IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 8801 - 8820
From: Anurag Acharya <>
Subject: [IRFCA
Date: 29 Sep 1999 07:28:14 -0500
Folks: sorry about the hassles. There was a major outage at Univ of
Maryland that took most of the disks offline. Things should be back to
normal. Please send me mail if you are still having problems.
anurag
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: Trains and names...
Date: 29 Sep 1999 08:27:50 -0500
> > Secunderabad-Mudkhed Ajanta Exp.
> > restricted version of the Manmad-Kacheguda Ajanta Exp. which used
to
> pass
> > through Aurangabad, a railhead for the Ajanta caves.
>
> Actually this BG train can come all the way to Aurangabad or even upto
> Manmad,
> but chooses to terminate at Mudkhed. Lack of traffic I guess.
>
It is an MG train and that is why it has been forced to terminate at
Mudkhed
itself. Manmad-Mudkhed is now BG.
Vijay
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: More IR links
Date: 29 Sep 1999 09:54:48 -0500
> I have clicked a Green YDM shunting rakes at Mysore.
Viffy,
Do you remember the white and red Guntakal YDM 4 we footplated from
Tadwal to Solapur
(MG) ? We did a lot of footplating on that trip.
Sidheswar Exp Kurduwadi - Solapur (WDM 2)
Made it on the footplate of the WDM 2 powering the 6010 Up (got thrown
out by some
official at the last minute)
YP from Hotgi to Solapur (MG)
YP from Solapur (MG) to Tadwal
YDM 4 from Tadwal to Solapur (MG)
WDM 2 from Solapur to Daund (was in 82 Up or was it 10 Up ? doesn't
matter in the
footplate !)
Got booted out of the footplate between Daund and Pune by the new driver
in charge.
Viraf footplated in the rear footplate of a WCM 5 to Dadar by the next
train to Mumbai
(Hussein Sagar Exp ?)
We got a WDM 2 jumbo on all the BG trips. Siddheswar was long hood
leading while the
SUR - DD was short hood leading. The trip from Solapur to Daund was
magical. The
Goanese mail/express driver shut off all the cab lamps and we travelled
in pitch
darkness most of the distance. Tired as we were, we snoozed with our
arms resting on
the control stand.
But we had a lot of fun.
Apurva
From: Anand Krishnan <>
Subject: Some train names explained (6xxx and 7xxx)
Date: 29 Sep 1999 11:00:21 -0500
Hi all,
I got back my mail twice till now. I amgettignthe same problem
Harsh
reported yesterday. In any case ..........
> Chennai-Jolarpettai Yelagiri Exp. ??
Around 50-60 km from Jolarpettai there is small hill station
surrounding the Yelagiri hill range. Thats why the train has this name.
It
is quite known for the trekking facilities i heard.
>Chennai-Tirunelveli Nellai Exp. Nellu = paddy (in Tamil). Something to
do
>with that?
Just as Coimbatore is called "Kovai" in Tamil or Ooty called "Udhagai",
Tirunelveli is called "Nellai" in Tamil
>Chennai-Karaikkudi/Nagore Kamban Exp. Kamban temple?
Actually this is just to glorify Kamban the great poet. Also this train
is
via the main line passing thru Tanjavur-Kumbakonam and the birth place
of
Kamban (called Therezhundur) is very near.
>Shoranur-Trivandrum Venad Exp. ??
there is a place called Vynad near Shoranur, which is intense wth
thich vegetation. Probably the name is derived from it.
>Bangalore-Miraj Chennamma Exp. ??
It is Rani Chennamma. In my previous mail on Trains and Goddesses i had
mentioned this train. I guess there was some pseudo-Rani Jhansi
character
who lived here.
>Hubli/Nanded-Bangalore Hampi Exp. ?? At Guntakal, a portion of this
train
>gets detached and goes to >Nanded via Raichur, Halakatta, Vikrabad,
Bidar,
>Parli Vaijnath, Parbhani, >Purna. Earlier this link exp. used to
terminate
>at Bidar itself.
