IRFCA Mailing List Archive

Messages 3161 - 3180

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Re: S & N Diesel Shunters: BSR SHARMA

Date: 16 Jul 1998 19:18:04 -0500

> Whatever happened to Suri & Nayar's Diesel Shunters
> that were being manufactured at Whitefield near
> Bangalore? (atleast during '70s & '80s?)

I suppose it is the same company (?) which has
been reincarnated as San Motors limited. They
are to manufacture India's first sports car,
in coupe and convertible versions: pretty
little GRP thing with Renault engines.....

Another renegade.......

--
Jayant S : ID Studio : Tata Technologies India Limited
Telco Premises : Pimpri : PUNE : 411 018 : INDIA
TEL 91(212)774261 ext 2534 : FAX 91(212)773191
--

From: poras p.saklatwalla <>

Subject: Re: Any info on New Trains to Jodhpur?

Date: 16 Jul 1998 20:33:09 -0500

On Thu, 16 Jul 1998, Shashi Date wrote:

> Hi everyone:
> Can someone help me by letting me know new trains between
> Mumbai/and/or/Ahmedabad and Jodhpur? Names the timings for to/from
> Thanks. =Shashi Date.
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>
>

PORAS P.SAKLATWALLA
TEL :5773535/3636
EXT :4226/4232/4237

There is a train from bandra terminus mumbai to Bikaner via ahmedabad
and
jodhpur please gang members see the time table of WR FROM 1/5/98

From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E. Heath <>

Subject: Calcutta trams

Date: 16 Jul 1998 21:00:57 -0500

Hi Annie and Apurva,
Calcutta trams are the one remaining system of the several the Brits
put
in in India in the early part of the century. (others were at Delhi
(m.g.)
Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, and Karachi had petrol trams!) Much of the
technology is BLOODY outdated by modern tram standards. Trolley poles,
e.g., are the old British swivel-head type, with trolley-wheels. They
were
originally meant for dinky little double-deck open-top cars with the
wires
at the side of the road, so as not to "destroy the amenities." Trouble
is,
they need switching at turnouts, whereas the fixed-head trolleypole,
used
extensively in USA and Australia, will follow the correct road
automatically if the overhead frog is staggered some 10ft after the
switch
blades.
Re switch blades in the street, the problem, of course, was always to
make them unobtrusive, so a manganese steel casting with a renewable
cast
blade was the rule. Use of the switch iron -- every car carries one --
to
change the points by inserting it between blade and stock rail is
frowned
on in the best circles: there is normally a small cast-iron box next to
the
blade into which the switch iron is inserted, thus becoming a removable
point lever (how's that for cross-cultural terminology?) It works on a
tie-bar connecting one or both blades to the box. There are also
electrically-operated switches (none in Calcutta, so far as I know)
operated by a contactor in the overhead lines; coast for curve, power on
for straight. "Open mates", with one side lacking a switch blade, were
regarded as both archaic and dangerous in Melbourne as long ago as the
1950s -- the risk of a car splitting a switch if there is excessive wear
on
the only blade, or there is some malfunction, is obviously greater.
Apurva, Hugh Hughes' books now run to seven (though I think the
first
three are out of print) and the last contains summaries of IR electrics
and
deisels (with fleet numbers, etc) up to 1990s. Bibliographical data:

*Hughes, H., & Jux, F., Steam Locomotives in India: Part 1, Narrow
Gauge.(Title on cover reads: Indian Narrow Gauge Railways.)
Richmond:
Frank Jux,n.d. (1968?) pp. 39, many photos, tables, sketch maps.
Description ofnarrow-gauge steam locomotives operating in India, with
brief historicaldata.

*Hughes, H., Steam in India. Truro, Bradford Barton, 1976. Picture
book
in"square" format. Well-chosen B&W pictures of contemporary Indian
scene.

*Hughes, H., & Jux, F., Steam Locomotives in India: Part 1, Narrow
Gauge.Harrow, Continental Railway Circle, 1980. many photos, tables,
sketchmaps. Description of narrow-gauge steam locomotives operating in
India,with brief historical data. Revision of Hughes & Jux.

*Hughes, H., Steam Locomotives in India: Part 2, Metre Gauge.
Harrow,Continental Railway Circle, 1977. many photos, tables, sketch
maps.Description of metre-gauge steam locomotives operating in India,
with
briefhistorical data.

