IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 4021 - 4040
From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Best Zone
Date: 03 Nov 1998 11:42:55 -0500
Hello,
One of the criteria for 'best' zone is the punctuality of trains.
When my uncle was Financial Commissioner Railways way back in the 80s, I
once asked him what was the criteria for 100% punctuality, i.e. how so
many
railway zones can claim 90+% punctuality when so many trains run late.
Things were pretty bad in certain zones even then.
The explanation he got from some top railway officials was fascinating.
They said, taking a train like say teh Howrah-Madras Mail, which passes
through as many as four zones: ER, SE, SC and SR:
The train has left say Howrah on time, and exited the ER on time. ER
claims
100% punctuality.
In the SE, the train runs say two hours late. Punctuality on the SE is
down
in the dumps.
The train enters the SC two hours late, and exits SC two hour late. What
the
SC will claim is, the train has not lost any further time in my zone, so
I have
100% punctuality.
The train finally runs through the SR and reaches Madras only half an
hour late.
SR will now claim that punctuality has actually improved in my zone: the
train entered two hours late, but ultimately ended up only half an hour
late.
Any comments, any of our rail employee members or those in the know?
Best regards.
Shankar
At 05:17 PM 10/30/98 +0530, you wrote:
>Shrinivas,
>
>Only part of your journey was on the Southern Railways. Mumbai Pune was
>Central Railways (Mumbai Division), Pune - Hubli was the friendly (but
not too
>efficient) South Central Railways (Hubli Division) while Hubli -
Bangalore was
>the Southern Rail (Bangalore division).
>
>Apurva
>
>SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:
>
>> Dear Apurva,
>>
>> Yes, I did experience all the aspects mentioned by you regarding
South
>> Zone been the Best one.
>
>
>
>
>
>
From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai
Date: 03 Nov 1998 11:42:57 -0500
Hello,
Some more US terms come to mind:
UK/India: Loco shed US: roundhouse, or also enginehouse
terminal
Guard van/brake van caboose
closed wagon box car
chimney smokestack
TC conductor
express limited
terminus terminal
attach/detatch couple/uncouple
rake formation
OHE catenary
lavatory rest room
Several US trains have club cars, something unheard of
on the
IR, except on the Palace on Wheels: lounge car
Driving wheel Drivers
hood type of diesel loco Road switcher
horn whistle
parking light aspect lamp
flat wagon flatbed car
railway railroad
permanent way road, road bed
banker assisting engine
points crossover
engines coupled in
multiple coupled in tandem
firebox grate
incline grade
goods yard marshalling yard
mixed traffic engine multipurpose engine
RMS/mail van P.O.car
reversing station switchback
And so on and so forth.
Best regards.
Shankar
At 09:25 PM 11/1/98 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Vdate@aol.email wrote:
>
>> rake is consist... a permanent set of coaches which forms a train
minus the
>> engine. Some other equivalent words are (American equivalent in
parenthesis)
>> : driver (engineer), platform (track), hamal(redcap), diner (dining
>> car),wc(restroom), restroom (waiting room),booking office (ticket
office),
>> ring (call on phone). Readers, please add.
>
>US Indian
>fireman asst. driver
>porter kuli
>car attendent guard
>ticket taker TTE
>based homed (sometimes "shopped", as in
"shopped
out of
>Bakersfield")
>east/west up/down
>car wagon/van
>truck bogie
>hired out inducted
>
>
>Question - in the US there's an engineer (usually a very junior
engineer) whose
>job
>is to move engines about the yard and roundhouse area. We call this
person a
>"hostler" - what's the equivilant Indian term?
>
>Also, what's the pointed iron grill on the lower front of a steam
engine we
call
>a "pilot" or "cowcatcher" called?
>My wallpaper's a WP4 that has one.
>
>
>
>
From: Sunil Krishnan <>
Subject: Indian Railways
Date: 03 Nov 1998 12:12:34 -0500
It seems that all of you have deep knowledge of the railway system. I joined this group to get some Indian Railway travelogues. I have passion for travel by train specially on Indian Railways. Am i on the right email group?
