Altona Red Rattler

The Altona Red Rattler travel poster wall art print by Kerrie Gottliebsen is a blast from the past for those of us old enough to have the wonderful choice of a red train, a blue train or a silver train on Melbourne’s suburban rail network – the good old days when trains had ash trays and luggage compartments.

Red Rattler Trains

The burgundy red Tait train cars were the emblem of suburban rail travel for the 20th century.

The Tait trains are wooden bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They were introduced in 1910 by the Victorian Railways as steam locomotive hauled cars, and converted to electric traction from 1919 when the Melbourne electrification project was underway.^[1] The trains derived their name from Sir Thomas James Tait, the chairman of commissioners of the Victorian Railways from 1903 to 1910.^[2] The first cars were built during 1909 with the last entering service in 1952.^[3]

Tait trains are initially referred to as “Sliding Door” trains, as opposed to the Swing Door trains then in service. From the 1950s, they became known as Reds or Red Rattlers, following the introduction of the blue-painted Harris trains.

In May 1968, an eight-car Tait train was tested on the Frankston line, made up of three motor cars and five trailers, and entered service under the new timetable in August 1968.^{[4][page needed]} After 1973, the eight-car sets were reconfigured with a 50:50 motor–trailer mix to avoid special rosters restricting the three-motor-car sets to flatter lines.^{[4][page needed]}

From 1973, three-car sets were also reintroduced, using M-T-D consists, or occasionally M-T-M sets.^{[4][page needed]} Six-car M-T-T-T-T-M consists were also formed for peak hour use.^{[4][page needed]} Both of those were restricted to the flatter lines, where the lack of power would not be a major problem.

In 1975, a 14-car Tait train ran between the North Melbourne and Royal Park substations, to test a new protective relay device.^[14]

Altona Red Rattler Travel Poster

This vintage inspired poster comes in A4, A3, A2, A1 and A0 and would be a wonderful gift for lovers of Altona, Melbourne’s West and train spotters.