*Hughes, H., Steam Locomotives in India: Part 3, Broad Gauge.
Harrow,Continental Railway Circle, 1979. many photos, tables, sketch
maps.Description of broad-gauge steam locomotives operating in India,
with
briefhistorical data.

*Hughes, H., Indian Locomotives: Part 1 - Broad Gauge 1851-1940.
Harrow:Continental Railway Circle, 1990. Lists all broad-gauge steam
locomotivesoperating on Indian railways from 1853-1940, excepting some
industrials.Many tables, diagrams, and photographs.

*Hughes, H., Indian Locomotives: Part 2 - Metre Gauge 1872-1940.
Harrow:Continental Railway Circle, 1992. Lists all metre-gauge steam
locomotivesoperating on Indian railways from 1853-1940, excepting some
industrials.Many tables, diagrams, and photographs.

*Hughes, H., Indian Locomotives: Part 3 - Narrow Gauge 1863-1940.
Harrow:Continental Railway Circle, 1994. Lists all narrow-gauge steam
locomotivesoperating on Indian railways from 1853-1940, excepting some
industrials.Many tables, diagrams, and photographs.

*Hughes, H., Indian Locomotives: Part 4 - 1941 --. Harrow:
ContinentalRailway Circle, forthcoming 1995. Lists all steam
locomotives
acquired byIndian railways after 1940, excepting some industrials.
Details
of moderndiesel and electric locomotives included. Many tables,
diagrams,
andphotographs.

Continental Railway Circle are at: 25, Woodcock Dell Avenue, Kenton,
Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 0PW, England U.K. NB that the second series of
books seems to be the same as the first, but are actually much more
comprehensive, with new photographs, etc. All are bound in card covers
and
are on good quality art paper in 18x23cm format.

There are quite a few other books on Indian railways, though most are
about
civil engineering or economics, not rolling stock or locomotives. I am
at
work on a history of rolling stock, but it's some way from publication.

Hope all this helps
Ken Walker

From: Philippe Quiot (TOG Devt. SA) <>

Subject: Re: Indian Compound steam: Glyn

Date: 16 Jul 1998 23:51:04 -0500

Hello,

I suppose that there were a few m.g.
Mallets, probably were of compound design ?

Jayant S wrote:
>
>
> There was one class of De Glehn compounds that I remember
> reading about, in India on BG. But I have no memory of
> the class or numbers. Should be in the book on
> BG steam locos by Hugh Hughes.
>
> --
> Jayant S : ID Studio : Tata Technologies India Limited
> Telco Premises : Pimpri : PUNE : 411 018 : INDIA
> TEL 91(212)774261 ext 2534 : FAX 91(212)773191
> --

--

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CH - 1092 Belmont tog-sa@he.email
internet/intranet consulting ( )
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| (O)(O) (O)(O) (O)-(O) /(O)-(O)/ |
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tog@bahnhofplatz.email
<A HREF="http://www.bahnhofplatz.com/">http://www.bahnhofplatz.com/</A>

From: Siddhartha Joshi <>

Subject: Re: Scenes at the railway station

Date: 17 Jul 1998 06:40:46 -0500

It almost seems as if CR is heading towards standardising their loco
fleet. Till early this year, WCM5's were seen hauling the Shatabdi( for
which they were colour matched ) and other expresses like the Pushpak.

I guess it is a smart plan because these locos will invaluable once the
conversion to 25kVAC begins.

Siddhartha.

On Thu, 16 Jul 1998, Apurva Bahadur wrote:

> The WCAM3 handles all the mail/expresses on the Mumbai -Pune routes,
rarely you
> will see a WCM 2, WCG 2 or a WCM 5. WCM 1 are no longer seen at Pune.
WCAM 2s
> are rarely outside the WR, except at crossover points like Diva or
Wadi bunder.
>
> Apurva

From: Siddhartha Joshi <>

Subject: Re: Scenes at the railway station

Date: 17 Jul 1998 06:40:46 -0500

From: Peter Mosse <>

Subject: Official Railway Map of India

Date: 17 Jul 1998 06:55:46 -0500

I have come across a few copies of the 1993 official Railway Map of
India
published by the Indian Government Survey Office. The map measures 35"
x
45" and the scale is 55 mls to 1". Six colors (to identify the
different
railways). It shows principal stations, number of tracks, gauges (bg,
sg,
ng) and whether electrified. Also lines under construction and under
gauge
conversion. Shows railways in adjoining countries (Pakistan,
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, some Burma). Map is folded, not rolled. Cost $7.50 plus
postage ($1 for US addresses).