The Hampi ruins are supposed to be a marvel
> Kurla-Ernakulam Netravati Exp. Netravati is a temple?
Netravati is a river just outside Mangalore. There is a BIG brigde
across
this river where it meets the sea.
>Chennai-Erode Yercaud Exp. ??
Yercaud is a popular hill station 60km from Salem.
7xxx trains
----------------
>Tenali-Secunderabad Nagarjuna Exp. ??
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is 30km from Nalgonda which is on the route and also
a
popular tourist attraction. It is an important water resource for
Andhra.
>Chennai-Kakinada Circar Exp. ??
Somthing to do with the Nizam rulers/Chalukyas ??
>Guntur-Visakhapatnam Simhadri Exp. ??
The name of the hill at Simhachalam is called Simhadri. In Sanskrit i
beleive "adri" means hill.
> Tirupati-Secunderabad Narayanadri Exp. ??
Each of the seven hills has a name in Tirumala. Rishabadri,
Narayanadri,Garudadri,Anjanadri,Hemadri,and 2 more which i do not
remember.
>Hyderabad-Tirupati Rayalaseema Exp. after the Rayalaseema region -
around
>Tirupati?
Perfect !!!
>Tirupati-Visakhapatnam Tirumala Exp. Tirumala refers to the
Venkateswara
>temple at Tirupati?
BINGO
>Kacheguda-Tirupati Venkatadri Exp. ??
Venkata(lord Venkateshwara)+adri = Venkatadri......its getting simpler
and
easier......is'nt it ??
>Palasa-Kacheguda Visakha Exp. what does Visakha refer to? Obviously,
>Visakhapatnam is named after >that.
Yes it is basically derived from the name Vishakapatnam. Vishaka also is
a
month in the Telugu calendar i hear. So this train could have also
started
in that month or Vishakapatnam could have got this name in a similar
fashion
?
Kind regards,
Anand
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From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: A few more IR links
Date: 29 Sep 1999 13:19:11 -0500
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/IndRly/">http://members.tripod.com/IndRly/</A>
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/indiaship/news/railways/">http://members.tripod.com/indiaship/news/railways/</A>
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/AmitabhD/rail.htm">http://members.tripod.com/AmitabhD/rail.htm</A>
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/AashishG/rcf1.htm">http://members.tripod.com/AashishG/rcf1.htm</A>
From: John Lacey <>
Subject: new web site
Date: 29 Sep 1999 16:55:59 -0500
Thanks to the kind efforts of S.Shankar, who laboured to overcome the
shortcomings of my scanning attempts, my web site now has 20 images of
IR.
They can be found at:
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Bay/7942/steam_masala.htm">http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Bay/7942/steam_masala.htm</A>
John Lacey
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: Re: More IR links
Date: 29 Sep 1999 19:23:46 -0500
Appu,
Yes dear I do remember the GREAT TIME we had on this trip. I have a
picture of us with the driver of YDM4 in the cab. Lets have a repeat
performance.
Viraf.
>
> Viffy,
>
> Do you remember the white and red Guntakal YDM 4 we footplated from
Tadwal to Solapur
> (MG) ? We did a lot of footplating on that trip.
>
> Sidheswar Exp Kurduwadi - Solapur (WDM 2)
> Made it on the footplate of the WDM 2 powering the 6010 Up (got thrown
out by some
> official at the last minute)
> YP from Hotgi to Solapur (MG)
> YP from Solapur (MG) to Tadwal
> YDM 4 from Tadwal to Solapur (MG)
> WDM 2 from Solapur to Daund (was in 82 Up or was it 10 Up ? doesn't
matter in the
> footplate !)
> Got booted out of the footplate between Daund and Pune by the new
driver in charge.
> Viraf footplated in the rear footplate of a WCM 5 to Dadar by the next
train to Mumbai
> (Hussein Sagar Exp ?)
