IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 1501 - 1520

From: S. Kumar <kumar@qm.email

Subject: Re: Query

Date: 04 Apr 1996 18:07:00 -0500


> From: apte@spdc.email (Pushkar Apte)
> Subject: Query
> To: irfca@CS.email (IRFCA)
> Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 15:57:05 -0600 (CST)
> Cc: apte@spdc.email (Pushkar Apte)

>
> What the status of trains currently running on the
> Mumbai-Pune-Belgaum-Hubli-Bangalore route? I believe it is all BG now
> - so are there any direct Mumbai-Bangalore trains on this route?
> If some one has this information, could you please post? Thanks.

According to the July 1995 trains-at-a-glance there are no trains
between Mumbai and B'lore via Hubli. However, there is a BG
Miraj-B'lore express (dep Miraj 15:35 arr B'lore City 08:25; dep
B'lore City 20:30 arr Miraj 13:20). There is also the Hubli-B'lore
City Shatabdi stopping at Davangere and Birur (dep Hubli 06:30 arr
B'lore 14:00; dep B'lore 15:30 arr Hubli 23:00). Distance between
Miraj and B'lore City is 729 km whereas that between Hubli and B'lore
City is 469 km.

Kumar

From: Pushkar Apte <apte@spdc.email

Subject: Goa Shatabdi?

Date: 04 Apr 1996 07:13:00 -0500


> NEW LUXURY TRAIN ON KONKAN RAILWAY
> A new luxury train service is to be introduced on the Konkan Railway line
> between Mumbai and Goa that will reduce travel to only six hours.

The Shatabdi?

Regards,
Pushkar
-------

From: Arun Marar <marar@dragon.email

Subject:

Date: 10 Apr 1996 10:06:00 -0500


Hi Guys,

I am a new entrant to this list and I am already excited about the information
that is being exchanged. I am very much interested in the level of technology
at Indian Railways in terms of optimization of locomotives and other resources
like crew and flatcars. At Princeton Univ, I am working on a locomotive
scheduling project with Norfolk Southern Company, a 100% freight company and
they do all the dispatching of locomotives manually and any repositioning of
locomotives is done based on experience. We are trying to develop a model that
will help them optimally assign locomotives even when the data changes
dynamically.

What makes this problem unique is the "consist" or a set of locmotives on a
train unlike, trucking where you have a driver and a load. I remember talking
to someone in Indian Railways and he said that normally each train has only one
locomotive. I would appreciate if anyone can give me some information on the
calibre of data on both freight and passenger movement in Indian Railways. I
tried sending letters to some people, but have drawn a complete blank.Any
contact addresses would be helpful.

Any idea as to the turnover of Indian Railways in billions of dollars from both
passenger and freight movement? NS is a $5 billion company with net profits of
$750 million with a staggering cash surplus ( I guess it is the oligopoly).

Thanks
Arun

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARUN MARAR
Research Engineer
+~~ +~~ +~~ +~~
CASTLE Laboratory | | | |
Civil Engineering & Operations Research(CEOR)+----+ +----+
Princeton University | | | |
Princeton, NJ 08544 USA | | | |
| | | |
Phone: 1 (609) 258-2161 | +---------+ |
Phone: 1 (609) 258-3839 | |
FAX: 1 (609) 258-1270 | |
E-mail: marar@dragon.email | |
| |
WWW: <A HREF="http://dragon.princeton.edu">http://dragon.princeton.edu</A> | CASTLE |
| |
Computational And Stochastic Transportation | |
Logistics Engineering Laboratory +-------------------+
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email

Subject: Re: Query

Date: 10 Apr 1996 11:56:00 -0500


Regarding the Shatabdi exp:

Kumar writes:
> According to the July 1995 trains-at-a-glance there are no trains
> between Mumbai and B'lore via Hubli. However, there is a BG
> Miraj-B'lore express (dep Miraj 15:35 arr B'lore City 08:25; dep
> B'lore City 20:30 arr Miraj 13:20). There is also the Hubli-B'lore
> City Shatabdi stopping at Davangere and Birur (dep Hubli 06:30 arr
> B'lore 14:00; dep B'lore 15:30 arr Hubli 23:00). Distance between
> Miraj and B'lore City is 729 km whereas that between Hubli and B'lore
> City is 469 km.
>
>
The Dec. 1995 Bradshaw time-table shows that the Hubli-Bangalore Shatabdi
Exp. halts only at Davangere and not at Birur. I have a feeling that the
Kurla - Bangalore Exp. would be re-routed via Miraj-Hubli. In addition, one
can expect a train from Ahmedabad and one from Delhi to Bangalore via this
route. At present, the Nizamuddin - Castle Rock Goa Exp. is the only train
to run through Miraj (halts there, of course).

