IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 3541 - 3560

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: One more topic for the FAQ

Date: 12 Sep 1998 23:18:50 -0500


Hi Gang !

I was just thinking that we need to mention the various stations in a
town. Specially when long distance trains start / terminate from this
station. It would help to clear up the mystery about the real
destination of the train. For example did you know that Habibganj is the
new terminus in Bhopal or the Manduadih is a terminus in Varanasi ? Many
long distance trains start from these stations with titles such as Pune
- Manduadih Exp or Habibgagj - Rewa exp which often gives no clue as to
the popular name of the destination specially to someone who has only a
fleeting exposure to the subject .

Here is a list I could initially think of :

Mumbai: Dadar, Kurla (Terminus), Bandra (Terminus)

Goa: Madgaon,

Delhi: Hazrath Nizamuddin, Sarai Rohilla

Bhopal: Habibganj

Calcutta: Howrah, Sealdah

Chennai: Egmore (Chennai Central is self explanatory)

Varanasi - Manduadih

Okay, on second thoughts entries such as Howrah, Sealdah & Egmore may
be left out as they are quite well known having being around for so many
years - I wanted to aim for the smaller, newer and lesser known station.

Let me have your views and additions.

Apurva Bahadur

From: Peter Mosse <>

Subject: ? Renaming IRFCA ?

Date: 13 Sep 1998 09:08:32 -0500



Apurva Bahadur wrote:

> On a serious note - have we ever contemplated renaming IRFCA (A =
> America) to just IRFC ? As many of the members are not physically in
> America (and all of you are spiritually in India ?). What do the
elders
> of the mailing list feel about this ?
>

------------

Well, I'm certainly not an elder of this mailing list and I AM in
America,
but for what it is worth I would support changing the name from IRFCA to
IRFC.

Firstly, listmembers who aren't in India have to rely on contributions
from
listmembers who ARE in India for the most current news and observations
about IR.

Secondly, I think we have a much better chance of getting to the point
where we can have some real influence on IR ( whether it's on service
standards, preservation or any other policy angle that we have discussed
on
the list ) if we DO NOT appear to be primarily a bunch of expatriate and
foreign enthusiasts !!

In fact, maybe we should even call it IRSA for Indian Railways
Supporters
Association !!

Peter Mosse

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>

Subject: change of name.

Date: 13 Sep 1998 09:52:23 -0500



Apurva Bahadur wrote:

> On a serious note - have we ever contemplated renaming IRFCA
> (A = America) to just IRFC ? As many of the members are not
> physically in America (and all of you are spiritually in India ?).
> What do the elders of the mailing list feel about this ?

I guess being the first administrator of the list,
I can claim to be an "elder" :-) and respond to this.

I also feel that there is need to come up with a new name. The list
has grown quite a bit, a large number of members are living outside
of the USA, and the current name does not reflect the current reality.

I remember that we had though of several names at that time,
but nothing really appealed, and IRFCA seemed to be the best.
We weren't keen on the 'A' part, but we added it because
there was some reason at that time to not have IRFC as
the name. (Maybe because IRFC may stand for Indian Railway
Finance Corpn.) Now that we have the benefit of the presence
of so many wise persons on the list, I am sure we can
come up with a good name for the list. (And if most people
don't mind, we can choose IRFC, as suggested by Apurva.)

-dheeraj
--------------
Dr. Dheeraj Sanghi (0512) 59-7077/7638
(Off)
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (0512) 59-8627 (Res)
Indian Institute of Technology (0512) 59-0725/0413
(Fax)
Kanpur - 208 016 (UP), INDIA. dheeraj@iitk.email

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: One more topic for the FAQ

Date: 13 Sep 1998 09:55:59 -0500


Here are some more I could think of:

Durgapura: Jaipur
Kacheguda :Hyderabad
Madras Beach in Madras for certain trains
Hatia for Ranchi
Itwari :Nagpur (ng trains to Gondia used to terminate here)

Apart from terminii, nearby stations which are more famous than the
town they serve are:
Kazipet: Warangal
Shrirmpur:Belapur
Katpadi:Vellore
Best regards.
Shankar

I shall post in case I can think of any more.

