IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 5641 - 5660
From: S Pai <>
Subject: :-) from "Exploring Indian Railways"
Date: 21 Mar 1999 18:52:58 -0500
Bill Aitken's "Exploring Indian Railways" has some real gems in it. This
is
what he says he found in "Plain Rules for Railway Travellers" written
around
1850 by a Dr Dionysius Lardner:
Express trains are attended with more danger than ordinary
trains. Those who desire the greatest degree of security should
use them only when great speed is required.
Beware of yielding to the sudden impulse to spring from the
carriage to recover your hat which has blown off.
Aitken also finds in the "Calculated Fare Table" published by IR,
instructions on how to book in the brake van "small calves under 0.76
metre
in height at the shoulder, not exceeding three in number", snakes with
"securely fastened and closely fitting lids", and tortoises in baskets
which "should be soaked with sufficient water before acceptance of
booking
and of such type that the tortoises may not be able to protrude their
neck
out". The Table also advises passengers to guard against "undetected
charpoys"(*) in the compartment, "especially when not in pieces".
One last item that I found hilarious: In 1897, the East Indian Railway
published statistics on goods carried on its lines; for livestock, the
total for the first 6 months was 26,328 elephants and 1 sheep. Somewhat
later they issued an erratum slip reversing the numbers. :-)
--Satish
(*) For people on the list who might not know: charpoys are the
wood-and-string cots found through much of northern India.
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: Re: women drivers?
Date: 21 Mar 1999 19:36:06 -0500
>
> I've been recently re-reading parts of Bill Aitken's "Exploring Indian
> Railways" and I noticed that at one point he mentions IR had a single
woman
> diesel loco driver. The book was written around 1987. How many women
> drivers does IR have today? Were there ever any women who drove steam
> locos on IR?
>
> --Satish
No Satish there were no lady Steam Loco drivers.
Viraf
From: Dr. Shirish Yande <>
Subject: Long Silence
Date: 21 Mar 1999 19:49:10 -0500
Hi Everyone ,
Long Silence from my end too.
The discussion is turly getting very interesting. But let us not have
the same topics over and over again, Loco spotting for instance.
I would like to start a fresh discussion on Signalling on Indian
Railways. Can somebody kick off by forwarding comments on Route Relay
Interlocking and the Panel Interlockink? This is used on all the
electrified sections today, but we haven,t had much discussions on this
area.
What is a Block section? How long is a block section? What determines
the length of a block section? How many signals guard a single block?
Answers and comments are welcome.
Shirish Yande
From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>
Subject: Women drivers!
Date: 21 Mar 1999 21:30:24 -0500
Hi!
There were 2 or 3 women drivers trained for suburban trains at Kalyan on
CR. A article to this effect was published in local Marathi newspapers,
accompanied with snaps.
But don't think actually ever they performed their on this section.
Initially heard that they will take the Ladies special in both the
directions,
Up/Down. But god only knows what happened to that idea.
Shrinivas
From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Re: Women drivers!
Date: 22 Mar 1999 00:57:14 -0500
> Initially heard that they will take the Ladies special in both the
directions,
> Up/Down. But god only knows what happened to that idea.
Hopefully it is buried.
From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>
Subject: Indian railways
Date: 22 Mar 1999 01:03:40 -0500
Dr. Sirish Yande has rightly pointed out that we need diversity in our
discussions. This is in no way to understimate the uselfuness of the
current postings on locos -- they are indeed very interesting
(particularly the pictures).
There is much more to Indian Railways than their locos. For instance, I
find the facades of some of our railway stations very fascinating. Is
there somebody in this list who has some beautiful pictures of some of
our beautiful railway stations ?
Or, maybe some pictures of life inside the stations, on the platforms,
retiring rooms, cafetarias, IR restaurants. I have also seen some very
modern stations along the Navi Mumbai route just outside our Mumbai
city. They look very attractive and resemble some of the stations I see
here in Europe. Anybody with some good pictures, or anecdotes to share ?
I would also like to launch an opinion poll to find out which station
would be the most "user friendly" station in India (in terms of
cleanliness, amenities, staff, location, etc.). Any suggestions ?