-sunil
--------------------------------------------------------
Sunil Krishnan
Health Care Management
Clayton college and State University
Http://sunil.home.mindspring.com <<A HREF="http://sunil.home.mindspring.com>">http://sunil.home.mindspring.com></A>
AIM: Sunil421
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai
Date: 03 Nov 1998 14:16:21 -0500
Shankar wrote:
>
> Hello,
> Some more US terms come to mind:
>
> UK/India: Loco shed US: roundhouse, or also enginehouse
terminal
. . . .
> Several US trains have club cars, something unheard of
on the
> IR, except on the Palace on Wheels: lounge car
Club Cars have nothing to do with Lounges. They are (at least on Amtrak)
just an upper class accommodation with broader seats, and food service
included. then between Club and Coach there is Custom Class with more
spacious accommodation than standard coach but not as spacious as Club,
and full food service is not included, however free beverages and
newspaper are included. In addition Amtrak Intercity trains have Lounge
Cars which are just that, a car
. . . .
> points crossover
Typically what are called "points" in India are called "switches" in the
US. Crossovers usually involve two points(switches) and a short
connecting track enabling trains to cross over from one running track to
another.
. . . .
> goods yard marshalling yard
I always thought that Marshaling Yard was where goods wagons were
shuffled around among trains. For example Mughal Sarai in India has a
huge Marshaling Yard, even in Indian terminology. On the other hand for
example Metuchen has a "freight yard" where unit freight trains carrying
auto parts arrive and are delivered to the GM plant. But no car
shuffling takes place there - hence no Marshaling Yard.
>> platform (track),
Interestingly the French clearly differentiate these two concepts and
use both of them. Platform is Quay and Track is Voie (pardon the
possibly incorrect French spellings). It is not uncommon to see on the
departure board things like "TGV3466 Lyon Quay B Voie 12".
Presumably
platform B has tracks 12 and 13 on its two sides or such.
Jishnu.
--
Jishnu Mukerji
From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign terminography).
Date: 03 Nov 1998 15:14:59 -0500
Hi all,
One more for the list. Open wagons -- actually classed O in India --
are
called "gondolas" in the USA.
Cheers
Ken Walker
From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai
Date: 03 Nov 1998 15:57:21 -0500
Thanks for the list, Shankar - a few comments
Shankar wrote:
> Hello,
> Some more US terms come to mind:
> horn whistle
these are different items. In the US, a diesel usually has a horn, steam
(had) a whistle.
>
> parking light aspect lamp
> flat wagon flatbed car
"flat car" - "flatbed" usually only refers to a type of highway truck
>
> railway railroad
> permanent way road, road bed
"road" usually is what cars drive on, or, occasionally the entire
railroad
"that wreck shut down the whole road", "the superintendent is out on the
road"
>
> banker assisting engine
helper
>
> points crossover
> engines coupled in
> multiple coupled in tandem
more likely, "MU'ed" (if they are) or "double/triple headed" (steam)
>
> firebox grate
In the US, the entire boxlike area where the fire burns is the firebox.
The iron
bars on which the burning material sits are the grate.
>
> incline grade
> goods yard marshalling yard
marshalling yard is UK(??) In the US it's a classification yard or
switchyard.
>
> mixed traffic engine multipurpose engine
> RMS/mail van P.O.car
sometimes "R.P.O. car" - railway post office
>
> reversing station switchback
>
> And so on and so forth.
Anyway, not to be overpicky, but some differences with my experience.
There's a story about a railfan (trainspotter, UK) who walks up to a
conductor and
says,
"Hey Shack, I see the hoghead tied down this teakettle and went for
beans. You gonna
bend iron on the advertised, or have they stabbed you?"
The conductor looked blankly at him and said, "Pardon me sir, I'm afraid
I don't
understand you."
a translation:
hey conductor (shack), I see the engineer(hoghead) partially shut
down(tied down)
this engine
(teakettle) and went to eat (for beans). Are you going to leave the
station (bend
iron= throw
a switch, hence leave) at scheduled time (on the advertised), or have
they delayed
(stabbed) you?
From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign words)
Date: 03 Nov 1998 16:07:09 -0500
Hi Jishnu,
More words: in the USA, marshalling yards are very often called
"classification yards". There's a huge one at Sterling, NY, just outside
Albany. In Australia and Britain, marshalling yards are sometime just
called
"hump yards" where applicable.