I am hoping for a Bombay - Bangalore superfast Exp. (halts:- Pune, Miraj,
Belgaum, Hubli, Birur)


Will post some interesting stuff from the Dec. 1995 Bradshaw. Here's
something off the top of my head:-

- The Varanasi - Tirupati/Cochin Exps. and the Kanpur - Gorakhpur Chauri Chaura
Exp. use the recently converted Allahabad City - Varanasi route.

- The Howrah - Jodhpur Exp. is a pretty decent train. Halts:- Asansol, Dhanbad, Parasnath, Gaya, Mughal Sarai, Allahabad, Kanpur Central, (Tundla - technical
halt only), Agra Fort, Sawai Madhopur, .............

- The Madras - Coimbatore Shatabdi Exp. halts at Salem, Erode and Tiruppur.


More later,

Vijay

From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email

Subject:

Date: 10 Apr 1996 14:15:00 -0500


Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 "Arun Marar"@dragon.email (2379*)

> What makes this problem unique is the "consist" or a set of locmotives on a
> train unlike, trucking where you have a driver and a load. I remember talking
> to someone in Indian Railways and he said that normally each train has only one
> locomotive. I would appreciate if anyone can give me some information on the
> calibre of data on both freight and passenger movement in Indian Railways. I
> tried sending letters to some people, but have drawn a complete blank.Any
> contact addresses would be helpful.

The fact that each train has associated with it a set of locomotives,
the contents of which is determined by both the HP/tractive effort
requirement for the train to traverse a specific route, and the
availability of specific types of locomotives indeed probably makes this
problem equivalent to the well known knapsack problem (I think) and
hence NP complete. I would be very curious to learn what heuristics you
come up with to produce reasonable sub-optimal solutions.

As for multi-locomotive operations on IR, it is uncommon but not unheard
of, booth in passenger and freight operations. For example the New Delhi
- Howrah Rajdhani via Main Line always gets two WDM-2As between Mughal
Sarai and Howrah. There a unit coal or ore train operations that
regularly get two locomotives. But it is indeed very uncommon to find
more than two locomotives on a train on IR. Unfortunately I can't think
of anywhere to get definitive data on this matter. Maybe someone on this
list has an uncle or someone working for IR?

Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 "Arun Marar"@dragon.email (2379*)

> Any idea as to the turnover of Indian Railways in billions of dollars from both
> passenger and freight movement? NS is a $5 billion company with net profits of
> $750 million with a staggering cash surplus ( I guess it is the oligopoly).

I have the numbers for 1994 from the Indian Railways Year-Book. I will
try to dig it up and post it.

Jishnu.


==================================================================
Jishnu Mukerji

Rm. D-283 Email: jis@fpk.email
Hewlett-Packard Company
New Jersey Laboratories Phone: +1 201 443 7528
P. O. Box 949 Fax: +1 201 443 7602
180 Park Avenue, Bldg 103
Florham Park, NJ 07932-9998
U. S. A.
==================================================================

From: R. Anand <anand@watson.email

Subject: Re: Query

Date: 10 Apr 1996 15:12:00 -0500


In message <199604101805.OAA01981@eli.email write:
>
> I am hoping for a Bombay - Bangalore superfast Exp. (halts:- Pune, Miraj,
>Belgaum, Hubli, Birur)
>

I am not sure about this one. I saw the BG conversion in progress
during my visit to the Bangalore area in 1993. They appaered to be
mainly using the old MG roadbed. As you might guess, the curves seemed
to be quite sharp. I wonder if the relatively tight MG curves are eased
during these gauge conversions. Otherwise, top speeds may have to be
restricted.

