system, but it was a job number I will try to remember, so that I never have to do it again. Time to blog out and have a nap I think, tomorrow I have off, then it is back into the classroom for two weeks. Blog Out HooRoo Bec
posted by Rebecca @ 5/23/2005 02:31:00 pm
3 Comments:
Hey Bec
I remember the Hitachi's when I last visted Melbourne. We got one back from Frankston. A shit box to say the least.
Don't you guys have a unit like a Sydney Tangara which was a one off? Have you ever driven this unit?
As for rembering that job and not having to do it again reminds me of a Ipswich driver I know who would allways go sick on the 1743 Sign on due to the late finish.
Regards
Huggies
HI Mr Huggies,
That train was the 4D, aka the Double Decker Development Design.
It has had a checkered life, and now sits down at Newport Yard, trying it's best to weld itself to the rails.
The train was a gift fromt he Feds for 1988, but there were a few issues with it.
1. It was too tall to fit the system. Many changes had to be made to make sure it actually fitted. In the end, it was condemed to the Lilydale/Belgrave lines. It had clearance for Warragul (No longer wired) and Werribee lines, but never ran in service on them.
The main problem in my view is they only suppled one 4 car unit. So for peak hour service, it had to be coupled to a Comeng. Because of different pressures and performances, it had to be wound back to match the Comeng. Because of this, when it was on it's own, it was a dog and couldn't keep time.
A few years ago, the thought about bringing it back into service, after the first carriage, they were up into the millions, so that idea was scraped. The other idea was to convert it to a DMU, and run it on the Stony Point line, this idea was laughed out of the office.
They also tried to give it back to NSW, but they didn't want it, because of all the mods that had been done.
I hope that explains things for you Mr Huggies.
HooRoo
Bec
Hey Bec
I think one for Preservation if not in VIC probally in NSW by SEXS opppsss I meant SETS.
Regards
Hugs
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