IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 5621 - 5640
From: Shanku Niyogi <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 18 Mar 1999 10:51:16 -0500
The locomotive shown is probably a WAG9 - I have a picture of one from
my
India trip at <A HREF="http://threshold.simplenet.com/india99/images/wag9.jpg">http://threshold.simplenet.com/india99/images/wag9.jpg</A>
in the same livery (which, by the way, I think is really ugly!)
My guess is, Japan was probably the first Asian country to have already
made
such a loco.
Was there a number on the loco?
Shanku
From: S Pai <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 18 Mar 1999 11:49:30 -0500
> IR is the second largest network railway in the world (largest is
USA?)
Hmm... A few years back I heard it was the "second largest in Asia",
which
I understood to mean second after the USSR (as it then was). So where
does
Russia stand today in terms of its railway network, and where does the
USA
stand? Of course, the route-kilometerage *in current use* might be
higher
for India given the large number of routes that are dormant or in disuse
in
the USA and probably also in Russia.
--Satish
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 18 Mar 1999 13:05:26 -0500
S Pai wrote:
>
> > IR is the second largest network railway in the world (largest is
USA?)
>
> Hmm... A few years back I heard it was the "second largest in Asia",
which
> I understood to mean second after the USSR (as it then was). So where
does
> Russia stand today in terms of its railway network, and where does the
USA
> stand? Of course, the route-kilometerage *in current use* might be
higher
> for India given the large number of routes that are dormant or in
disuse in
> the USA and probably also in Russia.
It may very well be that IR is the largest railway system under single
management now, what with the disintegration of the railways of the USSR
into multiple smaller organizations.
In terms of passenger km, IR should be right up there near the top if
not the top. In terms of freight tonne km, the entire railway system of
US probably does considerably more of those than IR. These are of course
all guesses on my part.
Jishnu.
From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 18 Mar 1999 18:59:53 -0500
. Do you know? [Some stuff for the FAQ]
>
> -IR is the second largest network railway in the world (largest is
USA?)
>
Or the Soviet Union?
> -IR employs about 1.6 million people.
>
Which, incidentally, makes it the largest employer in the world.
From: Joydeep Dutta <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 18 Mar 1999 19:52:34 -0500
The loco number of WAG9 Navayug is 31031 and all WAG9 are allocated to
the Gomoh shed on the Grand-Chord route on the Eastern railway between
Dhanbad and Mughal sarai.An interesring feature of WAG9 is a button
called BPFA (Button Push for fault Acknowkegement). If the on
microprocessor displays some trouble on the screen atop the driving
console then the driver has to just acknowledge by pushing the BPFA
switch and the computer will automatically set everything right.
JOYDEEP
>From: Vijay Balasubramanian <VBalasubramanian@softrax.email
>To: "'irfca@cs.email <irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
>Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:29:13 -0500
>
>Hi Folks,
>
> Some interesting info. from the November 1998 issue of IR:
>
>1. First indigenous 6000 HP 3-Phase Electric Locomotive "Navyug"
flagged
>off
>
> This happened on Nov. 14 at CLW. With this, CLW becomes the first
>among developing countries, 2nd in Asia (which is the first) and the
5th
>in the world to manufacture such a loco. indegenously. Photo shows the
>freight loco - the garlands have hidden the classification - could be a
>WAG8 or WAG9. Shell seems to resemble the WAP5. Has a light green
>livery with a yellow band.
>
>
>2. Foundation stone for new 85 km. BG line between Karur and Salem laid
>on Oct. 25. Will not only ease congestion in the Salem-Erode section,
>but reduce the distance between Salem and Karur by 45 km. Will connect
>the important towns of Mallur, Rasipuram, Namakkal, Lathuwadi, Mohanur
>and Vangal. Rasipuram and Namakkal are the biggest trade centers for
>sago, starch, grains, groundnut oil and handlooms. Namakkal is known
>for lorry body-building. The line crosses the Cauvery river at
Mohanur,
>which will be the longest bridge in Tamilnadu with a length of 1.25 km.
>[trains such as the Mumbai-Nagercoil Exp. and the Chennai-Kanyakumari
>Exp. could use this route to bypass Erode and get to Dindigul]
>
>3. Do you know? [Some stuff for the FAQ]
>
>-IR is the second largest network railway in the world (largest is
USA?)
>
>-IR is presently divided into 16 Zonal Railways (so these new zones
have
>gone into effect?)
>
>-The first train on Indian soil ran between Mumbai and Thane on 16th
>April, 1853.
