IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 461 - 480

From: R. Anand | School of Computer and Information Science <anand@top.email

Subject: Museum in Scranton

Date: 11 Apr 1991 14:23:00 -0500


The Steamtown museum in scranton is definitely worth a visit. They have
a Union Pacific Big Boy there which is definitely worth seeing for Steam
fans. It has a weight of 1.2 million pounds and a 4-8-8-4 wheel
arrangement. It was an oil burner by the way and was capable of 80 mph.

This reminds me, I am sure that many have you have seen the magnificent
Bayer-Garrat of the Bengal Nagpur Railway now preserved at the Railway
museum in Delhi. I believe it is 4-8-2 + 2-8-4. Like the Mallets, the
Bayar-Garrats were articulated to allow them to go around sharp curves.
I dont think that the B-Gs used superheated stem they had only simple
expansion. If you all havent already done so read the great discussion
about B-Gs on rec.railroad.

R. Anand | School of Computer and Information Science
anand@top.email | Syracuse University.

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: Rail museums

Date: 17 Apr 1991 18:37:00 -0500


RAILWAY MUSEUMS IN INDIA

I suppose many of you have seen the Rail Transport Museum at Chanakyapuri
in Delhi. I read somewhere that it was intended to become the largest
museum of its kind in the world- possibly in terms of the number of exhibits.
There is a smaller museum in Mysore and probably another in Udaipur.
Perhaps someone who has visited the Delhi museum recently can tell us
of any interesting new acquisitions.
-------

From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email

Subject: news from India Abroad

Date: 19 Apr 1991 13:06:00 -0500


IR has reported a decline of *40%* in the number of people
riding without tickets (wow) ...

Spot checks have shown that about 4 million people took free rides
in the last year, compared to 6 million the previous year.

Intensifying its compaign, the railways got $15 million from ticketles
riders in fines during '90-'91, as opposed to $12.5 million in 89-90.

aravind

From: Ajai Banerji <ajax@leland.email

Subject:

Date: 26 Apr 1991 17:25:00 -0500


RAILWAY NEWS

From Railway Gazette and Times of India. My comments in brackets.

Konkan Railway
The project is still going strong and the completion is scheduled for
Sep 1994. Two sleeper factories are being set up in Goa to facilitate
the project.
There will be a large number of tunnels. The longest one will be 6.4 km
long and situated in Ratnagiri district. This would be by far the longest
tunnel in India. I think the record is 1.3 km for the Parsik tunnel near
Thane. The longest tunnel in the subcontinent is one between Quetta and
Chaman which is about 3.5 km long.

New electric locos
Hitachi is likely to get the contract to supply 30 6000 hp electric locos
as the initial step which will lead to production by BHEL. The other main
contender was ABB of Sweden.
(It is interesting to note that the manufacture is by BHEL and not
Chittaranjan. Earlier BHEL has supplied some small shunting engines and
even a battery-powered electric engine for the narrow gauge.)

Pakistan and Iran
The Iranian and Pakistani railways are to collaborate in building a 375
km line from Kerman to Zahidan. This will result in Pakistan's system being
joined to Iran's through the Quetta-Zahidan route.
(This will finally make it theoretically possible to travel by train
continously from Europe to India. By that time the Channel tunnel will also
be complete and so the imperialist dream of linking London and Delhi will
finally be realised, long after the sun set on the British Raj.)

Electrification progress
There was a small writeup and map giving details of electrification in
April's Railway Gazette. I am not sure if this information is very reliable.

a) Electrification in progress and to be completed in 1991
Itarsi-Nagpur (expected in April), thus completing Delhi-Madras.
Bhusaval-Wardha and Nagpur-Durg, thus completing Bombay-Calcutta
Bhusaval-Itarsi, thus completing Bombay-Delhi via CR.
Nagda-Bhopal
BTW, this map also shows Tundla-Agra-Bayana to be completed.
b) Electrification in progress but will not be over in 1991
Jolarpettai-Bangalore
Jolarpettai-Erode and Salem-Mettur
Kazipet-Hyderabad-Sanatnagar
Bina-Katni-Bilaspur
c) Electrification planned (I am not sure whether these projects are actually
sanctioned or not.)
Balance of Bombay-Madras (i.e. Pune-Renigunta) along with Guntakal-Hospet
Balance of Madras-Calcutta (i.e. Kharagpur-Vijayawada)
Surat-Jalgaon
Kota-Bina and Guna-Maksi
Itarsi-Allahabad
Delhi-Ambala
Asansol-Mughalsarai via Patna, also Patna-Gaya
Son Nagar-Garwa Road-Chandrapura (this is to facilitate coal movement from
the North Karanpura fields. Along with this a third line from Son Nagar
to Mughalsarai will be built and electrified).
Kanpur-Lucknow
Mughalsarai-Lucknow-Ambala including the Faizabad loop and one other line
between Varanasi and Lucknow (cant make out if it is the Sultanpur route
or Rae Bareli route)
Ghaziabad-Saharanpur

