Tait (train)
The Tait trains were a wooden bodied Electric Multiple Unit train 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. The trains derived their name from Sir Thomas James Tait, the chairman of commissioners of the Victorian Railways from 1903 to 1910. The first cars were built during 1909 with the last entering service in 1952. Tait trains were 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. Layout Tait trains had a partly open saloon layout, with bench seats running across the train, the saloon being divided by partitions into a number of smaller areas. Each seating aisle was provided with its own exterior sliding door. Incandescent lighting, a ceiling with pressed tin patterns, luggage racks above head height, and beautifully stained woodgrain walls were fitted inside each compartment. Interiors were split into smoking and no-smoking compartments until late 1978 with the abolition of smoking on trains, and carriages were designated as first or second class until 1958 when one class suburban travel was introduced. The exterior of the trains were of two main styles: the original cars had a clerestory roof, and those built from the late 1920s onward had a simpler arched roof. From 1971, the interior was simplified to cut maintenance costs, with some doorway windows being replaced by metal and plywood, and the wooden latticed sun blinds being removed. The motor bogies on the trains were originally of pressed steel construction, being changed for a new design in cast steel in the 1930s. In service Pre-electrification The production of Tait carriages began before electrification, with the intention that the necessary electrical equipment would be retrofitted when necessary. The carriages were grouped as the P type, with codes like ACP indicating that there was a passageway connecting most of the compartments, rather than the older carriage style with each compartment isolated from its neighbours. In the 1910 recoding project, the P was changed to a normal-size, normal-font letter, i.e. ACP. However, most diagrams show the raised letter with the newer code, perhaps because they were drawn during the construction phase, around the same time as the recoding was being planned. All carriages were roughly long over the buffers, high, and wide, although there was some variation. All compartments were linked with a through-corridor, though internal sliding doors were placed three compartments from one end. The carriages were not initially marked "Smoking" or "Non-Smoking". ACP, AP, BCP, BP Initial construction saw 48 ACP cars, 62 AP, 18 BCP and 62 BP carriages built in the period 1910 to 1913. The AP and BP carriages were of identical design, with capacity for 92 passengers each across nine compartments, except that the