.... partha
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Dr. S. Parthasarathy Phone: + 49 -531-3913328
I F R A FAX: + 49 -531-3915197
Tech. Univ. Braunschweig
Langer Kamp 8
38106 Braunschweig - GERMANY
e mail : partha@ifra.email
<A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Indian railways
Date: 22 Mar 1999 04:46:59 -0500
> I have also seen some very
> modern stations along the Navi Mumbai route just outside our Mumbai
> city. They look very attractive and resemble some of the stations I
see
> here in Europe. Anybody with some good pictures, or anecdotes to share
?
At high tide the waves wash up to the bottom of the rails at Vashi - I
have
not seen this personally, I am just quoting super railnut Sundar
Krishnamurthy.
> I would also like to launch an opinion poll to find out which station
> would be the most "user friendly" station in India (in terms of
> cleanliness, amenities, staff, location, etc.). Any suggestions ?
This discussion is NOT related to Pune Jn in any way for sure :-).
One of the most friendly stations I have seen is Mysore Jn. This
typifies much
of the Southern Railways (and South India). My wife Shyama and I have
been on
an unplanned "take the next train in that direction till the money and
time
half runs out" sort of trip. So instead of Goa, we landed in Mysore. We
saw
that the tracks are washed on the departure of every train. The Station
Superintendent was watching us looking around to understand what we
should
should do next (it was an unplanned visit - remember ?). He queried the
essential facts - who we were, what we wanted to do, etc (we must have
been
mighty cute so many years back). The gent guided us through the tasks.
He saw
that we got the return tickets and the retiring rooms and then wished us
good
luck. Now this is not the sort of forced courtesy that we see in the
hospitality industry, we were just ordinary second class passengers. But
we
were in the friendly hands of the Southern Railways, so therein lies the
difference. The booking office in Mysore Jn. was like an airline office
with
pretty women in silk sarees and courteous men in ties who took
extraordinary
care to ensure that we took the correct decision. Mysore has public
bathrooms
(not toilets - but places where one could have a bath) on the platforms.
We
were also accorded the same kind courtesy in the loco shed. We were in a
culture shock having come from the rude Pune/ Mumbai area.
I am quite convinced that it takes royalty to create outstanding towns.
Mysore
with its extraordinary buildings and public facilities is a good example
of
what Royalty can do.
Apurva
From: Dipl.-Ing. Nikolaus Sbarounis <>
Subject: DB class 181 and B.G. modelling
Date: 22 Mar 1999 07:47:20 -0500
Dear Annie,
following the relevant discussion on the Indian Railfan newsgroup, I'm
sending you as an aid a side view drawing of DB class 181 (ex E310), so
that
you can readily compare it with similar Indian or other locos.
On the scale/gauge question, the following thoughts occured to me:
-To run models of broad gauge trains on standard gauge track is
especially
grotesque. Gauge must match scale.
-Beside India, the same BG is used in the Iberian peninsula and
Argentina
(and BART as well!),which broadens the market for BG models. At least
one
loco class, the ALCO "World" diesel is found in all these places.
-I consider it particularly important to use an existing track
gauge,
instead of introducing a new one to match an established scale. Firstly
because it won't be always easy to buy off-the-shelf track for this new
gauge; secondly because kitbashers will want to use running gears of a
different scale (but of the same track gauge) to create a wider variety
of
models, than the one provided by the R-T-R commercial range (as for
example
HO narrow-gaugers utilize standard-gauge N chassis). This is especially
important, since the industry isn't likely to offer an extensive range
of BG
models.
Given the above, 2 possible scales for modelling BG come to mind:
1. 1/100 scale utilizing HO standard gauge track
At the same scale we can also employ HOn3 track to represent metre gauge
and
Z track to represent 2' gauge (couldn't an 1/100 "YG" utilize a HOn3
East
Broad Top Mikado chassis?). It is also a A drawback is the shortage of
1/100
accessories. Another one is the unavailability of commercial track to
represent standard gauge in 1/100, but, with the exception of Argentina
and
the Spanish AVE, the countries with 5'6" gauge don't use standard gauge,
so
there is very limited scope for their coexistence in model form.
2. 1/76 (OO) scale utilizing S standard gauge track
At the same scale we can also employ HOn3 track to represent 2'6" gauge
and
HOm track for metre gauge. Since it's a popular scale for railway and
military models in the UK, it offers a wide range of commercial
accessories.
However, it has the disadvantage of requiring 73.13% more space than
1/100.
I think some market research, especially in the countries most likely to
be
interested in BG modelling is necessary to choose among these 2 scales.
