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Indian Super Railway |
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Indian Super Railway |
by: S. SHANKAR
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16 Apr. 1853 - 16 Apr. 2002 |
DIESEL
With most of the trunk and major traffic carrying routes having been electrified, some of the juiciest assignments are no longer under the perview of diesel traction.
Nonetheless, diesels still account for over 65% of the route mileage of the IR. Here then is a roundup of the diesels in India: an extension of my earlier site 'Diesel Fiesta'.
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1.A WDM/2 18192 enters Poona Junction with the passenger from Hyderabad in 1995. Note that the first car is a freight wagon, indicating that this is a mixed train of sorts. |
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2. Set against a foreground of railway scrap, a ng ZDM/4 diesel unit returns to shed at Daund Jn. in 1992. She has just brought in the passenger train from Baramati. The line has since been re-gauged to bg, and dmu units ply the route. |
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3.A NDM/1 unit # 505 prepares to leave Neral Jn. in 1992 with the mid-morning departure to Matheran. |
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4.A bg makeshift d.m.u. near Ara on the ER. Note diesel engine coupled mid-rake. These are called 'push pulls' in IR parlance, though real push pulls with the locomotive at one end and driving controls at the last car also exist on the IR. More modern dmus have replaced such crude units.(Scanned from the IR yearbook circa 1992). |
| 5. The first b.g. diesels to arrive in India (circa 1957) were of class WDM/1 built by Alco, a design based largely on their World Series locos. These were 'A' units with cab at one end only. IR really had a bash ar trying out dieselization, but these beasts were not repeated due to the unidirectional design and a 1500 hp powerpack. Initially used on the ER and SER, the WDM/1s were retired from Gonda on the NER. A disused unit rests outside the National Rail Museum, New Delhi (2000), pending preservation in the museum. (Photo courtesy: Harsh Vardhan). |
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| 6. Still more rare were the dimunitive WDM/3 units, built by Henschell. Only three were built in all, and were not repeated. India however supplied some diesels to Sri Lanka based on this design. All three units are presently (2000) based on the ER at Bardhamman. (Burdwan). Most of these are now withdrawn (2002), due to which the IR has started reclassing some of the rebuilt WDM/2s as WDM/3A etc. (Picture placed in the irfca shared files section). |
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| 7. A WDM/2A unit rests between duties at Daund. The 'A' suffix was used liberally on the IR in the mid 1990s to denote that the engine was compatible with air braked stock as well. The green stripes on the bodywork were another visual indication.(April 1996). |
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| 8. A dimunitive ZDM/4 unit rests at Nagpur Jn. in Dec. 1986, having just brought in a passenger train from Gondia. |
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9. Lush rain-soaked vegetation, an old signalling cabin, a water tank, and a semaphore signal: all combine to create a period atmosphere at Kumbakonam in Nov.1997 as a YDM/2 diesel leaves with a slow passenger train to Tanjore. Pity about the diesel though: A steamer might have gone better with the scenery. |
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10. Miles away, at Hyderabad Jn., another YDM/2 awaits the haul ahead as the shunting master exchanges a few words with her driver. The train will go to a neighboring town called Bodhan. (April 1996). |
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11. A WDM/2 unit awaits the call of duty at Poona Jn. in 1992. |
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12. A diesel railcar preserved in the Maharaja's palace at Gwalior. Built by Wickham, UK, in 1947, the car bears works number 4550. Wickham designated it as a 10 seater railcar. There are four rows of seats visible in the photograph which would mean that the middle two rows were designed for 3 passengers each and the end two for a single passenger and the driver. In all probability, the seats are of the tip up variety so that the direction of them can be reversed. The car has a driving position at each end as the far windscreen seems to have wipers and a sun visor on it. (Picture placed by Simon Darvill in the irfca shared files section). |
| 13.Another dmu, this time on the Konkan Railway. The locomotive coupled mid rake is clearly visible. (Scanned from the India supplement in the Khaleej Times, Dubai:Aug.1998) |
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| 14. A WDM/4 unit readies to leave Patna Jn. in 1986 with the Patna -Tata Express. |