Best regards.
Shankar


Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> Hi Gang !
>
> I was just thinking that we need to mention the various stations in a
> town. Specially when long distance trains start / terminate from this
> station. It would help to clear up the mystery about the real
> destination of the train. For example did you know that Habibganj is
the
> new terminus in Bhopal or the Manduadih is a terminus in Varanasi ?
Many
> long distance trains start from these stations with titles such as
Pune
> - Manduadih Exp or Habibgagj - Rewa exp which often gives no clue as
to
> the popular name of the destination specially to someone who has only
a
> fleeting exposure to the subject .
>
> Here is a list I could initially think of :
>
> Mumbai: Dadar, Kurla (Terminus), Bandra (Terminus)
>
> Goa: Madgaon,
>
> Delhi: Hazrath Nizamuddin, Sarai Rohilla
>
> Bhopal: Habibganj
>
> Calcutta: Howrah, Sealdah
>
> Chennai: Egmore (Chennai Central is self explanatory)
>
> Varanasi - Manduadih
>
> Okay, on second thoughts entries such as Howrah, Sealdah & Egmore may
> be left out as they are quite well known having being around for so
many
> years - I wanted to aim for the smaller, newer and lesser known
station.
>
> Let me have your views and additions.
>
> Apurva Bahadur

From: Prakash Tendulkar <>

Subject: Alaska Rail Road pictures

Date: 13 Sep 1998 11:16:36 -0500


Hi Everyone,

Feel free to visit <A HREF="http://www.jps.net/prakash/arr/">http://www.jps.net/prakash/arr/</A> to see some
40+ pictures of Alaska Rail Road taken during two trips of
one week each.

I have two more trips scheduled in October and November and
hope to capture more pictures with snow as well as of two RDC
(Rail Diesel Cars) that are operational during winter.

This site may move so please do not set pointers yet. Let me
know if you plan to set pointer and I'll notify you when ready.

Prakash

From: Pushkar Apte <>

Subject: Re: One more topic for the FAQ

Date: 13 Sep 1998 20:22:27 -0500


More little big stations in big cities:

Pratapnagar, Vishwamitri : Vadodara (Baroda)

The Dabhoi-Jambusar NG line is perpendicular to the Mumbai BG line,
and it passes through Pratapnagar & Vishwamitri but does not touch the
main Vadodara (BG) station. Pratapnagar is a terminus for some NG
trains, and in my last visit I found the station to be surprisingly
well-maintained, complete with some old coaches of Maharaja SayajiRao
of Baroda.

A terminus that is gradually yielding to the main city:

Hapa: Jamnagar

Some others I can think of - that have become famous because of
bypasses rather than being terminii...

Krishnarajpuram: Bangalore
Kankinada: Mangalore
Cheoki: Allahabad (I am not even sure Cheoki is a legit station)
Podanur: Coimbatore
Ernakulam: Cochin
Chakki Bank: Pathankot
Sewagram: Wardha

-Pushkar

> Here are some more I could think of:
>
> Durgapura: Jaipur
> Kacheguda :Hyderabad
> Madras Beach in Madras for certain trains
> Hatia for Ranchi
> Itwari :Nagpur (ng trains to Gondia used to terminate here)
>
> Apart from terminii, nearby stations which are more famous than the
> town they serve are:
> Kazipet: Warangal
> Shrirmpur:Belapur
> Katpadi:Vellore
> Best regards.
> Shankar
>
> I shall post in case I can think of any more.
>
> Best regards.
> Shankar
>
>
> Apurva Bahadur wrote:
> >
> > Hi Gang !
> >
> > I was just thinking that we need to mention the various stations in
a
> > town. Specially when long distance trains start / terminate from
this
> > station. It would help to clear up the mystery about the real
> > destination of the train. For example did you know that Habibganj is
the
> > new terminus in Bhopal or the Manduadih is a terminus in Varanasi ?
Many
> > long distance trains start from these stations with titles such as
Pune
> > - Manduadih Exp or Habibgagj - Rewa exp which often gives no clue as
to
> > the popular name of the destination specially to someone who has
only a
> > fleeting exposure to the subject .
> >
> > Here is a list I could initially think of :
> >
> > Mumbai: Dadar, Kurla (Terminus), Bandra (Terminus)
> >
> > Goa: Madgaon,
> >
> > Delhi: Hazrath Nizamuddin, Sarai Rohilla
> >
> > Bhopal: Habibganj
> >
> > Calcutta: Howrah, Sealdah
> >
> > Chennai: Egmore (Chennai Central is self explanatory)
> >
> > Varanasi - Manduadih
> >
> > Okay, on second thoughts entries such as Howrah, Sealdah & Egmore
may
> > be left out as they are quite well known having being around for so
many
> > years - I wanted to aim for the smaller, newer and lesser known
station.
> >
> > Let me have your views and additions.
> >
> > Apurva Bahadur
>