Cheers
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email
To: Shankar <shankie@emirates.email
Cc: Anne Ogborn <anniepoo@netmagic.email irfca@cs.email
<irfca@cs.email
Date: Wednesday, 4 November 1998 8:32
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai
>Shankar wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>> Some more US terms come to mind:
>>
>> UK/India: Loco shed US: roundhouse, or also enginehouse
terminal
>
>. . . .
>
>> Several US trains have club cars, something unheard
of on
the
>> IR, except on the Palace on Wheels: lounge car
>
>Club Cars have nothing to do with Lounges. They are (at least on
Amtrak)
>just an upper class accommodation with broader seats, and food service
>included. then between Club and Coach there is Custom Class with more
>spacious accommodation than standard coach but not as spacious as Club,
>and full food service is not included, however free beverages and
>newspaper are included. In addition Amtrak Intercity trains have Lounge
>Cars which are just that, a car
>
> . . . .
>> points crossover
>
>Typically what are called "points" in India are called "switches" in
the
>US. Crossovers usually involve two points(switches) and a short
>connecting track enabling trains to cross over from one running track
to
>another.
>
>
> . . . .
>
>> goods yard marshalling yard
>
>
>I always thought that Marshaling Yard was where goods wagons were
>shuffled around among trains. For example Mughal Sarai in India has a
>huge Marshaling Yard, even in Indian terminology. On the other hand for
>example Metuchen has a "freight yard" where unit freight trains
carrying
>auto parts arrive and are delivered to the GM plant. But no car
>shuffling takes place there - hence no Marshaling Yard.
>
>>> platform (track),
>
>Interestingly the French clearly differentiate these two concepts and
>use both of them. Platform is Quay and Track is Voie (pardon the
>possibly incorrect French spellings). It is not uncommon to see on the
>departure board things like "TGV3466 Lyon Quay B Voie 12". Presumably
>platform B has tracks 12 and 13 on its two sides or such.
>
>Jishnu.
>--
>Jishnu Mukerji
>
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign words)
Date: 03 Nov 1998 16:17:30 -0500
> Hi Jishnu,
> More words: in the USA, marshalling yards are very often called
> "classification yards". There's a huge one at Sterling, NY, just
outside
> Albany. In Australia and Britain, marshalling yards are sometime just
called
> "hump yards" where applicable.
> Cheers
> Ken Walker
Of course, I forgot all about Classification Yard. Yes, that is the term
that is more commonly used for Marshalling Yards in the USA. Yes I have
been to the one in Selkirk (the same one as in Sterling?) near Albany.
Very impressive.
Cheers,
Jishnu.
--
Jishnu Mukerji
From: Vdate <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai
Date: 03 Nov 1998 18:41:19 -0500
What I want to say is not a new idea. It has been ably expressed by
many
including "iti" in the past. I wish somebody in IR (perhaps PR office)
reads
these posting and contributes. For example, the question as to why a
particular train appear to be owned by different zones over time. I am
sure
it not always due to politics. IR probably have some excellent reason
and it
would be a good PR to share that with their fans.
From: Vdate <>
Subject: Re: Indian Railways
Date: 03 Nov 1998 18:55:35 -0500
I bet you are! The benefit is mutual and very enjoyable. Welcome.
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: Re: Fairy Queen v/s Sindh
Date: 03 Nov 1998 20:01:02 -0500
>
> Reading this book, I found a minor error. During introduction,
> author writes that maker of first loco is unknown. He contradicts this
> statement under GIPR section, quoting the name and price quoted by
> each bidder.
Hello Prakash,
I am quoting from the book "HISTORY OF THE GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA
RAILWAY
(1853--1869) PART I by S.N.Sharma S.D.G.M. Central Railway.
In April 1852 a locomotive from England arrived in Bombay. This was a
great event. It was a visible symbol of the transfer fo technology and
the
industrial spirit from the Industrialised west to the feudal east. It
soon
became an object of great attraction in Bombay and people in large
number
used to come to see it doing its work. The fact that a large number of
people had already seen the engine before the first train started moving
was a great gain in so far as the new technology was psychologically
accepted by the people who saw it working and were not apprehensive
about
its evil effects in the way some of the people of the western countries
were.