(Cannot say how long all these projects will take, but once these are
completed then all major routes will be electrified. But the South seems to be
rather neglected in the above list. The routes to Trivandrum and Mangalore
would certainly have a greater load than some of the routes mentioned above.
Also, I don't know how useful it will be to electrify the Bombay-Madras
route when most of it is still single line.)

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: Re: Railway news!

Date: 29 Apr 1991 09:36:00 -0500


Hi Folks,

Thanks a lot, Ajai, for the interesting info.

> New electric locos
> Hitachi is likely to get the contract to supply 30 6000 hp electric locos
>as the initial step which will lead to production by BHEL. The other man

Some of these are being used for goods traffic, on the Kottavalasa-
Kirandul line, on an experimental basis. WAG-5 is also a high
horsepower loco. (> 4000 hp) and is being manufactured at CLW.

> Electrification progress
> Nagda-Bhopal

Will facilitate movement of goods traffic from the coalfields of the
East to industries in MP and Gujarat such as in Indore and Ahmedabad.
Also, trains such as the BHopal-Rajkot Exp. could then be electrically
hauled all the way. How about electrification of Indore-Ujjain?

>b) Electrification in progress but will not be over in 1991
> Bina-Katni-Bilaspur

Once this is completed along with Nagda-Bhopal, Bilaspur-Katni-Bina-
Bhopal-Ratlam-Vadodara-Ahmedabad will then be completely electrified.
Will benefit goods traffic as mentioned above.

>c) Electrification planned (I am not sure whether these projects are acually
> sanctioned or not.)
> Balance of Bombay-Madras (i.e. Pune-Renigunta) along with Guntakal-Hospet
> Balance of Madras-Calcutta (i.e. Kharagpur-Vijayawada)

This would complete electrification of all the trunk lines connecting
the four metropolitan cities of Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras.
Now news about doubling of Daund-Shahabad, Wadi-Guntakal, and Gooty-
Renigunta? Strange! This leaves most of Bombay-Madras as a single
line.

> Surat-Jalgaon

Trains such as the Ahmedabad-Howrah Exp. and the Navjeevan Exp. can be
electrically hauled all the way.

> Kota-Bina and Guna-Maksi

Completes electrification of all BG branch lines
between the trunk routes of Bombay-Delhi and Madras-Delhi.

> Itarsi-Allahabad

All trains from Bombay/South towards UP/Bihar would not have to change
locos. at Itarsi. IMHO, a very imp. route to be electrified.
I suspect the Manikpur-Naini section would also be doubled.

> Kanpur-Lucknow

The Shatabdi Exp. and the Gomti Exp. would then be electrically hauled
all the way!

> Mughalsarai-Lucknow-Ambala including the Faizabad loop and one other line
> between Varanasi and Lucknow (cant make out if it is the Sultanpur route

Would put Varanasi on the electrification map. That would be my dream come tru
come true! East bound trains from Varanasi would no longer have to n
change locomotives at Mughal Sarai. I suspect the other line is via
Sultanpur since this shares the Varanasi-Zafarabad portion with the
loop line via Faizabad.

Also, I would like to see the Allahabad-Bhadohi-Varanasi line being
doubled and electrified.


Regards,
Vijay

From: Ajai Banerji <ajax@leland.email

Subject: Correction

Date: 29 Apr 1991 10:41:00 -0500


A few errors have crept into my article "Railway News"

The new 6000 hp electric locos are indeed to be built at Chittaranjan. In
the initial stages BHEL and Hitachi will be collaborating.
The longest tunnel in the subcontinent (near Quetta) is 3.9 km long.
A closer study of the electrification map shows that the Lucknow-Varanasi
lines via Faizabad and via Rae Bareli will be electrified, but the Sultanpur
line will not.