--

Regards,
Pushkar
-------

From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>

Subject: Liveries again !!

Date: 13 Sep 1998 21:43:39 -0500



Hi!

All rail buffs,

I would like to add about Vidarbha Express, the new coaches are painted
blue & cream. Each coach has a display window , displaying the train
name
& no. right at the door. At night it is illuminated with a tube
light.Nice
sight it is. Like the European ones.

Anyone been to Nagpur recently? ,then you must have noticed these. But
some times these new ones are replaced with old coaches & the looks are
messed up.

Bye

Shrinivas.

From: Shrinivas Bhatwadekar <>

Subject: Re: One more topic for the FAQ

Date: 13 Sep 1998 23:37:53 -0500


---Pushkar Apte <apte@spdc.email wrote:
>
> More little big stations in big cities:
>
> Pratapnagar, Vishwamitri : Vadodara (Baroda)
>
> The Dabhoi-Jambusar NG line is perpendicular to the Mumbai BG line,
> and it passes through Pratapnagar & Vishwamitri but does not touch the
> main Vadodara (BG) station. Pratapnagar is a terminus for some NG
> trains, and in my last visit I found the station to be surprisingly
> well-maintained, complete with some old coaches of Maharaja SayajiRao
> of Baroda.

This railway-line is more than 100 years old & in fact, it goes eastward
much beyond Dabhoi upto a place called Chhota Udepur.Chhota Udepur was a
small princely state near the state of Baroda.That might be
the reason why the narrow-guage had been constructed upto Chhota Udepur.

Although there are no more steam trains on this route, and also not
many passenger use trains, the route is still operational.Trains are
hauled by NG Diesel locos.

Upto eigthties there existed one train straight from Jambusar upto
Chhota Udepur,but the service has been discontinued now.

Coming back to cleanliness at Pratapnagar stn,the reason is :
Baroda is a separate railway division and all the divisional offices are
located at Pratapnagar.(ie. not at Rly Stn, but in vicinity of the
station.)Besides there is a nice Railway colony where Railway officers
stay.

An additional Railway Reservation Office is also located at Pratapnagar
Railway station.

There exist a number of narrow guage routes in this region.All the
routes are very old and were probably constructed by Maharaja of Baroda.
The Maharaja encouraged the British to construct railways in the
state & let the mainline pass through his state.He put forward only
one condition, that was : name of his state
to appear in the railway name.Hence the name, BBCI ( Bombay-Baroda &
Central India ) Railway which now is the Western Railway.

-- Shrinivas
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From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: New name for the IRFCA

Date: 14 Sep 1998 02:15:56 -0500


Hello everyone,

I would be very interested to learn about the statistics of our club.
How many members, how many countries, how many messages in the year etc.

If IRFC on its own stands for Indian Railways Finance Corporation and
hence not desirable, one name that I have thought about often is Indian
Railway Enthusiasts Group or IREG. Let me have your reactions.

Apurva

From: Vivek Prakash <>

Subject: Re: change of name.

Date: 14 Sep 1998 04:17:30 -0500




Dheeraj Sanghi wrote:

> Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> > On a serious note - have we ever contemplated renaming IRFCA
> > (A = America) to just IRFC ? As many of the members are not
> > physically in America (and all of you are spiritually in India ?).
> > What do the elders of the mailing list feel about this ?