To be honest, the quality of the paper and printing could be better, but
this is a
government department at work !

Please e-mail me off list if interested.

Peter Mosse

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: More Telco Pix

Date: 17 Jul 1998 07:51:20 -0500

Hello Friends,

This is a picture of another Telco truck on rails. This pic is from a
Konkan Rail brochure in Hindi. It is clear that the wheels are 'rail
only'. Note the WDS 4 in the background.
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg</A>

Can the gang identify this loco ? I found this tattered picture on some
mag (International Rail Gazette - I Think). Hitachi loco ? I thought ABB
supplied these locos. This loco has a door in the nose to get on to the
other loco during MU operation. Something tells me that these were some
trial pieces of an unsuccessful loco. Any comments ?
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg</A>

Apurva Bahadur

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: S & N Diesel Shunters: BSR SHARMA

Date: 17 Jul 1998 07:58:48 -0500

Jayant S wrote:

> > Whatever happened to Suri & Nayar's Diesel Shunters
> > that were being manufactured at Whitefield near
> > Bangalore? (atleast during '70s & '80s?)
>
> I suppose it is the same company (?) which has
> been reincarnated as San Motors limited. They
> are to manufacture India's first sports car,
> in coupe and convertible versions: pretty
> little GRP thing with Renault engines.....
>
> Another renegade.......
>

I do not know about their car business ( you know better :)) but the SAN
locos are very much around. They are one of the subcontractors for the
DMHU (Hydraulic DMU). Amongst the small loco builders are Ventri at
Hyderabad.

Apurva

> --
> Jayant S : ID Studio : Tata Technologies India Limited
> Telco Premises : Pimpri : PUNE : 411 018 : INDIA
> TEL 91(212)774261 ext 2534 : FAX 91(212)773191
> --

From: Shanku Niyogi <>

Subject: WAP5 Picture?

Date: 17 Jul 1998 08:45:27 -0500

Came upon this picture by accident - I've never actually seen a WAP5, so
you
judge. :)

<A HREF="http://www.adtranz.com/gnews/gnews96/pics/9603_3.jpg">http://www.adtranz.com/gnews/gnews96/pics/9603_3.jpg</A>

Shanku

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Calcutta Trams, Polley troles, and the like

Date: 17 Jul 1998 09:26:09 -0500

Hi Ken & Anne,

I am FASCINATED by the Calcutta tram system and regret that no other
city in
the Indian subcontinent has trams any more. Any idea about the overhead
line
voltage and the HP of the motors ? These figures will help to prove the
efficiency of the tram system.
Do visit Calcutta for the trams and keep a couple of days aside just to
do the
trams. The roller running on the underside of the overhead line trailing
sparks
just acts to the magic of trams. The Calcutta trams lines run in the
road
divider and that I feel is the best utilization of otherwise useless
piece of
land.

Apurva Bahadur

Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E. Heath wrote:

