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During the 2016 Transport Heritage Expo held in New South Wales on the Queens birthday long weekend, Sydney's heritage electric train set F1 made its first public debut in over 15 years. Made up of four 1920's suburban carriages, the 'Red Lady' participated in the great train race between Central and Strathfield on June 11th before running shuttles between Central & East Hills for the remainder of the weekend. The consist is made up of carriages: C7396, an original 1927 steel motor car built by Clyde Engineering. This carriage features a number of 1960's modifications including air suspension and four motors instead of two. C3218, an original 1927 steel motor car built by Walsh Island. it started life as a motor car (without a cab) but was converted to a driving car in the 1940's. T4527, an unpowered 1927 trailer car built by Walsh Island. C3426, a 1927 steel motor car built by Clyde Engineering. This carriage is famous for leading the first train on the Sydney Harbour Bridge which opened in 1932. This car received a modernized interior with fiberglass walls and beclawat sliding windows in 1961, thus it looks externally and internally different from its counterparts. These carriages are only four of 883 single deck carriages that formed the backbone of the Sydney Trains fleet for many years until the introduction of silver double deck carriages from the 1970's. The single deck steel carriages were built from 1926 to 1960 by various companies including Leeds Forge Co. of England, Walsh Island Dockyard, Clyde Engineering, Tulloch Limited and Comeng. The last were retired in 1993 while the Tangara EMU's were being introduced. The trains had a number of nicknames over the years including Bradfields, Red Sets, Sputnik (used to refer to the 1950's Comeng cars) and Red Rattlers, a derogatory term only used by the general public and the media in the late 1980's prior to the retirement of the fleet. The term Red Rattler actually originated in Victoria and was used to refer to the wooden Swing Door & Tait EMU's which were withdrawn in the early 1980's. The 'Red Lady' is currently the official nickname for the preserved set being used by crews and those involved in the restoration of the set. The term is also starting to catch on among railfans. It certainly isn't everyday you see a vintage EMU being restored and returned to service. Thus I decided to make a short trip up to Sydney during the Transport Heritage Expo just to see her in action. What a fantastic train to see in service! Cheers to Sydney Trains, Transport Heritage New South Wales and Historic Electric Traction for getting her up and running again! Date: 12th & 13th June 2016