taits in green what are they about?

Swing-door motors 113M (single ended) and 156M (double-ended) were Jolimont Workshops pilots/shunters. Around late 1983 they were repainted from VR blue and gold into Metrail green and gold.  Replaced by Y class locomotives in about 1987.

Was there ever a double end Harris set ?

No.

Was there ever a double end Harris set ?

You mean a double ended Harris car?

I would say no.  I do not remember any.  Only the red ones came in double ended variety.

The Harrises could - and did - run pretty much everywhere that had overhead wires.     A 4-car block was used on a tour that ran to Traralgon and Yallourn.   It's unlikely one made it to Mont Park.  One may have been used on a tour on the APM siding at Fairfield, or on the Spotswood Power Station line, which was also wired.

And they also ran to some places that didn't, such as Geelong, behind steam and diesel to provide extra carriages during major events.  Photos exist of both.

The asbestos lining was used as insulation in the roof and wall linings - the dust particles escaping the lining through wear and vandalism (1980's scrotes kicking holes in the walls) accelerated their demise.

They did services to mont park? I thought it was a loony bin.

Does anyone have photos of the interior of a harris?
Unrefurbished please.

Earlier this year I read that there was a plan to put a modified Harris M-car at the end of an H-set opposite the loco and have it operate the loco when the M-car was at the front. (I don't remember where I read this.)
Now I'm assuming this idea wasn't implemented because it was deemed unnecessary rather than due to technical difficulties.

Where did you read that?

Does anyone have photos of the interior of a harris?
Unrefurbished please.

Do a search at the Public Record Office Victoria on the link below for Harris.


http://prov.vic.gov.au/index_search?searchid=41

One of the first fan trips that I did in the 1960s was a Harris to Maffra. To and from Traralgon was under its own power and a B class did the honors for the non electrified sections. From memory, the down journey was via Sale and Stratford and the return was via Heyfield.  Incidentally the express run from Warragul to Dandenong on the up was run in better than "mile a minute" timing. When the sparks were extended to Pakenham in the 1970s Harrises showed themselves quite capable of running the 115Kmph timetable beyond Dandenong, unlike the Taits which were fairly quickly banned beyond Dandenong, leaving the Pakenham trains to be run by Harrises and the then relatively new Hitachis.

In the early years of sparks to Pakenham (from 1974 on) weekend and late evening services from Dandenong to Pakenham would be run by a shuttle set, most commonly an Hitachi M-D pair. On occasions Harris sets would be used, either a four car M-T-T-M or I even remember a two car Harris M-M set running on occasions. On Sundays there were three trains a day between Dandenong and Pakenham, the morning and evening Sale trains (often run with double headed T class locos and a crew swap at Berwick) together with a single spark shuttle service in each direction in the afternoon. Thinking of the effort involved in remarshalling a Harris Set just for one service makes one wonder at the system inefficiencies of the day!

The only single suburban cars with a driving station at both ends were of the sliding door Tait type. These cars were used at Off Peak times as shuttles including  Alamein, Williamstown and  Altona .  The VR Commissioners took several Tait motor cars and modified them by installing a driving station in the other end.

No Harris, Hitachi or Comeng cars were ever modified for such single car EMU  operation .

VLP  did consider on more than one occasion the operation of fixed car consist H sets with an N class loco on one end and the trailing BTH  car being modified as a driving trailer .  The project was never proceeded with owing to the cost of modifications including strengthening the car ends where the driving station would be, and also the cost of fitting the consists with heavy through cabling for HEP . Even the Grey Ghost  Motor cars were considered by VLp as driving trailers, but the cost/benefit did not stack up so we ended up with 15 H sets with the two small van  BCH  cars ex Grey Ghost motor cars .  

The H cars as originally converted used the former  EMU  control cable to carry HEP through the train, and  4 H cars was the limit for power transmission with HEP electrical load on diameter of cable .  Since then all 55  H cars have progressively been fitted with heavier HEP cabling .  These sets are now all formed into 6 car sets hauled as either Push/Pull by 2 x P class, or hauled by a single  N class loco, or A Class loco and PH powervan .