The engine which had first landed in Bombay and started doing the work
of
shunting was christened the "FALKLAND" after the name of the Governor of
Bombay. On 18th february 1852, the first locomotive began shunting
operations near Byculla flats in Bombay.(HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE WHEN
THE
LOCO ARRIVED IN APRIL 1852).
Mr. Sharma further states that the first locomotives to India were
supplied by the Vulcan. The first consignment consisted of eight 2-4-0
type engines and tenders for the Bombay Thana Section in 1852. They were
shipped tio India in Windjammers for the opening of the line in 1853.
Then
in 1854, five 0-4-2 and five 2-2-2 type were despatched for the newly
laid
first section of The East Indian Railway.
The engine "Falkland" with spares and tools was purchased at a cost of
Rs.11,000/-.
==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrejnet.email
==========================
From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Fairy Queen v/s Sindh
Date: 04 Nov 1998 03:15:22 -0500
Hello,
And while all this mail is being exchanged about the first locomotives,
I
might add a few points, which I read somewhere along the line; (so to
speak!)
: India's first train was supposed to run in Eastern India, but
something
went wrong there, and Bombay occupied pride of place on that score,
although
almost a year later.
: The first batch of locomotives for the IR was never delivered, as ship
carrying these engines was "misdirected" and reached Australia instead!
Maybe that may explain to some extent the discrepancy between the first
engines built for India and the first engines that really reached (and
ultimately started working) in India.
I'm now based in Dubai. Most of my valuable reference books containing
such
info are unfortunately left behind in my native Poona (Pune) in India.
How I
wish I could cart some of them here!
Best regards.
Shankar
At 09:31 AM 11/4/98 +0530, you wrote:
>>
>> Reading this book, I found a minor error. During introduction,
>> author writes that maker of first loco is unknown. He contradicts
this
>> statement under GIPR section, quoting the name and price quoted by
>> each bidder.
>
>Hello Prakash,
>
>I am quoting from the book "HISTORY OF THE GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA
RAILWAY
>(1853--1869) PART I by S.N.Sharma S.D.G.M. Central Railway.
>
> In April 1852 a locomotive from England arrived in Bombay. This was a
>great event. It was a visible symbol of the transfer fo technology and
the
>industrial spirit from the Industrialised west to the feudal east. It
soon
>became an object of great attraction in Bombay and people in large
number
>used to come to see it doing its work. The fact that a large number of
>people had already seen the engine before the first train started
moving
>was a great gain in so far as the new technology was psychologically
>accepted by the people who saw it working and were not apprehensive
about
>its evil effects in the way some of the people of the western countries
>were.
>
>The engine which had first landed in Bombay and started doing the work
of
>shunting was christened the "FALKLAND" after the name of the Governor
of
>Bombay. On 18th february 1852, the first locomotive began shunting
>operations near Byculla flats in Bombay.(HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE WHEN
THE
>LOCO ARRIVED IN APRIL 1852).
>
>Mr. Sharma further states that the first locomotives to India were
>supplied by the Vulcan. The first consignment consisted of eight 2-4-0
>type engines and tenders for the Bombay Thana Section in 1852. They
were
>shipped tio India in Windjammers for the opening of the line in 1853.
Then
>in 1854, five 0-4-2 and five 2-2-2 type were despatched for the newly
laid
>first section of The East Indian Railway.
>
>The engine "Falkland" with spares and tools was purchased at a cost of
>Rs.11,000/-.
>
>
>==========================
>Viraf Mulla
>C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
>Borivali (West)
>Mumbai 400103
>Tel: +91-22-8954510
>E-mail: sncf@godrejnet.email
>==========================
>
>
From: Madhav Acharya <>
Subject: Why 5'6" ?
Date: 04 Nov 1998 08:08:00 -0500
Hi
Any clues as to why the Brits laid 5'6" rails across the subcontinent
but used 4' 81/2" back home ?
Madhav
From: Rajat Bhargav <>
Subject: This list
Date: 04 Nov 1998 09:01:37 -0500
Dear list members,
I have been able to make one on one contact with quite a few on
the list.
Some have wanted to know what my background is. So here goes.
If it sounds like a resume, thats because it IS. ;)
I am an officer of the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical
Engineers. I did my Engineering from Jamalpur.