That's all for the moment
________________________________________________
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From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>
Subject: (no subject)
Date: 22 Mar 1999 08:35:50 -0500
Hello again,
I am compiling a pictorial presentation of unsafe situations in Railways
and how they can lead to accidents. I wish to make this a kind of
propaganda for increasing awareness about safety. I would be very
grateful to all of you who can share pctures taken by you of unsafe
situaions (hazrads) in the railways e.g. people crossing tracks when the
level crossing is clossed, people travelling on footboards and on
rooftops or on engine front tender, cooking inside trains, animals on
tracks, meddling with signals, ...anything which has a visual appeal.
Please can you e mail me jpeg files of these photos. Or, if you know of
any sources where I can find such pictures, I willl be very grateful.
Let us all join hands and make our railways the safest in the world.
...partha
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Dr. S. Parthasarathy Phone: + 49 -531-3913328
I F R A FAX: + 49 -531-3915197
Tech. Univ. Braunschweig
Langer Kamp 8
38106 Braunschweig - GERMANY
e mail : partha@ifra.email
<A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: [Fwd: Indian railways
Date: 22 Mar 1999 09:01:31 -0500
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Karnavati livery
Date: 22 Mar 1999 09:30:44 -0500
Hi folks,
I saw a fairly recent Hindi movie last weekend - Daag. It had a shot
of a WCAM1-hauled train which showed the loco. and the first coach
(luggage van....). This had a cream-blue livery very similar to
Shatabdi - cream above and at windows, blue below windows, one blue
stripe above windows. Could this be the Karnavati Exp.? The only
difference from Shatabdi is that the latter has the blue stripe below
the windows.
Vijay
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: High-speed runs on IR
Date: 22 Mar 1999 10:20:51 -0500
Hi Folks,
Here are the 100 kmph.or more high-speed runs between consecutive
halts.
Train Section Distance Average
Speed
(in km) (in
kmph)
2020 Bokaro Shatabdi Asansol - Durgapur 41 117.14
2954 A. K. Rajdhani Mathura - Kota 324 106.81
2302 Calcutta Rajdhani Mughalsarai - Gaya 204 103.73
2422 Bhubaneswar Raj. Mughalsarai - Gaya 204 103.73
2954 A. K. Rajdhani Vadodara - Bharuch 70 102.44
2001 Bhopal Shatabdi Gwalior - Agra Cantt 119 102
2002 Bhopal Shatabdi N.Delhi - Agra Cantt 195 101.74
Note:
-------
1. It is very easy to maintain 100+ speeds for short sections
especially if no make-up times have been alloted in that section. That
is why the Bokaro Shatabdi is at the top.
2. The most impressive run is that of the A.K. Rajdhani from Mathura to
Kota.
3. The Bhopal Shatabdi's high-speed run is actually between Faridabad
and Agra Cantt - it has a 130/140 booked/max. speed between these
stations. So, if one considers its Faridabad-Agra Cantt run, its
average speed tops the list.
From: Roger G. Morris <>
Subject: Re: DB class 181 and B.G. modelling
Date: 22 Mar 1999 12:20:31 -0500
One thought occurs to me about the discussions about scale and gauge.
Bearing in mind it is really quite easy to change axles (and
consequently the gauge) - UK modellers did it for years in the early
days of EM modelling and, to a lesser degree, P4 - HO might have
significant advantages as a *scale*.
Because of the availability of many US outline diesels the side frame
would be able to be re-used. Without rushing to get out all sorts of
reference books does any one have any thoughts on how the Athearn or the
newer (and superb) Lifelike Proto2000 PA compares with the (say) WDM2
for basic outline and dimensions?
The same might apply with some European electric models - SNCF
prototypes for WAM1 or RENFE prototypes (such as Class 273) for later
Hitachi or Mitsubishi influenced prototypes. Just some thoughts - what
think you all?
--
Roger G. Morris
From: Krishnan Anand <>
Subject: Passenger Friendly Stations - Chennai Egmore...
Date: 22 Mar 1999 18:24:11 -0500
Hi All,
Guess my mails have started becomeing an unknown commodity. So
talking about "user friendly" stations, Chennai Egmore is one very
strange station. U can drive into the station till the door of your
carriage if your train is on platforms 2-3. If it is on 1 then its
already beside the main road and you can enter it without any trouble.
I have always enjoyed train journeys o the M.G from Egmore and i have
always made it a point that we take our car to the station to send off
or to receive people.