>
>-IR has about 62,000 route kms.
>
>-IR employs about 1.6 million people.
>
>-IR carries over 11 million passengers and 1 million tonnes of freight
>everyday.
>
>- IR has 6,984 railway stations.
>
>-The longest journey on IR is from Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari, a
distance
>of about 3,751 kms. covered by Himsagar Exp. in about 66 hrs.
>
>-The longest railway platform in the world is at Kharagpur. It is
2,733
>ft. in length. (this is true if you exclude subways - a station on
>Chicago subway has longer platforms)
>
>-Nehru Setu on river Sone is the longest railway bridge.
>
>-The longest tunnel is on the Konkan rly. which is 6.5 km in length.
>
>-Calcutta Metro is the 1st and only underground rly system in India.
>
>-Computerized reservation system for IR started at Delhi in 1986.
>
>-IR's first electric train ran on Feb. 3, 1925 between Bombay VT -
>Kurla.
>
>-Toilets on trains were introduced in 1891 in 1st class and in 1907 in
>lower classes.
>
>-42 railway companies operated in the country before Independence.
>
>-Fairy Queen (1855) is the oldest preserved locomotive in working
order.
>
>-The manufacture of steam locos. in the counrey stopped in 1972.
>
>-Coaches are manufactured at ICF/Chennai, RCF/Kapurthala and
>BEML/Bangalore (what kind of coaches are produced at BEML?)
>
>-IR's only rack and pinion system type of line is from Mettupalayam to
>Conoor.
>
>-The National Railway Museum at New Delhi was set-up in 1977.
>
>
>Vijay
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From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: railroader and others
Date: 18 Mar 1999 21:58:11 -0500
Hello Dr. Walker,
IN A VERY LIGHT VEIN:
You apparently detest diesels.
Why else would you refer to them as "disease"l in your mail?(OK OK,I
know its a typo!)
Anyway, I don't fancy them that much either, nor does Harsh!
Best regards.
Shankar
Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath wrote:
>
> Dear Rajesh,
> You mention that Railway Board have called tenders for six locos
for
> DHR, Are these for diseasel or steam engines? What was the "earlier
> specification of 1996"?
> Ken Walker
>
>
From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Twin Single Line
Date: 18 Mar 1999 21:58:20 -0500
Hello,
I must admit this is a new one for me.
What is a twin single line and how is it different from a double line?
Best regards.
Shankar
D.G.Goswami wrote:
>
> Hi gang,
> Certain sections of IR are twin single line rather than
double
> line.What are the pros and cons of twin single line over double
line?Certain
> sections on the Vadodara-Godhra route are also twin single line.
>
> Chinmay Goswami,
> Surat
From: Jayant S <>
Subject: Diseasels ?
Date: 18 Mar 1999 22:25:54 -0500
Shankar wrote ?
> Why else would you refer to them as "disease"l in your mail?(OK OK,I
> know its a typo!)
Hmm. I wonder what Dr Walker would call electric locos
in that case ? :)
"ill-ache-tric" locos, perhaps ?
--
Jayant S
--
From: Sachin P Keshavan <>
Subject: Re: Twin Single Line (I think...)
Date: 18 Mar 1999 22:38:22 -0500
Guys,
The line between Coimbatore Jn and Palghat Jn, under Southern Railway
is operated by this twin single line block system. This is what I make
of the Twin Single Line Block System. Here there is no seperation
between the up and the down tracks.There will be two tracks and both can
be used for up and down traffic. Each track will have two set of
signals. One for the trains coming from the up direction and one for
trains on the down direction.
The block system used is some thing known as the Single Line token less
block system. It essentially works on the principle of the Neales ball
Token System, but I think the handing over the token (in a badminton
racket like thing) is done away with.
The Advantage (from what the Railways say) is that, the trains can be
ran on any direction on any track. But this has led to many accidents.
The twin single line between Cbe and Pgt, has atleast had two major
train accidents (one being two trains hitting each other)
Cheers,
Sachin.
*******************************************
Sachin P Keshavan,
E mail: sachin_pk@hotmail.email
Pager: 9624 - 285433
Phone: +91 - 80- 3314500
Home page: <A HREF="http://209.67.19.99/~sachin_pk">http://209.67.19.99/~sachin_pk</A>
-------------------------------------------
When everything seems lost,
Remember, future remains .....