> Hi again Apurva and Annie,
> Re trolley poles, etc. ALL tramway electrical contact devices in
modern
> times press on the UNDERSIDE of the wire, just like a railway
pantograph.
> Trolley poles and Fischer bows (latter never used in India, I think)
both
> use springs at the base of the device, i.e. on the roof of the car or
close
> to it. The trolley wheel or skid thus presses against the underside of
the
> wire, which is figure-8 shaped. The top bit is held by a clamp, clear
of
> the surface used by the wheel or skid. Early systems used plain wire
and a
> sheet-metal "keep" which wrapped around the wire, but this was rapidly
> destroyed by arcing. The figure-8 design of wire is also used for
railway
> catenary contact wire, and for the same reasons.
> There WAS an early device that ran on top of the overhead wires:
it was
> called a "troller" (perhaps like trolling in fishing?) and it is
thought to
> have given its name to trolley-poles and hence (in USA) to "trolleys"
> (=trams). The troller was a little 4-wheel carriage with grooved
wheels
> which ran on top of two wires, one positive, the other negative.
(Rigging
> the overhead must have been fiendishly difficult -- imagine devising a
> gadget to hold the two wires to gauge, insulate them, AND provide
clearance
> for the troller. It must have looked like a small bridge!) It was
connected
> to the body of the car by wires to carry the current and anchor it.
> Trollers fell out of favour rather early because they had some
outlandish
> habits. For example, when the car stopped, they would often run on,
stop
> with a jerk, and fall off, often onto the head of a paying customer or
crew
> member (and they weren't light). Rewiring them was difficult and
hazardous.
> Frank Sprague's invention of the trolleypole around 1880 saved a lot
of
> heartburn. However trollers had a brief revival with the invention of
the
> trolleybus (=trolley coach in USA) before it was realised that two
> trolleypoles would do the job just as well. Trolleybus trolleypoles,
by the
> way, are always swivel-head. Look for the little tails below the head,
> where they pivot.
> Annie, I never heard of skids being more prone to dewiring?
Melbourne
> completely replaced its trolley-wheels with skids during the late
1950s,
> and reported a fall in the number of dewirements. It's now going over
to
> pantographs, of course, which never dewire. I think wheels are just
older
> technology: skids seem to have come in with trolleybuses (say the
1920s).
> They'e less nosiy, of course.
> Calcutta trams definitely use "ordinary" trolleypoles (much of
their
> equipment is second-hand from other systems), but I don't think they
use
> trolley retreivers ("recoil units"). I can't recall seeing any,
anyway.
> Some tramway systems have a little galvanised iron inverted V over the
> trolley wire at places where re-wiring is expected frequently. This
was
> very common on systems using double-ended cars, where changing ends
meant
> changing or reversing the pole(s); obviously they'd be uncommon in
Calcutta
> or San Francisco.
> Cheers and rhubarb from
> Ken Walker

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Calcutta Trams, Polley troles, and the like

Date: 17 Jul 1998 09:26:09 -0500

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Scenes at the railway station

Date: 17 Jul 1998 09:32:34 -0500

Siddhartha Joshi wrote:

> It almost seems as if CR is heading towards standardising their loco
> fleet. Till early this year, WCM5's were seen hauling the Shatabdi(
for
> which they were colour matched ) and other expresses like the Pushpak.
>
> I guess it is a smart plan because these locos will invaluable once
the
> conversion to 25kVAC begins.

Hi Siddhartha,

Any idea how the 25 KV change over will occur. I think the Pune -
Lonavala & Igatpuri
- Kalyan section will de done first. What about the EMU services in the
period of
change over ? Has anyone heard of a dual voltage EMU ?

Apurva

>
>
> Siddhartha.
>
> On Thu, 16 Jul 1998, Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> > The WCAM3 handles all the mail/expresses on the Mumbai -Pune routes,
rarely you
> > will see a WCM 2, WCG 2 or a WCM 5. WCM 1 are no longer seen at
Pune. WCAM 2s
> > are rarely outside the WR, except at crossover points like Diva or
Wadi bunder.
> >
> > Apurva

From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E. Heath <>

Subject: Re: World Records

Date: 17 Jul 1998 10:16:47 -0500

Glyn & everyone,
Charles Sandiford, CME of the North Western Railway (of India) was
one
of the earliest experimenters with compounding for railway locomotives,
during he late 1880s. He wrote up his results quite extensively.
Except in France, thouhg, compounding won little favour: the
economies
made were more than offset by the more complicated and expensive
maintenance procedures.
Ken Walker

----------
> Folks,
> I was surprised that noone responded to Prakash's question about
compounding
> in his note on World records.
>
> Briefly, compounding on steam locos is a design which reuses the steam
> exhausted from the cylinders, which is still quite high pressure.
Compound
> locos exhaust the steam from the high pressure cylinders into a second
set of
> low pressure cylinders to use the remaining energy. While in theory
this
is
> more efficient, I take it that the reuse actually reduces the power
available
> in the high pressure cylinders.
>
> This design was popular in Europe, especially in France. It was less
popular
> in the UK due to the increased complexity of the locos, and the fact
that
> drivers needed extra training to optimise its use. I suspect that
India
> followed UK practice. Comments?
>
> Glyn Thomas
>