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@cs.email

Subject: Indian National Railways: Forwarded from Sudarshana Bhat.

Date: 01 May 1991 01:08:00 -0500


------- Forwarded Message

Date: Tue, 30 Apr 91 23:03:05 CDT
From: "C. S. Sudarshana Bhat" <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.email
Subject: Indian National Railways
To: Dheeraj Sanghi <DHEERAJ@SEINE.email

Hello there, Dheeraj. How is this for starters? I don't know [yet:-)]
as to what exactly you guys do in the ..., but I would LOVE to hear the
experiences of others on the list, travelling by Indian Railways. Have
any of you guys ever watched the BBC serial - Great Train Journeys of the
World? It used to conflict with *&*^&%^ NCC in college and so I was unable
to do justice [watch :-)] most of them. I remember watching two, one set
in South America and one in Great Britain, though. BTW, are the others on
the net ready to complete the list which follows the following lines? Bye.
**************************************************************************

My romance with the Indian Railways began way back around 1970-71 when
my father had taken me to the Bangalore station one evening to see the
Island Express (I guess it was at that point in time running between
Cochin and Bangalore) off. I don't recollect whether we were there to send
off somebody or just for the sake of fun, but I do remember one thing and
that was that the whistle of the steam engine scared me out of my boots
{or were they slippers/flip-flops :-)?}. Granted, it was not the sort of
starts a romance is supposed to begin :-), but a subsequent picture
postcard which remains only in my memory now, got me hooked onto trains.
That was a postcard of a magnificent diesel locomotive, red in colour
[red being my favourite colour :-)], drawing umpteen cars (bogies, as
I still would LOVE to call 'em), coming around a bend in the tracks.

My real fun with trains started with my first train journey, which
was from Bangalore to Lonavla (in Maharashtra) in 1972. I had never
been IN a train before (not in my living memory, that is), and it was
fun running up and down the compartment. At that time, there was
no Udyan Express :-( :-(, and no continuous BG either. So, we had
to take a MG train from Bangalore to Guntakal - it was the Bangalore-
Secunderabad Express, #85-86, which, wonder of wonders, still runs on
the same route as it did then [at least it WAS there last year, when
I had last been to India :-)], though it has a diesel engine now as
opposed to the steam engine it had back then - from where we had to
take a BG train to Lonavla. That was the #11-12 Madras Dadar Express
which is also still in existence. My first experiences with changing
platforms occurred that day, a necessity in view of the fact that the
"sizes" of the trains was changing, a fact that I made a careful note
of - the passageway in the compartments was definitely wider :-) :-).
Nothing eventful happened on that first train journey, except that
I remember eating Vada-Sambar at Daund and drinking "something":-)
at Pune, before reaching Lonavla in the morning, a full 24 hours
after leaving Bangalore. This journey is especially vivid in my
memory because last month, PBS aired a programme on Travel, which had
the traveller take the same route - in the opposite direction though.

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

Train No. Route/Train Name

1/2 Bombay-Howrah Mail
1/2 Madras-Mangalore Mail
3/4 Howrah-Madras Mail
7/8 Howrah-Puri Jagannath Express
9/10 Howrah-Simla (?) Toofan Express
11/12 Dadar-Madras Express
19/20 Bhubhaneshwar-Secunderabad Konark Express --> becomes Sec.-Bombay
Minar Express later
21/22(?)Howrah-Tatanagar Steel Express
25/26 Bangalore-Trivandrum (?) Island Express
27/28 Madras-Mangalore West Coast Express
33/34 Delhi(?)-Jammu Tawi Mail
37/38 Howrah-Bombay Janata Express
39/40 Bangalore-Madras Brindavan Express
45/46 Howrah-Secunderabad (?) ?????? Express (Is it East Coast or has it
been re-renamed??)
59/60 Bombay-Howrah Geetanjali Express
101/102 Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express
131/132 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mangalore Jayanti Janata Express
133/134 Howrah-Raurkela Ispat Express (are the numbers correct?)
143/144 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Puri Kalinga Express
145/146 Howrah-Madras Coromandel Express
151/152 Bombay-Delhi Rajdhani Express
173/174 Howrah-Jammu Tawi Himgiri Express
183/184 Hatia-Simla ?????? Express (originally to Chandigarh)
201/202 Bombay-Manmad Panchavati Express
309/310 Dhanbad(?)-Sealdah Black Diamond(?) Express
**************************************************************************

------- End of Forwarded Message

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@cs.email

Subject: Re: Indian National Railways

Date: 01 May 1991 01:24:00 -0500


> Hello there, Dheeraj. How is this for starters?