>
> We got a WDM 2 jumbo on all the BG trips. Siddheswar was long hood
leading while the
> SUR - DD was short hood leading. The trip from Solapur to Daund was
magical. The
> Goanese mail/express driver shut off all the cab lamps and we
travelled in pitch
> darkness most of the distance. Tired as we were, we snoozed with our
arms resting on
> the control stand.
> But we had a lot of fun.
>
> Apurva
>
>
==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrej.email
==========================
From: Tim & Anita Wakeman <>
Subject: rail photos
Date: 29 Sep 1999 20:41:51 -0500
Hello all,
You may or may not be interested in these. I thought I would share some
of my photography that I had posted for other "list". They are all of US
railroads but the first couple are of Alco C420s which were the design
used for ?WDM/YDM2?.
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092335201838.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092335201838.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0918003721504.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0918003721504.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0923203224248.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0923203224248.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0923301729191.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0923301729191.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0920413019553.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0920413019553.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092024491036.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092024491036.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092017427052.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092017427052.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg091750178950.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg091750178950.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg091744597251.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg091744597251.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0916315424040.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0916315424040.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0917551910495.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0917551910495.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0918384526598.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0918384526598.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092251056320.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg092251056320.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0810234229313.jpg">http://www.railroad.net/forums/photo/msg0810234229313.jpg</A>
Hope you enjoy them!
Regards, Tim
From: Tim & Anita Wakeman <>
Subject: Re: new web site
Date: 29 Sep 1999 21:01:32 -0500
VERY,VERY NICE John! The one at Lucknow Jct. looks just like the cover
of a popular children book, The Polar Express. Speaking of books, when
is YOURS coming out! This is great stuff gang...don't miss it. Wish I
had seen the IR this way.
Regards, Tim
John Lacey wrote:
>
> Thanks to the kind efforts of S.Shankar, who laboured to overcome the
> shortcomings of my scanning attempts, my web site now has 20 images of
> IR.
> They can be found at:
> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Bay/7942/steam_masala.htm">http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Bay/7942/steam_masala.htm</A>
>
> John Lacey
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: Re: Park Trains
Date: 30 Sep 1999 02:56:28 -0500
> Viraf
> Do you know where the steam loco is nowadays and in what
> condition?!!? I recall it being a 15" gauge. Isn't it?
>
> Harsh
Hello Harsh,
The steam loco has been converted to diesel. I have a newspaper cutting
about it somewhere in my archives.
When in Baroda, the person incharge of the train did complained that
whenever the steam loco would konk out (which was very common)they had
to
request and depend on the Indian Railways to carry on the repairs.
About the gauge I'll have to refer my books.
BTW did you enjoy your trip to Calcutta?
Regards
Viraf
From: S.SRINIVAS <>
Subject: Re: Interesting info. from NR working TT
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:09:06 -0500
dear vijay
there is never any need to lower the panto and raise it again
while the train is running. even when the ac-dc switchover
is done at a point just north of virar, the panto continues
to be in contact with the ohe.
i would like to know if any railfan member has ever seen
the panto being lowered and raised while the loco was
in motion.
Vijay Balasubramanian wrote:
> >
> Thanks for anwering my questions, Srinivas. This is good stuff. I
have
> always been interesting in electric traction - a while back I had
acquired a
> good book named Electric Traction by B.H. Partab. Continuing on with
the
> discussion, in case of emergency failure of the AC mains power and
> subsequent bridging of two neighboring OHE sections (across the common
> neutral section) so that they now have the same phase, why should the
panto
> be lowered and raised? Why not just shut off power to the traction
motors
> and turn it back on? As far as I know, the same panto is going to be
used
> on both the sections.
>
> Vijay
From: S.SRINIVAS <>
Subject: third attempt at sending mail
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:10:18 -0500
hopefully by now all is well and hope that u all get this message.
regards S. SRINIVAS
Mail Delivery Subsystem wrote:
> hello vijay
>
> U WILL SURELY AGREE THAT CST TO PANVEL
> RUN IS A PRETTY SHORT RUN.