September1994 - September1995 Gandhidham
The Gandhidham Area of the Western Railway serves the Kandla Port and
Kutch at large. The traffic largely comprises imported oil, fertilizer,
food-grain and salt. For the first two months I had a running shed
homing
20 YDM1 class and 4 WDS4 class locomotives under my charge. My primary
responsibility was to ensure availability and reliability of these
motive
units. This posting offered an exposure to maintenance planning and
inventory management.
I was then given responsibility of loco operations and the freight stock
depots of the area
The operations beat of my crew spanned segments of two divisions and two
gauges of track. Variations of rolling stock, operational differences
and
their concomitant difficulties added complexity to the problem.
The wagon shed is unique in the variety of stock it handles. Movement of
special wagons for Over Dimensional Consignments was part of the many
interesting facets of the work.
I was the officer-in-charge of the Accident Relief Trains. The difficult
sub-soil conditions in the Ranns of Kutch make freight rail operations
accident-prone in the area. Each accident was a lesson in crisis
management.
October 1995- August 1996 Routine Overhaul Depot, Vatva
My next charge was to finally commission a Routine Overhaul (ROH) depot
for our second-generation bogie boxcars at Vatva, Ahmedabad. The shift
design, gauging & metrology, shop layout and check sheets were the
primary
problems tackled to achieve the target out-turn in just seven months.
Solutions to testing of sub-assemblies, movement of major spares and
re-design of material handling equipment improved working efficiency.
August 1996-January 1997 Diesel Locomotive Shed, Vatva
This assignment entails monitoring of running repairs to mainline
diesel-electric locomotives on broad gauge. The operations are with
mixed
traffic i.e. both passenger as well as freight. The on-line reporting of
locomotive performance is used to plan maintenance. The availability of
locomotives and their health check were my main responsibilities.
January 1997 - June 1997 Diesel Locomotive Shed,
Pratapnagar
Was promoted as independent head of the largest narrow gauge locomotive
shed in the country. Baroda division has the most extensive narrow gauge
network on the Indian Railways. Responsibilities here included
monitoring
of Broad Gauge loco operations on the division as well.
Apart from the routine rail operations we were able to revive a narrow
gauge steam powered train with the saloons from the Gaekwar's railway.
Collection of other archival material on the heritage was also collected
and a museum started. This was later included in a CD-ROM that we made
for
the division (on the inauguration of the Pratapnagar museum)
It was a very fulfilling posting inspite of its short tenure.
About Jamalpur
The Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering
(IRIMEE) is an engineering institute run by the Indian Railways to train
officers for it's Mechanical Engineering Department. The admission to
this
Institute is through an open all-India examination, conducted by the
Union
Public Service Commission of India. The written examination comprises
objective type questions on Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry,
English followed by a psychological test. Interviews are then held for
candidates short-listed on the basis of the written exam. The overall
success rate is about 0.075 %.
The education imparted is with a view to developing an individual to
equip
him as an efficient engineer and a manager. The curriculum is based to a
large extent on what is prescribed by the Engineering CounciI (London).
Additional subjects provide for slant as a Railway Engineer. The
emphasis
throughout the training is on the practical use of the knowledge.
The course consists of a four-year sandwich course, with alternate
layers
of theoretical and practical training. Students are given adequate
exposure to industrial environment, at the Jamalpur Locomotive Workshops
(a fairly large repair and manufacturing workshops employing 13,000
people). Frequent technical visits to other industry and railway
production units are included.
The students are encouraged to pursue extra-curricular activities. These
include sports and cultural activities. The hostel is managed by a
student-body called the Management Committee, something akin to an Honor
Council. The hostel has sufficient sporting facilities and alto a small
workshop, photo-lab, computer centre and an electronics lab.
The IRIMEE has turned out about 950 technocrats in the last 71 years of
its existence, who have been occupying the top positions in the
Railways.
love,
Rajat Bhargav
________________________________________________________________________
_______
J-310, IIM, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, India 560 076
From: FyffesFL <>
Subject: Re: Why 5'6" ?
Date: 04 Nov 1998 09:51:14 -0500
Experience with 4' 8.5" showed that a wider gauge would provide more
space for
cargo, and increased stability. Also bigger boilers and more power. The
seven
foor gauge tried in England was deemed too wide.