Hello Sudarshana, Pretty good, I say.

> I don't know [yet:-)] as to what exactly you guys do in the ...,

We do all kinds of things. Write about our experiences, exchange news,
discuss new trains, present technical details, and anything else one
can think of.

> but I would LOVE to hear the experiences of others on the list,
> travelling by Indian Railways.

I would send you mine by separate e-mail after I retrieve them from
the archives. The old timers have seen that stuff.

> Have any of you guys ever watched the BBC serial - Great Train
> Journeys of the World?

Yes, many of us did and there was even a discussion on this list.

> BTW, are the others on the net ready to complete the list
> which follows the following lines?

Oh well, I have a copy of trains at a glance but it would be too much
effort to copy the whole thing down.

-dheeraj

PS:
I encourage all other newcomers as well as oldtimers to contribute
to this list. Let us make it active again. To all newcomers, you can
post anything directly to the list by addressing it to irfca@cs.email.
I have complete archives of all the discussions on this list, just in
case anybody is interested.

My preferred address is dheeraj@cs.email. dheeraj@seine.email
is at best temporary. The best address for all administrative requests
(add/delete/change of address, archive request etc) is
irfca-request@cs.email. That would make sure that the request is
looked after, even if I am out of town.

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: Welcome!

Date: 01 May 1991 09:44:00 -0500


Hi,

Welcome to the net, Sudarshana. Good to see that the numbers are
growing. The net has stayed dormant long enough. Time for yet another
revival.

I presume the list of trains indicated by you are the ones you have
traveled by. First of all, each train has now been assigned a unique
number in order to facilitate computerized reservations. The first of
these four digit numbers represents the zonal railway primarily responsi
le for maintenance of the rakes. An exception is "2" which represents a
superfast exp.

> 7/8 Howrah-Puri Jagannath Express

A bit of a surprise. Has more halts than the Mail in the Howrah-Khurd
a Rd. stretch but does not halt at Cuttack. Uses the Naraj Marthipur
bypass.

> 9/10 Howrah-Simla (?) Toofan Express

This used to run between Delhi and Howrah. About three years back, it
was combined with the Udyan Abha Exp. and now runs as the Udyan Abha
Toofan Exp. between Sri Ganganagar and Horwah.

> 19/20 Bhubhaneshwar-Secunderabad Konark Express --> becomes Sec.-Bomby
Minar Express later

Two coaches get attached at Pune bound for Visakhapatnam/Bhubaneswar.

> 33/34 Delhi(?)-Jammu Tawi Mail

Starts from Hazrat Nizamuddin. Used to be called the Kashmir Mail.

> 37/38 Howrah-Bombay Janata Express

Has been cancelled due to introduction of the Chennai Exp.

>45/46 Howrah-Secunderabad (?) ?????? Express (Is it East Coast or ha it
been re-renamed??)

Is the East Coast Exp. and runs till Hyderabad.

> 59/60 Bombay-Howrah Geetanjali Express

A lovely train, succumbed to the wrath of time. Used to have just six
halts when introduced, ignoring even Bilaspur.

> 151/152 Bombay-Delhi Rajdhani Express

My favorite train. Why did they have to introduce Kota as a halt?

> 131/132 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mangalore Jayanti Janata Express

Was remaned the Mangala Exp. about 6 (?) years back, along with
the renaming of the other Jayanti Janatas (Delhi-Muzaffarpur, Ahmedabad-
Delhi, and Bombay-Trivandrum).Later on this was canceled, and the
Kerala Exp. renamed the Kerala Mangala Exp.

> 143/144 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Puri Kalinga Express

Has been "merged" with the now extinct Utkal Exp. and renamed the
Kalinga Utkal Exp.