From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E. Heath <>

Subject: Re: Calcutta Trams, Polley troles, and the like

Date: 17 Jul 1998 10:42:59 -0500

Hi again Apurva and Annie,
Re trolley poles, etc. ALL tramway electrical contact devices in
modern
times press on the UNDERSIDE of the wire, just like a railway
pantograph.
Trolley poles and Fischer bows (latter never used in India, I think)
both
use springs at the base of the device, i.e. on the roof of the car or
close
to it. The trolley wheel or skid thus presses against the underside of
the
wire, which is figure-8 shaped. The top bit is held by a clamp, clear of
the surface used by the wheel or skid. Early systems used plain wire and
a
sheet-metal "keep" which wrapped around the wire, but this was rapidly
destroyed by arcing. The figure-8 design of wire is also used for
railway
catenary contact wire, and for the same reasons.
There WAS an early device that ran on top of the overhead wires: it
was
called a "troller" (perhaps like trolling in fishing?) and it is thought
to
have given its name to trolley-poles and hence (in USA) to "trolleys"
(=trams). The troller was a little 4-wheel carriage with grooved wheels
which ran on top of two wires, one positive, the other negative.
(Rigging
the overhead must have been fiendishly difficult -- imagine devising a
gadget to hold the two wires to gauge, insulate them, AND provide
clearance
for the troller. It must have looked like a small bridge!) It was
connected
to the body of the car by wires to carry the current and anchor it.
Trollers fell out of favour rather early because they had some
outlandish
habits. For example, when the car stopped, they would often run on, stop
with a jerk, and fall off, often onto the head of a paying customer or
crew
member (and they weren't light). Rewiring them was difficult and
hazardous.
Frank Sprague's invention of the trolleypole around 1880 saved a lot of
heartburn. However trollers had a brief revival with the invention of
the
trolleybus (=trolley coach in USA) before it was realised that two
trolleypoles would do the job just as well. Trolleybus trolleypoles, by
the
way, are always swivel-head. Look for the little tails below the head,
where they pivot.
Annie, I never heard of skids being more prone to dewiring?
Melbourne
completely replaced its trolley-wheels with skids during the late 1950s,
and reported a fall in the number of dewirements. It's now going over to
pantographs, of course, which never dewire. I think wheels are just
older
technology: skids seem to have come in with trolleybuses (say the
1920s).
They'e less nosiy, of course.
Calcutta trams definitely use "ordinary" trolleypoles (much of
their
equipment is second-hand from other systems), but I don't think they use
trolley retreivers ("recoil units"). I can't recall seeing any, anyway.
Some tramway systems have a little galvanised iron inverted V over the
trolley wire at places where re-wiring is expected frequently. This was
very common on systems using double-ended cars, where changing ends
meant
changing or reversing the pole(s); obviously they'd be uncommon in
Calcutta
or San Francisco.
Cheers and rhubarb from
Ken Walker

From: Siddhartha Joshi <>

Subject: Re: Scenes at the railway station

Date: 17 Jul 1998 11:26:07 -0500

I believe that they will be converting some EMU's to 25kVAC and
transferring these to the newly converted lines. Not too sure though.

Siddhartha

On Fri, 17 Jul 1998, Apurva Bahadur wrote:

>
>
> Siddhartha Joshi wrote:
>
> > It almost seems as if CR is heading towards standardising their loco
> > fleet. Till early this year, WCM5's were seen hauling the Shatabdi(
for
> > which they were colour matched ) and other expresses like the
Pushpak.
> >
> > I guess it is a smart plan because these locos will invaluable once
the
> > conversion to 25kVAC begins.
>
> Hi Siddhartha,
>
> Any idea how the 25 KV change over will occur. I think the Pune -
Lonavala & Igatpuri
> - Kalyan section will de done first. What about the EMU services in
the period of
> change over ? Has anyone heard of a dual voltage EMU ?
>
> Apurva
>
> >
> >
> > Siddhartha.
> >
> > On Thu, 16 Jul 1998, Apurva Bahadur wrote:
> >
> > > The WCAM3 handles all the mail/expresses on the Mumbai -Pune
routes, rarely you
> > > will see a WCM 2, WCG 2 or a WCM 5. WCM 1 are no longer seen at
Pune. WCAM 2s
> > > are rarely outside the WR, except at crossover points like Diva or
Wadi bunder.
> > >
> > > Apurva
>
>
>
>
>

From: John Hinson <>

Subject: Neale's Ball Token

Date: 17 Jul 1998 15:20:26 -0500

Hi everybody out there from the UK,

My interest is in railway signalling, primarily British signalling, but
also that in any part of the world where British signalling was supplied
which includes India, South America and Australia.

In Britain we have Electric Staff, Tablet and Key Token instruments
controlling our single lines (apart from where modernisation has taken
its
toll) but no "Ball tokens" like you have in India.