Well, as someone who lives (far) outside either America OR India, a more
neutral name has my vote!!From the land of the sheep (thats new zealand)
Vivek
--

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Re: change of name.

Date: 14 Sep 1998 06:32:02 -0500



>Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
>> On a serious note - have we ever contemplated renaming IRFCA
>> (A = America) to just IRFC ? As many of the members are not
>> physically in America (and all of you are spiritually in India ?).
>> What do the elders of the mailing list feel about this ?
>
>I guess being the first administrator of the list,
>I can claim to be an "elder" :-) and respond to this.

Being the person who came up with this name, I don't mind changing it to

a more appealing acronym that reflects the much wider representation. I

would really like to use a train-related word for this. Just to
illustrate my point -> TRAINS - The RAil INdia Supporters. Let's try
to come up with some good railway-related acronyms.

>
>I remember that we had though of several names at that time,
>but nothing really appealed, and IRFCA seemed to be the best.
>We weren't keen on the 'A' part, but we added it because
>there was some reason at that time to not have IRFC as
>the name. (Maybe because IRFC may stand for Indian Railway
>Finance Corpn.) Now that we have the benefit of the presence

I remember that, Dheeraj. In fact, Shriram Revankar had suggested
FACIR, but it somehow didn't appeal to all of us.

Vijay

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From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Re: One more topic for the FAQ

Date: 14 Sep 1998 06:55:09 -0500




>Some others I can think of - that have become famous because of
>bypasses rather than being terminii...
>
>Krishnarajpuram: Bangalore
>Kankinada: Mangalore
>Cheoki: Allahabad (I am not even sure Cheoki is a legit station)

It used to be one in the pre-independence days when the Bombay-Howrah
Mail used to stop here and NOT at Allahabad. At present, it is only
featured in working time-tables.

>Podanur: Coimbatore
>Ernakulam: Cochin
>Chakki Bank: Pathankot
>Sewagram: Wardha

Can add Vasai Rd. (for Mumbai) to this list. Also, Wadi Chord (for
Wadi) that is somewhat unique in that it is present inside the bypass
and is exclusively used by trains bypassing Wadi.


>> Here are some more I could think of:
>>
>> Durgapura: Jaipur

An interesting combination where the terminus became just an ordinary
halt b'coz of gauge conversion. Another pair that fits this description

is Allahabad City - Allahabad.

Vijay

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From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Re: Liveries (Super Deluxe rake)

Date: 14 Sep 1998 06:57:42 -0500


>This morning whilst coming whilst coming to Vikhroli I saw a Rajdhani
>livered Rake with Super deluxe Express written on it, at the Byculla
yard.
>Good to see a Rajdhani coloured train on the otherwise dirty CR. This
is
>indeed |The 2101 dn Kurla Howrah AC super DEluxe Express.
>Views please, whilst we are discussing livelries.

Refreshing indeed. Did you have time to figure how the rake
composition? How many coaches? How many AC 3-tiers?....

Vijay

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From: Pushkar Apte <>

Subject: Pratapnagar NG line

Date: 14 Sep 1998 07:24:11 -0500



> > More little big stations in big cities:
> >
> > Pratapnagar, Vishwamitri : Vadodara (Baroda)
> >
> > The Dabhoi-Jambusar NG line is perpendicular to the Mumbai BG line,
> > and it passes through Pratapnagar & Vishwamitri but does not touch
the
> > main Vadodara (BG) station. Pratapnagar is a terminus for some NG
> > trains, and in my last visit I found the station to be surprisingly
> > well-maintained, complete with some old coaches of Maharaja
SayajiRao
> > of Baroda.
>
> This railway-line is more than 100 years old & in fact, it goes
eastward
> much beyond Dabhoi upto a place called Chhota Udepur.Chhota Udepur was
a
> small princely state near the state of Baroda.That might be
> the reason why the narrow-guage had been constructed upto Chhota
Udepur.
>
> Although there are no more steam trains on this route, and also not
> many passenger use trains, the route is still operational.Trains are
> hauled by NG Diesel locos.