> 183/184 Hatia-Simla ?????? Express (originally to Chandigarh)

Has been canceled. The Amritsar Tata Exp. now has coaches from Hatia
which get attached at Muri. Also, a portion goes to Kalka from Ambala.

> 309/310 Dhanbad(?)-Sealdah Black Diamond(?) Express
**
Runs between Dhanbad and Howrah.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,
Vijay
------- End of Forwarded Message

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Vijay's letter

Date: 01 May 1991 08:08:00 -0500


This is in reply to Vijay's letter [haven't collected my thoughts yet to
write yetanudder travel experience :-)].

Well, I was stunned by the level of detail you guys have gone into. Seems
like I had better wait for the archives from Dheeraj before I go around
stuffing my mouth with my feet!! Anyway, the list I had put up was NOT a
list of the trains I had travelled by - I have never been on the Rajdhani,
for example :-( :-(. I have no access to things like "Trains at a Glance"
[my suitcase filled up REALLY rapidly on my return trip from India last
summer:-( :-(], and so am NOT up-to-date on the recent happenings. But
at least I should have remembered that bit on the Mangala Exp., and the
bit about the renumbering of the trains to 4-digit numbers, though the info
on the meanings WAS new to me. And I did not know that the Utkal Exp. had
been cancelled - must have been done quite sometime ago, but since my
parents live in the Central Railways area now, and NOT on the SER corridoor,
I am SOMEWHAT :-) out of touch on the trains in THAT region. However, I
still believe that the Black Diamond Exp. runs off Sealdah, and NOT Howrah!
I have never travelled by it, though. That reminds me of the days I used to
pore through the Railway Time Tables figuring out - without the aid of
Calcis, guys :-) :-) - the speeds of the trains on identical segments, and
the Black Diamond used to give the Rajdhani a run for her money [it was
economical too :-) :-)]. There were then, those good days when the Gitanjali
had a minimum number of stops - Tatanagar(or was it Raurkela?), Durg, Nagpur,
Bhusaval [was that all??], and similar was the case of Coromandel Express. I
could not believe that trains would turn up their noses at KHARAGPUR :-). Are
you sure, Vijay about the Kashmir Mail originating from HZ? I was certain
that it was either Delhi or New Delhi!

Some of the questions which have always bothered me :
1) Does the Howrah-Madras Mail do some looping around Jajpur Kheonjhar Road,
because somehow it seemed to me to be the fastest train in the segment!!
2) Vijay mentioned the Cuttack bypass, which I was unaware of. I wish to
know more about the bypass which the Mangala Exp. takes while going from
Renigunta to Katpadi, and the one on South Central (?) Railway which is
on the East Coast (I am pretty vague on this one). Also, do trains bypass
Madras Central with something called the Basin Bridge bypass??

Gotta run for a class - more Questions later. Ciao, you all:-) :-).

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject:

Date: 01 May 1991 11:01:00 -0500


Hi,

In reply to Sudarshana's mail:-

>I am SOMEWHAT :-) out of touch on the trains in THAT region. However,
>still believe that the Black Diamond Exp. runs off Sealdah, and NOT Howah!

At least the time-table indicates that the BD exp. starts from Howrah.

>economical too :-) :-)]. There were then, those good days when the Gitnjali
>had a minimum number of stops - Tatanagar(or was it Raurkela?), Durg, Ngpur,
>Bhusaval [was that all??], and similar was the case of Coromandel Expres. I

The Gitanjali used to halt at Bhusaval, Akola, Nagpur, Durg, Raurkela
and Tatanagar, with a technical halt at Igatpuri for change of locos.
The halt list has been increased to include Dadar, Kalyan, Badnera,
Gondia, Jharsuguda, and Kharagpur.

The Cormomandel Exp. used to have just three halts at Bhubaneswar, Wal. Are
air (now Visakhapatnam) and Vijayawada. Alas! Kharagpur, Khurda Rd.,
Berhampur and Rajahmundry have been added to the halt list.

>you sure, Vijay about the Kashmir Mail originating from HZ? I was certin
>that it was either Delhi or New Delhi!

A slip-up on my part. The Jammu Tawi Mail originates from Delhi. I
was confusing it with the Flying Mail.

>Some of the questions which have always bothered me :
>1) Does the Howrah-Madras Mail do some looping around Jajpur Kheonjhar oad,
> because somehow it seemed to me to be the fastest train in the segmet!!