Anand
anand@watson.email
rxanand@ix.email

From: R. Anand <anand@watson.email

Subject: Re:

Date: 10 Apr 1996 16:18:00 -0500


In message <klOzem4DGLZQ00k7En@fpk.email write:
>
>As for multi-locomotive operations on IR, it is uncommon but not unheard
>of, booth in passenger and freight operations. For example the New Delhi
>- Howrah Rajdhani via Main Line always gets two WDM-2As between Mughal

Double heading (with WDM2s) was *very* common on the Delhi-Madras route
until it was electrified. I recall that they had moved to doubleheading
the TN express back in 1981 or 1982 (the train was lengthened to 24
carriages).

Anand
rxanand@ix.email
anand@watson.email

From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email

Subject: Re: Double heading etc.

Date: 10 Apr 1996 17:31:00 -0500


Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 Re: "R. Anand"@watson.email (553*)

> In message <klOzem4DGLZQ00k7En@fpk.email write:
> >
> >As for multi-locomotive operations on IR, it is uncommon but not unheard
> >of, booth in passenger and freight operations. For example the New Delhi
> >- Howrah Rajdhani via Main Line always gets two WDM-2As between Mughal

> Double heading (with WDM2s) was *very* common on the Delhi-Madras route
> until it was electrified. I recall that they had moved to doubleheading
> the TN express back in 1981 or 1982 (the train was lengthened to 24
> carriages).

I have recently acquired a book named "No Problem Sahib" which contains
spectacular photographs of scenes from various parts of the Indian
Railways. This book contains a beautiful picture of a very long Kerala
Express double headed by two WDM2s thundering through Hazarat Nizamuddin
Station.

But what is truly special about this book are the numerous photographs
of the magnificant WP1s, a locomotive that I will miss a lot. I still
remember vividly the scene of 81 up Air-Conditioned Express thundering
through Koderma behind a WP1 painted to match the color of the then new
color scheme of the AC express. Oh what a sight (and sound)..... Those
were the days.

Jishnu.
==================================================================
Jishnu Mukerji

Rm. D-283 Email: jis@fpk.email
Hewlett-Packard Company
New Jersey Laboratories Phone: +1 201 443 7528
P. O. Box 949 Fax: +1 201 443 7602
180 Park Avenue, Bldg 103
Florham Park, NJ 07932-9998
U. S. A.
==================================================================

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@iitk.email

Subject: Railway Information System.

Date: 11 Apr 1996 23:08:00 -0500


Hi Guys,
If you remember, I had sent a mail last year asking for information
on software which will tell me the trains from place A to place B. It
seemed that there was no public-domain software for that. I had
asked a student to develop the software for Indian Railways as his
final-year project.

We have the software ready. And it does amazing number of things.
It can, of course, find out whether there is a train between two
stations. It also has information that certain stations are close
to each other (like VT, Dadar and BCT), and if one asks for train
from VT, it will also tell you about trains from other stations.
It lets you type part of the station name as long as it is unique,
some misspellings are taken care of, you can type the station code,
instead of full name, etc. It will also tell you connecting trains,
if there are no direct ones, or if a connection takes more or less
same time as direct train. We have complete database of last year's
``trains at a glance,'' which is searched by this software. It can
give you information on specific stations (about all trains that
pass through it), or about specific trains (all stops, etc.)
It has knowledge about specific days on which a train might run.
It also has information about distances, etc.
It has several other features as well.

But like any other student project, it has several limitations.
One, it runs only on HP_UX right now. Second, its user-interface
is terminal-based, and we can only ask simple queries, though
the software is written in a way that more complicated queries
are trivial to support. Third, we do not have a complete database
of station codes. Fourth, the errors are sometimes not handled
gracefully. Fifth, there are errors in data-entry, and we need
some mechanism that software guesses errors at the time of
data-entry.

I floated this project again this year, so that we can change
it to take care of problems. But none of the students seem
interested, since bulk of "interesting" stuff (like design of
algorithms and data structures) is already complete. This is
something that I don't want to give up so easily. And I am
looking at possible industry sponsorship of the project, so
that I can hire a student to clean it up.

I have written to several persons in Indian Railways hierarchy,
but no replies so far. Can you suggest any company who might be
interested in supporting this activity.

-dheeraj

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: "India, No problem Sahib !"

