A video commemorating the legendary stainless steel 'U-Boat' single deck intercity electric trains of N.S.W. showing them in their final years of service and on special tours for Sydney Electric Train Society. See them operating on all their old stamping grounds as well as in some out-of-the-way suburban locations such as the Cronulla, Liverpool and the Metropolitan Goods lines.

FEATURING:

PART ONE - WEST: View a typical afternoon peak journey in an 8 car U-Boat as it travels from Central through Sydney's western suburbs to Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains. You'll see it snaking through Sydney yard, scooting along at high speed through the inner and outer suburbs, crossing the Nepean River at Penrith and climbing the 1 in 66 grades as it journeys to Lapstone. Witness a noisy take off and follow it to Springwood. Then continue our journey west with tour footage (re-enacting the journey of 'The Fish') to Katoomba and Lithgow including a ride through three of the 'rat hole' tunnels.

PART TWO - ILLAWARRA: Climb aboard for a trip down the scenic south coast line as we travel to Wollongong. Then change to a cab ride view from there to Port Kembla. On our journey past the famous steelworks we see a 421 class diesel locomotive along with stored DEB set cars and rail tractors. At Port Kembla we'll get a close trackside view of the train and then continue around the Inner Loop and on to Dapto. Experience the thrill of some high speed running, where our train easily outpaces the cars on the adjacent highway, on our return trip to Sydney.

PART THREE - SUBURBAN TRAVELS: A sampling of U-Boat images in Sydney's suburbs. There's a rare shot of a 6 car U-Boat departing Strathfield on a Saturday morning, some action at Lidcombe and on the Cronulla line. Then experience a rear cab ride on the Metropolitan Goods line passing under the main suburban lines at Long Cove and continuing on through Leichhardt to Rozelle Goods Yard where we see the train shunt and run past the camera which is placed at a low angle to reveal the bogies and running gear.

PART FOUR - NORTH: The final stamping ground for the U-Boats in regular service. Take a trip up to Gosford and then through some of Newcastle's southern suburbs to the terminus. Witness two trains arriving at adjacent platforms in readiness for their return south and then follow the first to Morriset and the second, including future 'Matrix' car CF 5025, on the mid-afternoon run to Sydney. You'll ride this train, and view it from a number of different vantage points on this scenic line, including a waterside run along Mullet Creek, and view its arrival at Sydney Central just before 6 p.m.

PART FIVE - LAST RUN: See the final U-Boat tour when Sydney Electric Train Society hired an 8 car U-Boat as a farewell tribute to these trains, two days after the last CityRail revenue run. The tour is seen at a number of locations in Sydney, including the Cumberland line Y-link (the first and only time a U-Boat has traversed this line) and lines on which these trains never ran in regular service.

PART SIX -EPILOGUE: See a rake of withdrawn U-Boat cars plus two yellow suburban electric shunters being hauled past the camera at Auburn and into Clyde sidings on a very wet day as a double deck suburban speeds past. Then two years later, in April 1999, view SETS preserved motor cars CF 5021 and CF 5022 in Clyde yards the day before they were moved to Enfield to be readied for their historic trip to Goulburn along with sister car CF 5003 and trailer ETB 6037. There's a night shot of these cars travelling through Lidcombe as part of a load hauled by an 80 class diesel and we see these cars being readied for their epic journey south at Enfield. We then move forward to the following night where we actually ride on the Canberra oil train, travelling in all preserved cars as we speed through deserted stations in the wee small morning hours. Upon arrival at Goulburn you'll see the train at the platform, being serenaded by the rumbling chorus of adjacent 81 class diesels! The video concludes with the cars being shunted on to a siding for later placement at Goulburn Roundhouse.

MORE THAN A TRIBUTE. IT'S U-BOAT EUPHORIA !

Running time: 114 minutes (PAL format). Limited production run.
VALUE PRICED AT: $35 ($41 posted in N.S.W. /A.C.T; $43 elsewhere)

NOTE: Due to the early technology employed, picture and sound quality in some sequences is somewhat less than that obtainable from modern equipment. However, based on previous experience with earlier tape issues it is felt that the viewer will still derive great enjoyment from the video's rare and unique content.

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