-A little side note: you might noticed that Evie is missing it's pantograph is some of the shots. Apparently it did an oopsie a few months ago and ran into the unwired middle road at Sunbury, which tore the panto off and it hasn't been replaced yet at the time of upload. -This video uses a few historic photographs by the late Weston Langford ( westonlangford.com/ ), all other photos and videos are taken by myself. -Want to help support the channel and get early access to videos? Check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/Taitset
One of my friends at ARTC nearly convinced me that they checked track gauge by dangling an apprentice with a tape measure off the back of one of their service utes when the inspection vehicles weren’t available. Glad that’s not the case 😂
It is probably because they are easy to identify for rail workers versus a more traditional livery. Also doctor yellow is beautiful, no offense to the powerful bullet trains, but there liveries can be quite lacking at time.
Most regular commuters in Wellington NZ, know about KiwiRail's track evaluation vehicle (EM80). Last September, it broke down just as the required survey was up for renewal. It cause a few days of chaos as the services could only run under heavy speed and loading restrictions, until it was repaired. It is the same model as EM100 as shown in this video (but with the 1067mm narrow guage that NZ uses)
Forget Groceries, buy more trains! 😜 This is the side of the railways that doesn’t get looked at, so thank you for covering Evie and the other related content as well!
I’m sad to hear the EM100 was retired from active service, I love that thing. But I’m not surprised because last time I saw it, departing Pakenham, every sound it made, the rattling roar of its engine and its old-fashioned horn really gave voice to its age, even if it was painted in a smart modern livery. I had seen it in person before at Bairnsdale station not long after train services returned post-Kennett-closure, and before then, a friend of my dad’s gave me a photo he’d taken of it in Bairnsdale station just after the Kennett-closure and I was a train lover starved of IRL trains.
And the best thing about Evie is she drops track circuits so she’s easy to manoeuvre around the network!!! Got to set her back from the up line back into 3 road at FKN a few months ago. This is a move that is never done here anymore so it was great to perform.
Funny coincidence I literally just saw EV100 at Richmond just before this was uploaded and my friend asked what is that train for so now I sent them this!
Wow, mantanance equipment has never looked so COOL!! Any chance we could get a video about the works machines that actually maintain the rails/ballast etc? I see them stabled near Newport station a lot and would love to know more about them.
I would certainly like to do that, I'll need to learn a bit more about them first though - I kind of know roughly what each one does but not much more than that!
I travelled on the stony point just about everyday thru my childhood. Pete was rather friendly and they set a standard that hasn't been met for comfortable travel. Love your work!
The name Evie, so cute! Another fantastic video. You've fast become my favourite channel, and have spurred on my enthusiasm for rail in Australia. Hope you're well and can't wait for more videos. 😁
I've seen this "evie" train quite a few times. I can also remember back in the '80s seeing some sort of a greasing car. They used to have parcel van trains as well, running around the metro areas, which was a good idea to get some traffic off the roads.
There was a track recording machine decades before the EM100, used moving paper, pens and measuring wheels (I think it was just called the Plasser), the overhead inspection train used a converted parcels coach towed by to Tait motors.
At least every couple of months I see Evie stabled at the sidings at Warragul, which is my home station (for now) on the V/Line network. The first time I saw it a few years ago I didn't know what it was, and wondered why a train with a Metro logo was being hauled by a locomotive in the V/Line region, but it all made sense once I figured out what it was.
Great video. I once saw EV100 at burley sidings in September 2023 and didn’t know what it was... but now i do. Will you make a video explaining the future line changes for the Frankston, Sandringham, Burnley etc... lines that will come with the metro tunnel?
Poor Evie caused a lot of damage between South Kensington and Nth Melbourne a few days back. Part of her came loose and was dragging along the track. Wasn’t a good time.
I remember seeing EM100 when I was a little kid - I was fascinated by why there was such a small train on the network, and I concluded that I had just imagined it. I guess not!
Non contact overhead line inspection is often less preferable- tension checks etc requires the force from the panto contact to properly observe. Stagger and height may also change with the force application
Wow! i saw Evie at Glen Waverley last year, i had no idea it was an unique inspection vehicle - i assumed there was a fleet. The lasers are indeed quite strong, and clearly visible at a distance during the day.
Hello Taitset, I’d like to say it’s great seeing a video on the geometry measuring cars. Working throughout only the networks in Queensland, I found it interesting that Victoria has hauled wagons instead of self propelled Geismar inspection cars like in the sunny north. Have you thought of making a video on some of the various track maintenance machines in Victoria? I’m not too sure, but I believe John Holland operates a hand-full of Harsco tampers, and maybe some Plasser 2x’s or Unimats (or something along those lines) in the Metro network. They are some extremely unique and interesting bits of kit, and I feel a lot of your viewers would enjoy some insight. Food for thought, Have a good one.
