I work in a government office but working in the Sydney Electric Train society was my hobby. My memory of my daily commute is the distinct smell of carbon brake shoes on the Red Rattler and Silver Double Decker trains; the flash of electricity on the switch boxes (single deckers under, double on the roof); sweaty bodies cramped onto the train in summer, especially in peak hour. I commute to work from the Western suburbs to the CBD which I did for thirty years (1980—2010). In 1992 the Red Rattlers were retired and the Silver Double Deckers (S-Sets) will go by 2019.

SCENT

Carbon hot brake shoes, flash of electricity is underneath. The lingering scent is bacon and egg McMuffin on the Wynyard ramp heading up to George St, diesel from the buses on George St.

By

Lester Pasley