andel wrote:Some great photos there... do you do weddings?
Not yet...
I do aspire to making a profession of this. Not specifically gunzeling, but photography in general. I'm also a reasonable barista (or so I'm told), so I can always fall back on that, or work two part time jobs...
Ameecher wrote:Edit: Just looking through your latest collection Raichase, some great shots there, what is the difference between the T sets and G sets? they look very similar to me, also you think wooden sleepers are outdated? At my station the rails have "Warrington 1923"* written on them, ok it's not a mainline but it sees a fair amount of trains.
Correct. Both are technically, the same train, which is why they are in the same set on my Flickr!. Here's a snip of information from my Flickr!:
Raichase wrote:Tangaras can be either G or T sets, the former being used for outer suburban runs on the Central Coast and Lower Blue Mountains, and Intercity services on the South Coast. The latter are used for suburban runs around the Sydney Metro area. Both are air conditioned, but the T-Sets have reversible, uncomfortable seats, and the G-Sets have toilets and luggage racks.
Thats a basic difference, but I shall elaborate.
Designed in the late 1980's, and designed to be the spearhead of the new "all DD" fleet of trains, the Tangara literally means Aboriginal for "To go". The government wanted to rid the Sydney Suburban System of the last "red rattler" electric trains, SD stock built up to 50 years previous, from when the lines were first electrified. The old stock had manual doors, wide-open windows, little seating, was very loud, and generally rocked about a lot. They were old.
The order for the Tangara trains were made to Goninans (United Group as they are also known now), and it was one of the largest orders of stock in recent years (I don't know the numbers). The order intended to have a few extra sets spare in case of accidents.
However, towards the end of the order being filled, the government wanted to get some sets customized to plan for a new "Intercity" train in the future (Iirc, this was to replace the U-Sets, the single-decker Intercity trains). The G's were a slight modification to the interior of the Tangara, including luggage racks in each vestibule, a toilet for each 4 car set (A step back from the V-Sets which had 2-4 toilets per 4-car set), and comfortable, reversable seating*.
The exterior was only changed in that the sloping front of the train "kicked back" under the set. I don't know why this was done. The three large black plates on the front of the set went from black (with a cityrail logo) to orange (darker than the new yellow plates on all Tangaras).
Note just below the "G25" target plate, how the front of the train tucks under?
Now look below the target plate on that T-set. It's a very minor difference, but helps to tell between a T (boo, hiss) and a G (yay) when they are both yellow.
T-Sets are despised by the travelling public, because their windows are very frosty (don't know why, but you can't see out of most of them), have non reversible seating (apart from the Endevours, C-Sets and T-Sets, all Sydney trains have seating that can face in or away from the direction of travel at the passengers will), and are generally rather shabby looking. They DO have aircon though.
Passengers prefer G-Sets, because, despite being the same train, their seats are not subjected to as much wear and tear, and are still the older fabric covering, and are reversable. They are also more comfortable to sit in. G's also have luggage racks at the end of each car, for passengers travelling with suitcases, and have a toilet (although you'd only use it if you HAD to).
*Warrington being a place where rails were made for years and years, closed recently though.
About your wooden sleepers comment, they are very rare in NSW - the government has spent a lot of money upgrading them all, most of them having been laid when the line first opened. Concrete sleepers require less maintenance, and are generally allowing faster running. They are also environmentally friendly, not taking up timber.
Hope some of my info helped!
. A shame my fellow gunzels don't approve as much (most people hate those black T's. Most people hate all T's. I do too, but I like photographing the black T's before they are all gone).