> NO POINT IN WASTING TIME FOR
> A POWER CHANGE AT PANVEL.
> MOREOVER, U WOULD NEED TO
> CREATE FACILITIES FOR LOCO SHED &
> SERVICE ETC. (BOTH ELECTRIC AND FOR WDM'S)
> AT PANVEL. NOT TO SPEAK OF CREW CHANGE /
> REST ROOMS ETC.
>
> LOGICAL COURSE OF WAY WILL BE TO
> ELECTRIFY THE KR.
>
> REGARDS.
>
> S. SRINIVAS
>
> Vijay Balasubramanian wrote:
>
> > > Diva Panvel is doubled and electrified - this has been the case
for a year
> > > now.
> > > Catenaries are AC - which means that the change from DC to AC
later can be
> > > easily facilitated here.
> > > No EMU services on this line yet. DMU trains upto Roha (as per tt)
> > > operative.
> > > The DMU composition is not the normal way (with engine in the
centre),
> > > rather the engine heading the train
> > >
> > > Rajan
> > >
> > Do the traction masts look similar to the ones on regular AC
section? At
> > present,
> > is there a way for WCAMx locos. to change between AC and DC, on the
fly,
> > near Diva?
> > If so, then KR trains from Mumbai/Dadar/Kurla could be hauled by,
say, WCAM3
> > till Panvel
> > and then a WDM2/7 could take over.
> >
> > Vijay
From: Pradip613 <>
Subject: Re: Park Trains
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:40:59 -0500
In a message dated 9/30/99 2:51:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Viraf
writes :
The steam loco has been converted to diesel. I have a newspaper cutting
about it somewhere in my archives.
Question : How is a steam loco converted to diesel? What does it look
like
after the conversion?
Pradip Rao
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: KR electrification
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:45:06 -0500
Dear Srinivas and gang,
KR being a single line section - it does look doubtful. I wonder how
many
non-freight / non-mining sections are electrified while still single
line. I
suppose most the electrified sections are doubled. Gang, anybody with a
ready
list of elec.single lines.
Regards
Raymond
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: Re: Trains and names...
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:46:31 -0500
Viraf,
Bangalore is THE Garden City, so Udyan Express.
Raymond
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: Re: Few explanations was Re: Trains and names...
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:53:07 -0500
Anand,
Rani Chennamma was indeed a Rani Laxmibai type of warrior queen, from
Kittur, as
someone mentioned on this list.
Hampi ruins are close to Hospet. The Hampi Express' one terminus was
Hospet,
before the Hospet - Hobli section was converted from MG to BG, and the
train
extended.
Visakha Express was basically another parallel train to the Godavari
Express. It
used to run Secunderabad to Visakhapatnam, before our friendly
neighbourhood
politician pulled it to Palasa. I wonder how many one-horse towns (read
"one
train terminus") there are in IR - anyone have a list of these? Can you
believe
putting up a whole train wash yard for one train.
Regards
Raymond
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: Re: Trains and names...
Date: 30 Sep 1999 08:54:52 -0500
Apurva,
I believe the railhead for Ellora is Jalgaon. Ajanta is close to
Aurangabad, but
Ellora is around 100 kms.away.
Regards
Raymond
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Interesting info. from NR working TT
Date: 30 Sep 1999 10:37:00 -0500
"S.SRINIVAS" wrote:
> dear vijay
>
> there is never any need to lower the panto and raise it again
> while the train is running. even when the ac-dc switchover
> is done at a point just north of virar, the panto continues
> to be in contact with the ohe.
>
> i would like to know if any railfan member has ever seen
> the panto being lowered and raised while the loco was
> in motion.
The WCAM 1s and 2s have to switch the pantos while on the run. One panto
has 2
collector bars for the low voltage (and heavy current section) while the
other has a
single bar for 25 KVAC. So the loco has to lower one panto and raise the
other while
on the run. I have seen both the transitions in Jan. Viraf and the
Mumbai gang see
this every time they travel in this section.