Date: 11 Apr 1996 17:43:00 -0500


Try either Motor Books off Charing Cross Road in London, or the
Continental Railway Circle whose address I have given before. You realise
this is a picture book. Julian

On Wed, 10 Apr 1996, AUROPREM KANDASWAMI wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I am planning to visit India this summer. I want to get this
> much-talked about book "at any cost". So, if someone who recently
> acquired this treasure, could just post the name and address of the
> book store, where he luckily spot it, that would be a great help
> that he would be rendering to a fellow IR fan.

From: Jairaj, Vinod <vjairaj@blue.email

Subject: Re: Double heading etc.

Date: 11 Apr 1996 06:48:00 -0500


HI!
Brindavan express between Madras and Bangalore City used to be
double headed between Bangalore City and Jolarpettai, till 1992, when the
entire route was electrified. If I remember right, the Bangalore-Bombay
Udyan Express is double headed between Bangalore and ??
Vinod

From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email

Subject: Re: "India, No problem Sahib !"

Date: 11 Apr 1996 11:03:00 -0500


Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 11-Apr-96 Re: "India, No problem Sahi..
"J.J. Rainbow"@newcastle (805*)

> Try either Motor Books off Charing Cross Road in London, or the
> Continental Railway Circle whose address I have given before. You realise
> this is a picture book. Julian

Motor Books is where I got it in November 1995. However, I visited the
Motor Books again last week, and they did not have any more copies of
it. They said they will be able to order it for someone if they were so
requested.

BTW, another set of interesting books on Indian Railways that I had seen
at Motor Books in the past (sometime last year), but they don't have
them any more, are the first three volumes of the four volume work on
Indian Railways Locomotives. They had the first three volumes - Broad,
Meter, and Narrow gauge upto 1947 (when they had it). Unfortunately, I
did not buy them then since I had no space left in my baggage to carry
them back. Fortunately, I found them at the Railway Souvenirs shop at
South Brisbane station in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in early
March, and picked them up promptly.

Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 Re: "India, No problem Sahi..
AUROPREM KANDASWAMI @ix. (545*)

> PS : Does anyone have a close guess as to who will be the next,
> lucky Railway Mantriji (Railway Cabinet Minister) in the
> new Lok Sabha ?

> Probably, Shri. Suresh Kalmadi .. ?

Talking to some of my IR employee friends I get the impression that they
seem to like Mr. Kalamadi much more than his immediate predecessor.

Jishnu.


==================================================================
Jishnu Mukerji

Rm. D-283 Email: jis@fpk.email
Hewlett-Packard Company
New Jersey Laboratories Phone: +1 201 443 7528
P. O. Box 949 Fax: +1 201 443 7602
180 Park Avenue, Bldg 103
Florham Park, NJ 07932-9998
U. S. A.
==================================================================

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@iitk.email

Subject: next railway minister

Date: 12 Apr 1996 09:30:00 -0500


> PS : Does anyone have a close guess as to who will be the next,
> lucky Railway Mantriji (Railway Cabinet Minister) in the
> new Lok Sabha ?

> Probably, Shri. Suresh Kalmadi .. ?

Well, that sort of assumes that Cong-I will get absolute majority on
its own, an assumption challenged by all the media polls so far.
In case Cong-I needs support from other parties, one never knows
what kind of negotiations will go on.

-dheeraj

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email

Subject: Re: Double heading etc.

Date: 11 Apr 1996 10:08:00 -0500


Vinod writes:
> HI!
> Brindavan express between Madras and Bangalore City used to be
> double headed between Bangalore City and Jolarpettai, till 1992, when the
> entire route was electrified. If I remember right, the Bangalore-Bombay
> Udyan Express is double headed between Bangalore and ??
> Vinod
>
It is double-headed between Solapur and Bangalore. Four coaches get attached
at Solapur bound for Bangalore. As Anand pointed out, there used to be
quite a few double-headed trains before the electrification of Delhi-Madras
viz. GT, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka and AP Exps. (21 coaches). In addition, both the Rajdhani Exps. from Bombay as well as the Ahmedabad Shatabdi Exp.
were being hauled by two WDM2As (high-gearing) when I visited India last
summer. The last time I spotted the Shatabdi Exp., a WCAM-1 was being
employed much to my surprise since they cannot go beyond 105 mkph. With
the introduction of the WCAM-2 (120 kmph. max), I have a feeling that
the the twin WDM2-unit (for the Bombay Rajdhanis and Shatabdi)
has been replaced by a single WCAM-2. In fact, a
friend of mine from India indicated that he spotted the Frontier Mail
headed by a WCAM2.