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| 15.India's first 2' 0" ng dmu (actually called railcar) was introduced between Gwalior and Sheopur Kalan (198 km: a hell of a long run for a 2' 0" gauge railway!) in 1987. Here is the train on its maiden run. (This pic appeared in the IR magazine. circa 1988). |
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| 16. A WDM/2A unit prepares to leave Hyderabad in April 1996 with an express train. |
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17 - 19. On the face of threats about the World Heritage Status being withdrawn on the Darjeeling Himalayan line, diesels seem to be here to stay. The pic on the far left shows one of the diesel hauled trains, left: the conqueror and the conquered: both rest amicably in the shed, and right: an engine of the same class on the Matheran line. The engines were built by the private sector Suri and Nayar in 1999, and are classed NDM/6. |
(Photo by Viraf Mulla) |
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20.A ZDM/4 unit readies to leave Simla with the superfast Himalayan Queen.(Scanned from the IR Yearbook circa 1992). |
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21. YDM/4# 6314 shunts at Bangalore City Jn. in 1992. She is leaving the far platform with an empty rake of the Bangalore-Vasco Mail, which she brought in on the platform nearest camera a few moments later.The train later left with the same locomotive. |
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22. Although loco changes are comparatively rare nowadays, unless there is a traction change, here is a WDM/2 in beautiful tricolor livery at Gooty in 1998, having just taken over from another engine of the same class. (Photo courtesy: super railnut Sundar Krishnamurthy). |
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23. A dimunitive NDM/1 unit rounds a bend in 1992 on her gruelling climb from Neral to Matheran. |
| 24. Here is a beautiful pic of a YDM/4 arriving at Kumbakonam on a wet morning in November 1997. |
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| 25. Aesthetically very pleasing for railfreaks but not the most ideal thing for a diesel to do, an elderly WDM/1 means business as she accelerates heavily with a massive freight south of Balugan on the SER in Jan. 1987. (Picture courtesy John Lacey). |
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| 26.Alas, a sight that will never be repeated in the Bombay area: a beautiful sight of the double headed Rajdhani Express over the new Bassein (Vasai) creek bridge. Note the mismatched generator (the first) car. The train is now electric hauled. (Pic. downloaded from a website). |
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| 27.Resembling a toy train in an amusement park is this dimunitive 2' 6" ng railcar built by the Mysore Workshops of the Southern Railway. These units are in use on the Ahmedpur-Katwa section of the Eastern Railway.(Picture downloaded from the web). |
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28.A meek attempt at steamlining of the short hood of the WDM/2 was made in the late 1990s by giving it this ugly bulbous balding forehead profile.Engines turned out with this ugly variation were the WDM/2C, WDG/2 and the smaller Bo-Bo WDP/1.Here is a WDM/2C at Bangalore.Note reversed driving position.(Picture sent to Apurva Bahadur by the photographer Tim Wakeman). |
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29.Mercifully, the ugly balding forehead was not repeated.Here is a pair of WDG/2s with conventional short hood seen at Guntakal. (Picture courtesy Apurva Bahadur.) |
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30.A refreshing new vatiation in diesel design: IR latest (circa 1999) is this carbody passenger engine the WDP/2. Capable of 160 kmph, one of these beasts is seen shunting at Madras Egmore, despite a notice in the cab prohibiting the use of these locos for this purpose! The first car is a high capacity parcel van. (Picture courtesy Apurva Bahadur). |
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31.Another of IR's latest is this massive 4000 hp GT Mac diesel from GM USA. Seen here is one of these beasts crossing the Madras Express near Gooty. In the background is a WDG/2. The machines will soon be built in India: some have already been assembled (2001) from CKD kits. Microprocessor controlled and very advanced technically, the machines are otherwise a torture to drive with the long hood leading due to the uncomfortable length. IR could have done better and chosen a dual cab design.(Picture courtesy: Apurva Bahadur). |
| 27.A mg carbody type diesel locomotive built in 2002 by the DLW for export to Malaysia. This loco is of 2300 hp, and is provided with modern features like ac.ac transmission, airconditioned cab and toilet on board. (Picture scanned from the Apr. 2002 issue of the Indian Railways magazine). |
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For more pages on Indian diesels, please consider the following links:
[My Diesel Fiesta page] |
[Mysore/Bangalore and Madras(Chennai) pages of my Millenium website] |
[Apurva Bahadur's pages] |
[Other diesel links of my Superlinks page] |