I have traveled once by the Mail, and didn't seem to encounter any loops
around Jajpur Keonjhar Rd. The primary reason behind trains differing
in time schedules in the same segment is the difference in make-up time
alloted for that particular stretch. In addition, extra time might
be required for precedence cross-overs, etc.

>2) Vijay mentioned the Cuttack bypass, which I was unaware of. I wish o

Well, this bypass splits from the main line at Nergundi Jn. and joins it
at Barang. Chitta had described it in detail in one of the very first
mails to be circulated in IRFCA.

> know more about the bypass which the Mangala Exp. takes while going from
> Renigunta to Katpadi, and the one on South Central (?) Railway which is
> on the East Coast (I am pretty vague on this one). Also, do trains bypass
> Madras Central with something called the Basin Bridge bypass??

Renigunta-Katpadi trains use the Arakkonam bypass in order to avoid
reversal of direction. A well-known bypass on the South Central Rly. is
the Kazipet bypass, splitting from the mail line at Warangal.
I am not aware of any express trains bypassing Madras Central via Basin
Bridge. Maybe, it's used by goods trains.

Regards,
Vijay

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 01 May 1991 09:26:00 -0500


I remember as a boy of 7 travelling from
Trivandrum to Madras,( Can't remember the
name of the train).

The sceenery along the route was breath-taling
as the train winded through the western ghats
and the Nil-giris.
Can anybody on the IRFCA tell me the name
of this express.

Regards
Sivaram. H
A Railway Buff.

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: Your note of Wed, 1 May 91 10:26:21 -0500

Date: 01 May 1991 11:47:00 -0500


Hi,

You are probably talking about the Madras Trivandrum Mail. Strange as it
may sound, there is no other train running just between Madras and Trivandrum,
although there are some which halt at Madras Central on their journey to
Trivandrum. e.g. Guwahati - Trivandrum Exp., Himsagar Exp.

Vijay

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 01 May 1991 09:54:00 -0500


As a railway buff, one of the things which
intrigues me is the Beautiful and splendid
railway bridges.

Can anyone on IRFCA come out with names of some of the
longest and beautiful bridges(RLY)

I for one instance vivdly remember the

KRISHNA river bridge on the Bombay-Trivandrum
line near Raicchur- Guntakal- Cudappah section.

Regards
Sivaram. H
A Rly buff.

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 01 May 1991 10:11:00 -0500


One more question for readers.(sorry for
flooding you guys with questions)

If anybody can tell me the name of
the Ahmedabad-Old Delhi(Metre-Guage)
super-fast train, I can talk about the
memoirs of the trip which I made from
Ahmedabad to Delhi.

By the way, about the earlier query
about the Madras-Trivandrum mail,
I remeber that it was meter-guage
at that time. Also the line was
electrified from Sivakaasi to Madras.
The train became double-engined(Pulled
by 2 engines in the front), after the
loco was changed to electric at Sivakaasi.
TSivaram. H
A Rly buff.

From: Mukunda Kantamneni <kmukunda@umaxc.email

Subject: Rly Bridges.

Date: 01 May 1991 10:12:00 -0500


How about the road-cum-rail bridge on the river Godavari
at Rajamundry?

-mukunda

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Why not tunnels too??

Date: 01 May 1991 10:25:00 -0500


When you ARE on the topic of bridges, why not tunnels too? Yo Dheeraj, if
these topics have already been discussed, please send me the archives fast
:-) :-) or the barrage would continue!!

The most number of bridges in India is on the Bangalore Mangalore line via
Hassan [famous for the space mumbo-jumbo :-) :-)] and Arsikere. This is a
metre-gauge route, and the scenery is breathtaking, to say the least. IMAO
[in my arrogant opinion :-) :-) : for humility, Re: David Copperfield and
Uriah Heep], it is one of the most scenic ones in the country. I have not
been on the Darjeeling train :-( :-(. The number of bridges and tunnels on
the Mango-Bango route :-) is stupendous for the short stretch that it is,
though it DOES relieve the discomfort felt by bus-travel from Bangalore to
Mangalore.

Again, on bridges, I distinctly remember the bridge over the Krishna on the
Howrah-Madras line just prior to Vijayawada while going south. My hazy
memory tells me that the Howrah bridge is NOT for trains, right? And Basin
Bridge is NOT a bridge :-).