Wide gauge was also used by british engineers building lines in
Australia (
5.6 ), Argentina ( 5.6 ), Brazil ( 5.3 ), and Ireland ( 5.3 ). For many
years
some USA lines ran on five foot and six foot gauge, until interline
traffice
made standardization inevitable. The Panama Canal railway is still five
foot
gauge.
regards to all
Richard Yudin
From: Prakash Tendulkar <>
Subject: Re: Why 5'6" ?
Date: 04 Nov 1998 13:37:45 -0500
In November 1850 The East India Company decided, on the
recommendation of the Indian Government who were worried
about the stability of trains in cyclonic winds, that the
gauge in India should be 5' 6".
Feeder lines started using narrower gauge. The first one
built to 4' gauge, ran from Nalhati on EIR eastwards for 27
miles to Azimganj in 1863.Another venture by Indian Tramway
Company built 3' 6" gauge line from Arconum , 19 miles
southwards to Conjeveram in 1865.
To bring further areas within a rail network, the choice
lay between lighter type of 5' 6" gauge and the use of
narrower gauge. The latter was more economical and decision
was left to the viceroy, Lord Meyo. He calculated that four
people sitting abreast would need a minimum carriage width
of 6ft (6' 6" externally) and he had been advised that it
was unwise for the gauge to be less than half the body
width so he recommended 3' 3".But as a draft bill for the
introduction of metric system of weights and measures was
then before the Indian Government, this was modified to
exactly one meter. Only the gauge was metric, all other
dimensions were in feet and inches.
(Ref: Hugh Hughes' book, Indian Locomotives Part 1 and 2)
From: Prakash Tendulkar <>
Subject: Re: Fairy Queen v/s Sindh
Date: 04 Nov 1998 13:43:00 -0500
> India's first train was supposed to run in Eastern India,
> but something went wrong there, and Bombay occupied pride
> of place on that score, although almost a year later.
The Ganges canal, started in 1845, crossed 2.5 mile wide
Solani valley (90 miles NE of Delhi) on a 25 arch aquaduct
with long approaching embankments, the earth for the latter
being transported by light railway lines. The wagons had 4'
8.5" gauge. They were moved by hands first and later by
horses. On December 22, 1851, however, a locomotive started
work - the first in India. Named THOMASON, it only worked
for a few months before suffering an accident; the "Report
on the Ganges canal work" stated: "The water had been drawn
off and it was supposed that the fire had been entirely
extinguished. A storm with wind, however, brought the fire
and fuel which were in the furnace into action, destroyed
the casing together with a number of tubes, and placed the
locomotive completely out of use." It was a six wheeled (2-
2-2WT) tank engine.
(Ref: Hugh Hughes' book, Indian Locomotives Part 1)
Prakash
From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Tidbits from early IR issues
Date: 04 Nov 1998 14:00:14 -0500
Hi Folks,
A few years back, I had a chance to scan through a bunch of IR
magazines
(covering 1956-77) at the New York Public Library. I managed to have
about
600 odd pages photocopied. Here is the first of a series of extracts
from
my collection:
April 1956 issue
-----------------------
-Government decides to electrify Gomoh-Moghalsarai line and entire
suburban
area within a radius of 60-70 miles of Calcutta
-From Jan. 1, passenger fares standardized at 30 pies, 16 pies, 9 pies
and 5
pies per mile for 1st, 2nd, inter, and 3rd class, respectively.
[Assuming
the first class fare to be about 75 paise per km on an average, first
class
fares have quadrupled in 40+ years of IR operation].
-Platform ticket price increased to 2 annas from Jan. 1
-ICF, Peramubur, inaugurated on Oct. 2, 1955 by the late PM, Shri.
Nehru.
-IR decides to introduce divisional system of administration on Central,
Southern and Western rlys. Northern and Eastern are the first
to have this system. Secunderabad and Bombay divisions already set up
by
March 28.