I also saw quite a few freight trains hauled by multiple WDM2s. In fact,
shortage of WCG2s in the DC electrified sections has resulted in the
employment of twin WDM2 units to haul freight trains.

According to the Dec. 1995 IR issue, Indian Railways are actively phasing
out First Class coaches from various trains (the replacement being the
AC 3-tier) such as Frontier Mail, Ratnagiri Exp., Chennai Exp., etc.


Regards,

Vijay

From: Pushkar Apte <apte@spdc.email

Subject: Impressive computing prowess for KR

Date: 12 Apr 1996 09:47:00 -0500


Below is an article picked off the net re: computing prowess planned
for Konkan Railway. I don't know how this compares to other railways
in the world, but it definitely appears a quantum leap for IR. It
will be great if this is actually implemented!

Regards,
Pushkar
-------

****************************************************************************

Digital Bags Konkan Railway Project

Digital India has bagged an order worth Rs 5 crore from the Konkan Railway
Corporation (KRC) for computerization of much-awaited Konkan railway
project. The order includes 61 Alphas and Pentium-based PCs. The 55
stations en route will have a 64-bit Alpha machine each. The network will
integrate these systems over the entire stretch.

Digital's solutions include connectivity of the systems to a centrally
placed router network, based on the DEC Reliable Transaction Router. Two
Cisco Access servers will form the backbone of the network.

The central site will also include Polycenter Netview/Digital Unix for
centralized network management and Ciscoworks/Windows for router
management. The network management station will provide a graphical view of
the entire network. Passenger reservation, train scheduling, freight
management, goods tracking, local ticketing and other applications will be
run on the Alphas. The systems will be on a 760 km fiber optic link.

The Konkan Railway will connect Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in
Karnataka covering a distance of 760 kms. This railway link will shorten
journey time along the Western coast.

****************************************************************************

From: Sridhar_Shankarnarayan <Sridhar_Shankarnarayan@fcbbs.email

Subject: Re: Double heading etc.

Date: 15 Apr 1996 02:08:00 -0500


Nice to see a discussion after a long while ...
On the subject of double heading, on my previous visit I saw quite a few
freight trains in SR hauled by pairs of WAG5 series locos, and some by
WAG5HA/WAG5HBs. IR is limited somewhat due to non-availability of sidings
capable of handling longer trains. Also, I have pictures of coal/ore trains in
the Kotavalasa-Kirandul sections of SE Rly hauled by 3 WDM2s, though I have
not personally seen triple heading in IR. By the way, is this section been
electrified now?

About No Problem Sahib, I purchased my copy of the book, at Premier Book
depot, Bangalore for Rs. 450, about a year or so ago. Landmark (in Madras)
used to have copies, but during my last visit they mentioned that they would
have to make an special order. Hope this helps.

--------------
Sridhar Shankar

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: "India, No problem Sahib !"

Date: 18 Apr 1996 16:40:00 -0500


On Thu, 11 Apr 1996, Jishnu Mukerji wrote:

>
> Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 11-Apr-96 Re: "India, No problem Sahi..
> "J.J. Rainbow"@newcastle (805*)
>
> > Try either Motor Books off Charing Cross Road in London, or the
> > Continental Railway Circle whose address I have given before. You realise
> > this is a picture book. Julian
>
> Motor Books is where I got it in November 1995. However, I visited the
> Motor Books again last week, and they did not have any more copies of
> it. They said they will be able to order it for someone if they were so
> requested.
>
> BTW, another set of interesting books on Indian Railways that I had seen
> at Motor Books in the past (sometime last year), but they don't have
> them any more, are the first three volumes of the four volume work on
> Indian Railways Locomotives. They had the first three volumes - Broad,
> Meter, and Narrow gauge upto 1947 (when they had it). Unfortunately, I
> did not buy them then since I had no space left in my baggage to carry
> them back. Fortunately, I found them at the Railway Souvenirs shop at
> South Brisbane station in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in early
> March, and picked them up promptly.