I had the pleasure of riding on a ZDM5 from Pratapnagar to Vishwamitri
thanks to a kind driver. The loco as well as the coaches are quite
cute, and again, surprisingly well-maintained for a little branch
line, and NG at that. There are still 4-5 trains everyday on this
route - and at least the train I was in was quite full. Also, my
train was bang on time. The driver said that in its peak, this line
had > 25 services daily!

> Upto eigthties there existed one train straight from Jambusar upto
> Chhota Udepur,but the service has been discontinued now.

The driver told me that a bridge beyond Dabhoi has fallen into
disrepair and no one had coughed up the funds to repair the bridge -
this is why the service to Chhota Udepur has been discontinued.

> Coming back to cleanliness at Pratapnagar stn,the reason is :
> Baroda is a separate railway division and all the divisional offices
are
> located at Pratapnagar.(ie. not at Rly Stn, but in vicinity of the
> station.)Besides there is a nice Railway colony where Railway officers
> stay.
>
> An additional Railway Reservation Office is also located at
Pratapnagar
> Railway station.

Also, the Railway Officers Training college for all of IR is located
close to Pratapnagar station. Interestingly, there is also a BG line
right next to the NG lines at Pratapnagar: I was told that this is
utilized by goods traffic - especially oil tankers - connecting to the
Baroda yard and the BG mainline.

> There exist a number of narrow guage routes in this region.All the
> routes are very old and were probably constructed by Maharaja of
Baroda.
> The Maharaja encouraged the British to construct railways in the
> state & let the mainline pass through his state.He put forward only
> one condition, that was : name of his state
> to appear in the railway name.Hence the name, BBCI ( Bombay-Baroda &
> Central India ) Railway which now is the Western Railway.
>
> -- Shrinivas

-Pushkar
-------

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Attn; Timetable seekers !!

Date: 14 Sep 1998 07:25:49 -0500


Hi Gang !

The first part of the task is done. I have with me a set of CR, WR, SC,
TAAG and Mumbai (CR) Suburban timetable for the junta listed below. I
will get quotes from the various couriers and send each packet
individually to you. I will calculate the total expenditure and then
request you to pay in dollars to someone in USA. I will get the amount
in Indian Rs. right here in Pune - neat isn't it ?
Have any of you got a favourite courier that has your recommendation.
Each timetable weights a whopping 220 gms each, so I guess we are
talking a Kg per packet. Since this procedure will be carried out many
times in the future it is good to make an efficient system out of it.
I have one spare set left - please find a good (paid !) home for it.
The NR and the SR timetables are also in the pipeline and would be
available in the next few weeks. But let us not wait anymore. Next year
maybe.

Apurva Bahadur

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Extinct liveries

Date: 14 Sep 1998 07:48:54 -0500


Back in the 70s and early 80s, one of the highlights of my train
journeys was an encounter with a distinct and unique liveried train.
That would usually make my day!! Sadly, I can't look forward to that
happening very often anymore.

Here are some liveries that no longer exist (additions welcome).

No. Bottom Top Middle Stripe(s) Trains
-- ------ --- ------ -------- ------
1. Blue Blue Blue White AP Exp., Minar Exp.,
(above windows)Bombay-Secunderabad Exp.

2. Brown Brown Black 2 yellow Bombay-Howrah Mail
via Nagpur

3. Green Green Grey 2 yellow Bombay-Howrah Mail
via Nagpur,
MG Pandyan and Tippu Exp.

4. Purple Orange Orange 2 purple Ganga Kaveri Exp.,
1 yellow Sarnath Exp.

5. Green Yellow Yellow 1 green Kerala-Karnataka Exp.,
1 yellow Ganga Kaveri Exp.

6. Green Yellow Yellow 2 green Vaigai Exp.,
1 yellow Pallavan Exp.

7. Red Yellow Red 1 red Gitanjali Exp.,
1 yellow Coromandel Exp.

8. Green Blue Yellow 2 yellow Bombay - Jammu superfast
(was this the right combination, Pushkar?)

9. Brown Cream Brown - Frontier Mail

10. Brown Cream Brown 1 White Howrah-Kalka Mail
(above windows)

11. White White Blue 1 Blue Kanchenjunga Exp.,
(at bottom) Varanasi-Dhanbad Exp.

12. White White Green 1 Red Deccan Queen Exp.
(at bottom)

13. Blue Blue Red 2 White Grand Trunk Exp.
2 Red

14. Blue Blue Grey 2 White Steel and Ispat Exps.
(has this disappeared?)

15. Brown Brown Cream 2 Black Coalfield and
Diamond Exps.

What trains did the following belong to?