Does anybody know anything about the Neale's Ball Tokens - how they work
or
what they look like. Can anyone supply me a drawing or scanned
photograph?

Thanks in advance for any help. I have some other questions but they had
better wait for now.

John Hinson
________||_
/ \ at
/_____________\
|___________| The Signal Box
| | | | |
|__|__|__|__| <A HREF="http://trainweb.com/signalbox/">http://trainweb.com/signalbox/</A>
/| |
//| ===== |
// | |
|/ |_ _ _ _ |
--- o ---

From: Donald L. Mills, Jr <>

Subject: Re: More Telco Pix

Date: 17 Jul 1998 15:52:35 -0500

Apurva- What you call a Telco on truck on rails we call a Hi-Rail.
These
are used primarily for maintainence of way or to go in front and behind
hazardous materials trains.

----------
> From: Apurva Bahadur <iti@giaspn01.email
> To: Indian Railways Info Zone <irfca@cs.email
> Subject: More Telco Pix
> Date: Friday, July 17, 1998 10:51 AM
>
> Hello Friends,
>
> This is a picture of another Telco truck on rails. This pic is from a
> Konkan Rail brochure in Hindi. It is clear that the wheels are 'rail
> only'. Note the WDS 4 in the background.
> <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg</A>
>
> Can the gang identify this loco ? I found this tattered picture on
some
> mag (International Rail Gazette - I Think). Hitachi loco ? I thought
ABB
> supplied these locos. This loco has a door in the nose to get on to
the
> other loco during MU operation. Something tells me that these were
some
> trial pieces of an unsuccessful loco. Any comments ?
> <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg</A>
>
> Apurva Bahadur
>

From: Shankarnarayan, Sridhar <>

Subject: Re: More Telco Pix

Date: 17 Jul 1998 21:07:55 -0500

Apurva,

When IR was looking for high horsepower locos in the late eighties the
had
trial batches from Hitachi and ABB (now Adtranz). Apparently, they
either
liked the ABB loco better or they offered better terms for transfer of
technology (or perhaps, better terms in the form of "kickbacks"). If I
remember correctly, there was another design - Sumitomo with a desi
partner
either BHEL or CLW, which was in the running for a while and was later
disqualified on some technical grounds.

-Sridhar

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Apurva Bahadur [SMTP:iti@giaspn01.email
> Sent: Friday, July 17, 1998 9:51 AM
> To: Indian Railways Info Zone
> Subject: More Telco Pix
>
> Hello Friends,
>
> This is a picture of another Telco truck on rails. This pic is from a
> Konkan Rail brochure in Hindi. It is clear that the wheels are 'rail
> only'. Note the WDS 4 in the background.
> <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/Telco2.jpg</A>
>
> Can the gang identify this loco ? I found this tattered picture on
some
> mag (International Rail Gazette - I Think). Hitachi loco ? I thought
ABB
> supplied these locos. This loco has a door in the nose to get on to
the
> other loco during MU operation. Something tells me that these were
some
> trial pieces of an unsuccessful loco. Any comments ?
> <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~ApuB/Strange/WAG.jpg</A>
>
> Apurva Bahadur
>

From: Anne O. <>

Subject: Re: Calcutta Trams, Polley troles, and the like

Date: 17 Jul 1998 23:57:33 -0500

>Fischer bows

What is, please?

Actrually, there's something not unlike a 'troller' in use today - the
trolley of a safege monorail.

> Annie, I never heard of skids being more prone to dewiring?
Melbourne
> completely replaced its trolley-wheels with skids during the late
1950s,
> and reported a fall in the number of dewirements. It's now going over
to
> pantographs, of course, which never dewire. I think wheels are just
older
> technology: skids seem to have come in with trolleybuses (say the
1920s).
> They'e less nosiy, of course.

I'm hardly a traction whiz. My info is:
a) informal comment by Dick Orr many years ago, commenting that wheels
were better for prototype and sliders for HO (of course, the wheel on an
HO guage trolley pole doesn't rotate).
b) thought there was some discussion of this as an open-to-debate item
in the traction column in the old NMRA Bulletin when Whit Towers was
editor (name of columnist escapes).

I'm not claiming they're more prone to dewiring, only that the issue is
open to discussion. Annie is clueless about such things (has watched
plenty of SF Muni trolleybusses get rewired, though)

I'll try to take the L-1 to the city tomorrow and get photos of poles
and such items.

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