May-June 1956
----------------------
-Manduadih [one station west of Varanasi] becomes the largest
transhipment
point [not a transhipment point since the conversion]
-Following are some of the lines proposed to be doubled during the 2nd
5-year plan [so they were still single at that time]
Manoharpur-Rourkela, Rourkela-Nagpur, Kharagpur-Tatanagar, Delhi-Agra,
Katni-Jubbulpore, Jubbulpore-Itarsi, Arkonam-Jalarpet,
Waltair-Rajahmundry, Bezwada-Gudur, Jalarpet-Erode, Arkonam-Renigunta,
Allahabad-Kanpur, Kanpur-Lucknow, Rewari-Delhi,
Moradabad-Saharanpur, Godhra-Ratlam, Baroda-Anand, Ratlam-Nagda [note
the
old names for certain stations]
-Following lines proposed to be converted to BG during the 2nd plan:
Bezwada-Gundur, Kurduwadi-Miraj-Kolhapur-Sangli [wonder why
Kurduwadi-Miraj was not converted]
-New Italian-made EMU introduced on Madras Beach-Tambaram. Photo shows
the
rake with a double panto.
Sept. 1956
----------------
-A weekly Janata Exp. between Delhi and Bezwada, and a daily Janata Exp.
between Madras and Calcutta was introduced on Nov. 6, 1951.
-India's first fully AC train [predecessor of the Poorva Exp.]
introduced on
Oct. 2, 1956. Has a total of 7 coaches - two brake power vans, one
sleeper
coach, three chair cars and one restaurant car. Howrah-Delhi run will
be
covered in 22 hrs. 10 mts. - reduction of 2 hrs. and 40 mts. Only 9
halts:
Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur, Allahabad, Moghalsarai, Gaya, Gomoh,
Asansol. [so Dhanbad was not even in the picture. Why has the focus
shifted from Gomoh to Dhanbad? Bcoz of the collieries?] Connecting
train
provided at
Moghalsarai for Patna folks - will have a few upper class AC coaches.
More later,
Vijay
From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign words)
Date: 04 Nov 1998 16:02:40 -0500
Hi Jishnu,
Yes, It's Selkirk I was referring to. I was there only last year too!
Sterling is in Illinois, it's a steel mill, and 20+ years ago, used to
operate steam! Sorry for the error. Main thing is, I was surprised to
see
such a big yard still in use -- generally, with scheduled point-to-point
services, big marshalling yards are seen as a source of delay and being
eliminated.
Cheers
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email
To: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <kjw_meh@powerup.email
Cc: IRFCA - mailing list <irfca@cs.email
Date: Wednesday, 4 November 1998 10:33
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign words)
>> Hi Jishnu,
>> More words: in the USA, marshalling yards are very often called
>> "classification yards". There's a huge one at Sterling, NY, just
outside
>> Albany. In Australia and Britain, marshalling yards are sometime just
called
>> "hump yards" where applicable.
>> Cheers
>> Ken Walker
>
>Of course, I forgot all about Classification Yard. Yes, that is the
term
>that is more commonly used for Marshalling Yards in the USA. Yes I have
>been to the one in Selkirk (the same one as in Sterling?) near Albany.
>Very impressive.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Jishnu.
>--
>Jishnu Mukerji
>
From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign terminography).
Date: 04 Nov 1998 16:07:48 -0500
Hi Annie,
Now there's a nice point. In UK/Colonial speech, hoppers are not
open
wagons! In fact, we have covered hoppers too, for wheat and such.
There was a terriffic fight (probably not over yet) between IR and
Coal
India (or whatever) back around 1980 or so about whether they'd have
tipplers (BOXNs) or hopper wagons for coal traffic. IR favoured tipplers
because they were cheaper, but Coal India wanted hoppers, citing
coupling/uncoupling problems, extra cost of tippling machinery, etc. The
Railway Review Committee (1980s) took the coal industry's side. q.v.
Cheers
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: Anne Ogborn <anniepoo@netmagic.email
To: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <kjw_meh@powerup.email
Date: Wednesday, 4 November 1998 10:09
Subject: Re: Homing at Chennai (or rather, foreign terminography).
>
>
>Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>> One more for the list. Open wagons -- actually classed O in India
--
are
>> called "gondolas" in the USA.
>> Cheers
>> Ken Walker
>
>Flat bottomed open wagons are gondolas.
>Self unloading wagons with sloped bottoms and dump doors are "hoppers"
>
>
>
>