> these are published by the Continental Railway Circle and they still
have copies, I have given the address in the past.
Julian>
> Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 Re: "India, No problem Sahi..
> Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 10-Apr-96 Re: "India, No problem Sahi..
> AUROPREM KANDASWAMI @ix. (545*)

From: S Pai <pai>>

Subject: BHEL locos -- are they in use already?

Date: 20 Apr 1996 15:24:00 -0500


A while back there was some mention of new dual-power (AC/DC) locos
in the 4200 hp class having been designed and manufactured by BHEL. Does
anyone know if they are in regular service already? Which sections, what
kind of traffic? And what's their IR classification code... WCAM???

Thanks,

-Satish

From: Sharon Lee <termy@uk.email

Subject: Indian Industrial Locos

Date: 25 Apr 1996 15:02:00 -0500


Hi,

I'd like to introduce myself to the other members on the list. My name is
Simon Darvill and I have just joined the list. I have been interested in
railways since I was a child (haven,t we all!) and in 1992 I spent six
months travelling around India. I travelled about 10,000 miles (can't
remember what it is in kilometeres!), almost all of it by train. Which is
where my interest in IR comes from.

My main interest is in Industrial railways - those used in coal mines,
steel works, sugar mills in fact anywhere except from on the mainline.
Since I came back I have been trying to compile a historical list of all
locos used in industry since 1850 - a mammot task.

So far I have consulted the works lists of a number of British loco
builders and the Continental Railway Circle published books of Hugh Hughes
on Indian locos. But this is only the start. So I have a requset - does
anybody have any info on any industrial locos in India. As my research goes
back to pre-partition I am also interested in Pakistan, Bangladesh and for
completeness Sri Lanka & Nepal. I would be particually grateful for any
info on Indian builders - Tata, Suri & Naryan of Bangalore, Bharat etc. Any
bit of info, no matter how small would be gratefuuly recieved.

I am currently typing up a copy of an article I had published in the Narrow
Gauge Railway Socitey's magazine about the journey I made from Bangalore to
Bangrapet, which I will post when finished.

Cheers

Simon

From: Sharon Lee <termy@uk.email

Subject: Some Indian railway questions

Date: 28 Apr 1996 19:02:00 -0500


I have been looking through some of the notes that I made when I was in
India and its raised a few questions. Can anybody help me solve these. The
notes are from journies I made around the Southern Railway & Western
Railway metre gauge system.

1. There seems to be one main type of diesel loco and many variations on
that theme. I understand the numbering & lettering system of IR but I never
took any notice of it when in India. I took down the loco's number and
really bothered looking at the classification. So I don't know what classes
of loco I have seen.

The locos were numbered 6XXX. The lowest numbered loco that I saw was 6008,
the highest 6709. All the locos numbered 60XX, 61XX, 62XX, 65XX, 66XX were
seen on WR; all the 64XX locos were on the SR, and both railways had
members of the 63XX and 67XX classes.

Are these actual class divisions of this type? Are the locos 60XX the
earliest built locos and 67XX the newest type. Do all the "classes" have a
hundred locos in, i.e. do the start at 6500 and go to 6599? I noticed that
I only saw 6008 & 6015 and 6700, 6704 & 6709 whereas in all other "classes"
I saw locos numbered anywhere from 00 to 99. Do these two "classes" have
less in ?

2. In the Madras area, I saw two other types of locos. One was an electric
class. They were numbered 219XX. The lowest numbered was 21904 and the
highest was 21922. The other seemed to be a short trip/ station pilot
(known in the US as a switcher I belive) type of loco. Numbered 20XX, I saw
four of them numbered between 2011 & 2032.

Again the same questions apply - what are the classes, how many are there
in the class? Are these locos unique to the Madras area or are there others
of the class elsewhere on the MG network?

3. Does converting the MG system to BG make any difference? When I was in
India I read a newspaper advert that had been placed by IR. It was all
about the reasons for converting gauges and I remember one of them being
that it cast of some of the last vestiges of colinal rule (my words). But
are there benefits gained when the lines have ben converted - time savings,
faster running, more trains.

Another thought that occurred to me was to what extent will the conversion
carried out. How much of the network has been converted and is to be
converted. Are the NG lines to be converted too (here I'm thinking about
the lines on the SER & WR)?


Has anybody got ideas about any of these things?

Cheers


Simon.