THE Mary Valley Rattler has weathered the COVID storm to record its first operational surplus since returning to the tracks. The Rattler’s financial report for 2019-20 has revealed the heritage train made $221,000 throughout the financial year, a significant turnaround from the $549,000 deficit recorded the year before. A big part of this jump was thanks to a $124,000 increase in income from ticket sales, which topped $1.05m for the year. A significant $370,000 came from “other income”. Of this, $141,000 came from JobKeeper, while another including $174,000 was accounted in contributed assets, $23,000 in rental income and $13,000 from charitable income and fundraising. The surplus has reduced the Rattler Railway Company’s net liability position to $663,000, from $884,000.