I think that the horn of EIV100 sounds a lot like the horn of a 90 class loco in NSW. Cool to see how different networks do track maintenance and checks and that kind of stuff.
A really interesting video this. I used to work on the UK version of these trains (which are also bright yellow) before I transferred to the passenger side in late 2022. It’s a fascinating business, and often what’s happening inside the coaches is far more interesting than what is pulling the train along. Thanks!
No way! This exact consist passed me this afternoon at South Yarra coming from pakenham/cranbourne. Only caught the back end on video with many obstructions, was definitely cool to see though!
Very cool seeing EM100, it looks rather similar to EM50, the track recording vehicle here in Ireland, also built by Plasser and Theurer! it's now one of the oldest operating pieces of rolling stock in the country!
Fantastic video Martin, I remember i saw two t or ps at eltham a few weeks ago, but evie was missing, I think I heard they were doing driver training, but overwas it spooked me when I heard an RVB3 😂
It's amazing when it makes its way to the regional network. There is a nice disused goods siding in my local station complex. For biannual inspections.
I believe there was a period of time when all three vehicles ran, often going over the same sections in close succession. This was to validate the data being recorded with the new Evie. Once this validation period ended, IEV100 and 102 were both officially retired.
3 weeks ago the mth's were still at Newport, the word going around was that they were to be scrapped along with all the other h cars, you've probably heard that the carriage shop in Newport has scrapped one set of h cars already, who knows who will get the job now
With the extra cost of always hiring locos, it's amazing that Metro didn't buy a self-propelled vehicle like the original EM100 was all those years ago. And as an aside, measuring all these track faults is no good if you don't actually fix them is it!
It’s always interesting to see this stuff on overseas railways. Here in the UK, Network Rail has a small army of trains (mostly converted MK1&2 stock) that is used to survey the lines. PLPR, MENTOR and others are really cool and I have a friend who used to work on them. They’re neat. There’s also the flying death trap/banana (delete as appropriate) based on a HST set. I’m curious what the arrangements for the Metro Tunnel are. Are they going to have a dedicated train? Somehow push Evie through? Use on train equipment like TfL does on some of the SSR?
I believe they'll be able to run Evie through the tunnel with the diesels, there will probably be an increased ventilation setting to allow them to run through (this already happens in the city loop). The other catch with the Metro Tunnel is it will all be CBTC, so it will probably have to go through outside normal hours under occupation.
Ah. Sounds very similar to some of the work they do on the Elizabeth Line here in London. I’ve seen photos of PLPR going through with top & tail 37s in a possession.
Considering what happened to the Tait and Harris greasers and the Dogbox inspection car, there’s a highly likelihood of it. However this doesn’t mean they’d be looked after or get that much attention.
@@somerandomdude1552 They would all make excellent static exhibits, but unfortunately our only static railway museum has very limited space and resources.
Saw it today at Newmarket station, but locomotives facing the other way round with cabs next to Evie not on ends as in the 6.36 picture. Your picture has T386, but today it had P16, what does this mean?
P and T class are just different types of locomotives, the number is their individual number. The Ps were rebuilt from earlier T class locos in the 80s. Both types can operate in either direction, they are usually 'short nose' leading with Evie, but no reason why they can't be the other way.
why would an electrified network inspection vehicle not use the electrification as its primary power source? surely you want to measure the characteristics of power delivery under load at the same time as measuring geometry of the lines? obviously have a diesel backup, for inspecting lines that aren't ready for operation until it is inspected, but it really should be capable of it, and it would make dispatching easier for urgent survey work after an accident. also what are the maintenance yellow vehicles that i see riding the Werribee line? are they track maintenance vehicles?
Unrelated to the actual video, are there less EDI Comengs now or am I just really unlucky? I occasionally use the sandringham line (about once every 2 weeks, to and from the city) yet I haven't caught an EDI Comeng since late October. Plenty of Alstom Comengs and Siemens but literally not a single EDI
all i know is that the alstom comengs are the ones to be retired last, and are the only ones to receive stage 3 life extension, so i believe that theres less EDIs around... sad.
I recently saw what looked like IEV100 in the Freight Yard between North Melbourne and Footscray on a train to Geelong. Does anybody know if any of the Infrastructure Evaluation Vehicles were stored at that yard (I saw it less than a week ago), or if not, what it is that I saw at the Freight Yard?
@@Taitset By the way, thank you for replying to my comment. It is always cool to talk to your heroes. You have been a major inspiration for me and my channel, and the type of content you produce is what I too aspire to create. Your videos are so entertaining and informative and are able to teach things about Victorian trains in such a simple and easy to understand, yet complete, way. I hope that one day I'll be able to make content like that.