Apurva
>
>
> Vijay Balasubramanian wrote:
>
> > >
> > Thanks for anwering my questions, Srinivas. This is good stuff. I
have
> > always been interesting in electric traction - a while back I had
acquired a
> > good book named Electric Traction by B.H. Partab. Continuing on
with the
> > discussion, in case of emergency failure of the AC mains power and
> > subsequent bridging of two neighboring OHE sections (across the
common
> > neutral section) so that they now have the same phase, why should
the panto
> > be lowered and raised? Why not just shut off power to the traction
motors
> > and turn it back on? As far as I know, the same panto is going to
be used
> > on both the sections.
> >
> > Vijay
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: New Jhelum Express rake
Date: 30 Sep 1999 11:28:06 -0500
Hi Gang !
Just been to the Pune Jn. for a morning with the Yard master. There
were a number of
pending questions for him and others - the zebra stripes on the GS
coach, the electric
supply in the AC coaches, mechanism of dual braked coaches. No, I do not
have any
authentic answers yet. But will have in a few days.
I did see the dark blue with light blue stripe at the windows rake of
the Jhelum
express. This is not even a week old. Personally I find the colour a tad
too garish.
The entire rake 2nd class, AC 2 sleeper, AC 3 sleeper sport this uniform
scheme. Maybe
RCF Kapurthala have just had a change of policy regarding 'standard'
liveries. But
this rake is not the livery shown in the Ghaisal picture. The Jhelum
rake was being
shunted to clear the line for the incoming Deccan Express rake with a
foreign
(Kazipet) WDM 2. As I stood by the slowly moving rake, I could see that
the brake
blocks on the air braked system are quite smart in operation, the brake
material is
no longer the cast iron item, instead they are a branded item. The
application and the
release of the brakes is quite distinct.
Pune Jn was busy today. Daund / Baramati passenger on pf1, Lonavala
local on pf 2,
Udyan Express on pf 3, Udyan express on pf 4, 328 Up Wadi passenger rake
on pf 5, pf 6
and 7 vacant. I can quite see that Pune Jn has NO scope for expansion.
This is the
reason that Ahimsa cannot be a daily train, nor can the PA - ERS weekly
started in a
hurry. Where will you stable the rakes ?
I was told that the pf 1 cannot hold a rake towards Daund, that is wrong
info. It
cannot hold a mail/express rake of 17 coaches. The point to switch to
the SE main road
is just at the end of pf 1 and the beginning of pf 7, so only a 10 coach
rake can be
held on the pf 1 towards Daund.
I also had a stroll in the carriage and wagon works area to locate the
people who
could answer the 'zebra stripes' and the 'supply in the AC coach'
question but could
not locate them. Pune has two 'sick' passenger lines, two washing
sidings and two EMU
holding lines near the DC loco shed.
One senior person told us that the zebra stripes are GS coaches being
converted to
sleeper class, and hence the marking. We immediately checked whether
this was true in
a marked coach in the Udyan rake that was standing in front and it
turned out to be a
standard GS coach (it was a RMS coach). So there has to be some other
explanation.
Apurva
From: Tim & Anita Wakeman <>
Subject: Re: rail photos
Date: 30 Sep 1999 16:49:07 -0500
Shanku Niyogi wrote:
>
> The C420 and WDM2 are indeed similar, but the former is a Bo-Bo, isn't
it?
> Was there a Co-Co design similar to the C420?
>
> Shanku
Shanku,
I'm not sure what you mean by "Bo-Bo & Co-Co" is this in reference to
the wheel arraingments? If so Alco/MLW used the #4 and 6 for this
classification. A C420 has 4 axles and a B-B truck when they started the
"Century" series. There was no "C620".
There was a C628 with a C-C trucks. And many others I could get into.
What suprises me is that as many Americans that loved the Alco product
don't realize just how many desendents still exsist throughout the
world. Espessially in India! The railfans here are very naive about the
rail systems in the rest of the world, and some don't even care.
Tim