Kind regards,
Anand.K
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From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>
Subject: Re: Passenger Friendly Stations - Chennai Egmore...
Date: 22 Mar 1999 20:11:55 -0500
Hi!
One counter observation to what Anand states......
On Mon, 22 Mar 1999, Krishnan Anand wrote:
> So talking about "user friendly" stations, Chennai Egmore is one very
> strange station. U can drive into the station till the door of your
> carriage if your train is on platforms 2-3. If it is on 1 then its
> already beside the main road and you can enter it without any trouble.
> I have always enjoyed train journeys o the M.G from Egmore and i have
> always made it a point that we take our car to the station to send off
> or to receive people.
One wonders if this activity is permitted by Rly. officials. Just
yesterday
one schoolboy was nabbed by TC on Vikhroli Stn. because he was taking
his
bicycle on the platform from nearby crossing. From passengers point of
view
such a facility mentioned by Anand is too good, specially when carrying
lot of luggage.
Shrinivas
From: Nandagopal Gangadharan <>
Subject: Longest running
Date: 22 Mar 1999 21:15:37 -0500
Hi pals,
Can anyone tell me which train on IR covers the longest route length? I
know of a few trains that cover long distances such as the Himsagar
express(K.kumari-Jammu tawi), Bokaro steel city
express(Alleppey-Bokaro), Trivandrum-Guwahati express etc. But which is
the longest-running?
Nandagopal
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From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>
Subject: Longest running!
Date: 22 Mar 1999 22:40:26 -0500
Hi!
Is it Jamnagar-Gawhati?
Shrinivas
From: Deepak Sapra <>
Subject: Longest Train
Date: 22 Mar 1999 23:11:33 -0500
Hi all of you,
A few of the questions that have cropped up-
Himsaagar Express covers the longest dist. viz. 3738 kms from JAT(Jammu
Tawi)-CAPE (Kanioyakumari).
GHY (Guwahati)-TVC(Trivandrum) exp. is the second longest train,
although in terms of time /real time , that is), and it is the nearest
we in India can come to the Trans Siberian Railway (Moscow to
Vladivostok- 10 nights and 9 days). It is said that there are
celebrations whenever the GHY-TVC Exp is less than a day late. I have
myself travelled by that train , once, from GHY to HWH (Howrah), in
which it managed to lose 9 hrs from schedule.
Talking of user-friendly stations, MS (code for Chennai Egmore) is quite
user-friendly as far as the platforms go. And people being generally
more disciplined than in other parts of India, it is not much of a
nuisance. Other big stations where you can drive in very near to the
train are CSTM and HWH.
And about the food available at Stations, which all do you find good.
Personally, SBC (Bangalore) and ADI (Ahmedabad) are my favourites, I
have seen people from the city come to these stations to "eat out", even
when they had no train business.
Thats all for now,
Bye and regards,
Deepak
>From: "Nandagopal Gangadharan" <nandagopalg@hotmail.email
>To: irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Longest running
>Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 21:15:37 PST
>
>Hi pals,
>
>Can anyone tell me which train on IR covers the longest route length? I
>know of a few trains that cover long distances such as the Himsagar
>express(K.kumari-Jammu tawi), Bokaro steel city
>express(Alleppey-Bokaro), Trivandrum-Guwahati express etc. But which is
>the longest-running?
>
>Nandagopal
>
>Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>
>
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From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Sideframes (was Re: DB class 181 and B.G. modelling)
Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:05:21 -0500
> Without rushing to get out all sorts of
> reference books does any one have any thoughts on how the Athearn or
the
> newer (and superb) Lifelike Proto2000 PA compares with the (say) WDM2
> for basic outline and dimensions?
>
I'd like to propose it as an activity of IRFCA that we collect photos of
the sideframes
from representative classes of IR locos.
Anybody who has photos of sideframes of Indian locomotives, please let
me know -
I'd like to create a web page with the same.
From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: food at stations (was Re: Longest Train)
Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:08:20 -0500
> And about the food available at Stations, which all do you find good.
> Personally, SBC (Bangalore) and ADI (Ahmedabad) are my favourites, I
> have seen people from the city come to these stations to "eat out",
even
> when they had no train business.
>
I'm often sick when in India, and have found the little cups of
soft serve ice cream that are commonly sold by hawkers at the
stations are something I can always get down.
I once went from Delhi to Kanyakumari virtually existing on these
and an occasional egg sandwich.