16. Orange Cream Orange 1 Cream Asansol Exp.??
(saw this at Howrah with a WAM2 of the same color)

17. Orange Cream Cream - some train from the South


How I wish I had my camera in those days!! Who knows whether I'l
witness these fantastic rakes again :-( :-(


Vijay

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From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: More dual brake carriages

Date: 14 Sep 1998 07:49:19 -0500


Hi Gang !

Its pouring here in Pune - It is WET ! I went to the station in the
evening to get the last lot of timetables. I saw an Central Railway
'Inspection Car' with dual brakes. This was being attached to the end of
the 7031 Dn. Mumbai - Hyderabad Exp. The WDM 2 which shunted the coach
to the end of the train was using the vacuum brakes while pushing this
inspection car onto the air braked 7031 Dn rake. This was a graphical
example for the need for dual brakes in such non regular coached. Lucky
railway officials get to travel in the inspection cars all over the
country. This particular carriage lacked AC (must be lesser officials :
- ) ?) but had evaporative water type coolers on its windows instead.
Rest was sheer luxury - large oval glass set in the door, illuminated
steps, built in kitchen in the car with your own personal chef, plenty
of dedicated servants to take care of you and traveling in a separate
service area. I peered under the coach to check the brake rigging and
it looks like an ordinary vacuum cylinder - large vertical piston
assembly. I wonder how the dual brakes actually work in a carriage -
found nowhere else in the world, right ?

I also saw a 'green nosed' (having green band of the hoods - meaning
having dual brakes) WDS 4 diesel hydraulic shunter which crept in with
the 1022 Up Indrayani Exp from the washing siding to the platform 3.
Although the 1022 has air brakes and the WDS 4 also had dual brakes
capability, the rake's brake hoses were not connected and kept moving
slowly even as the loco tried to stop under its own loco brakes. I do
not think the Kurla shed (to which the WDS 4 are homed ) are very
serious about the dual brakes - the loco lacked one brake hose right
from the gate valve.

Apurva Bahadur

From: Pushkar Apte <>

Subject: Yetunudder name suggestion

Date: 14 Sep 1998 08:31:49 -0500


I agree that IRFCA has outgrown its name.

How about WIRE:

World Indian Rail Enthusiasts
or
World of Indian Rail Enthusiasts

Since we are an internet group, we are "wire"-connected, and wires run
trains - whether electric traction or signalling.

Other suggestions? Whatever we decide, I'd like to see the global
character of the group reflected in the name.

-Pushkar
-------

From: Anurag Acharya <>

Subject: Re: New name for the IRFCA

Date: 14 Sep 1998 08:34:05 -0500



How about "Indian Railways Fan Club Association"? Anyways, that is how
it has appeared on my web page for the last couple of years. Would
simplify life if the initials (and the email addresses associated with
the group) did not change.

>I would be very interested to learn about the statistics of our club.
>How many members, how many countries, how many messages in the year
etc.

Currently, the list has 100 members from nine countries (the number of
countries is approx). There have been 1423 messages since Jan 1, 1998.
There were 371 messages in 1997.

anurag

From: Anne Ogborn <>

Subject: Re: New name for the IRFCA

Date: 14 Sep 1998 09:40:32 -0500




Anurag Acharya wrote:

> How about "Indian Railways Fan Club Association"? Anyways, that is how
> it has appeared on my web page for the last couple of years. Would
> simplify life if the initials (and the email addresses associated with
> the group) did not change.
>

I like not changing the initials. That way we have continuous presence
on the
net If we're mentioned in a magazine, we're still here when a year later
somebody comes looking.
Nobody has to update links on their website.
Until this thread started I thought we *WERE* the "Indian Railways Fan
Club
Association".
Actually, it's becoming that way in reality, with the different groups
getting together in the bay area and in Pune.

Annie