Oh, and I remember faintly the name of a station just before Kharagpur, on
the northbound Howrah-Bombay Mail, the name starts with an 'H' I believe,
after which the tracks curve a lot, and I used to get a big thrill watching
the whole train from the engine to the last bogie. Of course, I am a big
one on sticking-my-face-at-the-window throughout the journey. Unfortunately,
:-) :-) :-), I don't anymore come anywhere close to resembling the monkey
that I used to appear as, at the end of those steam-engined-train journeys
of yore!!

A couple of questions again:
1) At Kharagpur, which is the NORMAL route, onto Tata or on South to ...?
I mean, ONE of the routes would need a turn in the engine direction,
right? As a follow-up, at Shoranur, I believe, the Mangalore-Trivandrum
is the NORMAL route and so, Madras-Mangalore trains have to do an
"about-turn".
2) Does anybody on the net subscribe to any mag from which he/she extracts
info?

And hey, guys, no need to send me a separate copy of your letters if you are
already writing to the net (especially Vijay!) 'coz I'm already ON the net.
Ciao.

From: Aayush Asthana <aa@iti.email

Subject: Re: Why not tunnels too??

Date: 01 May 1991 13:00:00 -0500


Tunnels are hot.. the British certainly knew how to make 'em..
consider the 104 tunnels from Kalka to Simla.. an experience that
cannot be forgotten. The narrow gauge compartments were a little
cramped, but even so it was just great by train.. even more so by
the shuttle. This dates back to 1975-78.. of course, it wouldn't
run during the snow..
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aayush Asthana
----------------------------------------------------------------------
aa@iti.email | 2901 Hubbard Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 -usa-
aa@mms.email | (313)-769-4000
-------------------------- Jargon ------------------------------------
On Toffler's terms - surrealistic hyperbole: Info-warrior, Eco-spasm!
------------------------- Disclaimer ---------------------------------
Opinions and Net-Speak are mine alone, not of/for ITI.

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 01 May 1991 11:04:00 -0500


On the topic of the Mangalore-Bangalore
line thrugh Hassan, I saw a documentary
of this on the Doordarshan in India
in 88.
The sceneries were truly breathtaking.
The engineering feats achieved in
boring the tunnels and the spanning
of the bridges, were awsome.

Regards
Sivaram. H
A Rly Buff

From: Vicraj T. Thomas <vic@cs.email

Subject: Re: your mail

Date: 01 May 1991 09:03:00 -0500


Siva. Hari writes:
>
...
> If anybody can tell me the name of
> the Ahmedabad-Old Delhi(Metre-Guage)
> super-fast train, I can talk about the
> memoirs of the trip which I made from
> Ahmedabad to Delhi.
>

I don't remember the answer to your question but you reminded me of the journey
on the Sarvodaya Express I once took from Ahmedabad to N. Delhi. I travelled
on this train in 1979, a few weeks after it was introduced. It was all 2nd
class with cushioned berths (which was rather unusual for those days) and was
fully vestibuled. It is the only train I've ever been on that had music piped
into all the compartments (mostly hindustani classical, some Karnatic music,
interspersed with AIR news bulletins). Even though the music was rather soft,
I found it irritating after the initial novelty wore out. I'm told they've
turned it off completely now. This train also boasted cool drinking water from
Stainless Steel drums instead of earthen pots! Unfortunately I don't remember
the colour of the engine and bogies on this train but it wasn't the usual red.
As most of you probably know, this was a BG train and so went South from A'bad
to Vadodara on the A'bad Bombay line where it joined the B'bay - Delhi line to
go North to Delhi. Inspite of this longer route, it was faster than the
fastest MG train from A'bad to Delhi. I wish I could remember more about this
journey, the first train journey my sister and I took all by ourselves.

Another unusual train out of A'bad was the Narvottam express to Madras. This
train, also all 2nd class, all vestibuled, all cushioned, had a library! The
library consisted mostly of newspapers and magazines. Again, I don't know of
any other IR train with a library. I have no idea if this train still exists.

Any other trains with libraries and/or piped music?

> ...
> TSivaram. H
> A Rly buff.
>

< Vicraj

--------
vic@cs.email Dept. of Computer Science
..!{uunet|noao}!arizona!vic University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721