*******************************************
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From: Sachin P Keshavan <>
Subject: Ranks of drivers
Date: 18 Mar 1999 22:46:26 -0500
Guys,
I have come to know that there exist a ranking system for the engine
drivers. Can any one explain to me the difference between a shunter,
diesel assistant and driver. And do drivers have classifications like
mail driver, express driver etc.
Thanks,
Sachin.
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From: Joydeep Dutta <>
Subject: Re: Ranks of drivers
Date: 19 Mar 1999 00:53:02 -0500
Yes They do have ranking
You begin your life nowadays as a diesel assitant or an electric
assitant and your main task is then to check the locomotives and lookout
for the signals and make sure that your driver calls out the signal
aspects properly. Then you graduate to a shunter or a goods train driver
known as driver B. You then have the luxury of some one assitting you.
You can sometimes be cool and leave the throttle to him
and ask him to learn how to drive. Then you become a grade A driver and
you are now usually entrusted with the stopping passenger trains but may
some times lay your hands on mail express. Then comes the great post of
driver " A Special ". You then only drive mail/ express and by that time
your hairs may be grey. You may also get the privilege to operate
Rajdhani or Shatabdi trains if your performance recored is good. Dont
worry due to shortage of drivers many goods drivers sometimes get mail
express link.
Example : M.S. Narayana Driver B, Kharagpur.He works most of the time on
the top link.
Joydeep
>From: "Sachin P Keshavan" <sachin_pk@hotmail.email
>To: irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Ranks of drivers
>Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:46:26 PST
>
>Guys,
> I have come to know that there exist a ranking system for the engine
>drivers. Can any one explain to me the difference between a shunter,
>diesel assistant and driver. And do drivers have classifications like
>mail driver, express driver etc.
>
>
>Thanks,
>Sachin.
>Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>
>
______________________________________________________
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From: Shanku Niyogi <>
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
Date: 19 Mar 1999 10:29:19 -0500
Hmmm....I thought I saw a couple of WAG9s near Delhi with the word
Ghaziabad
writen on the side...
-----Original Message-----
From: Joydeep Dutta [mailto:joydeepdutta@hotmail.email
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 1999 7:53 PM
To: VBalasubramanian@softrax.email
Cc: irfca@cs.email
Subject: Re: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
The loco number of WAG9 Navayug is 31031 and all WAG9 are allocated to
the Gomoh shed on the Grand-Chord route on the Eastern railway between
Dhanbad and Mughal sarai.An interesring feature of WAG9 is a button
called BPFA (Button Push for fault Acknowkegement). If the on
microprocessor displays some trouble on the screen atop the driving
console then the driver has to just acknowledge by pushing the BPFA
switch and the computer will automatically set everything right.
JOYDEEP
>From: Vijay Balasubramanian <VBalasubramanian@softrax.email
>To: "'irfca@cs.email <irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Info. from Nov. 1998 IR magazine
>Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:29:13 -0500
>
>Hi Folks,
>
> Some interesting info. from the November 1998 issue of IR:
>
>1. First indigenous 6000 HP 3-Phase Electric Locomotive "Navyug"
flagged
>off
>
> This happened on Nov. 14 at CLW. With this, CLW becomes the first
>among developing countries, 2nd in Asia (which is the first) and the
5th
>in the world to manufacture such a loco. indegenously. Photo shows the
>freight loco - the garlands have hidden the classification - could be a
>WAG8 or WAG9. Shell seems to resemble the WAP5. Has a light green
>livery with a yellow band.
>
>
>2. Foundation stone for new 85 km. BG line between Karur and Salem laid
>on Oct. 25. Will not only ease congestion in the Salem-Erode section,
>but reduce the distance between Salem and Karur by 45 km. Will connect
>the important towns of Mallur, Rasipuram, Namakkal, Lathuwadi, Mohanur
>and Vangal. Rasipuram and Namakkal are the biggest trade centers for
>sago, starch, grains, groundnut oil and handlooms. Namakkal is known
>for lorry body-building. The line crosses the Cauvery river at
Mohanur,
>which will be the longest bridge in Tamilnadu with a length of 1.25 km.
>[trains such as the Mumbai-Nagercoil Exp. and the Chennai-Kanyakumari
>Exp. could use this route to bypass Erode and get to Dindigul]
>
>3. Do you know? [Some stuff for the FAQ]
>
>-IR is the second largest network railway in the world (largest is
USA?)
>
>-IR is presently divided into 16 Zonal Railways (so these new zones
have
>gone into effect?)
>
>-The first train on Indian soil ran between Mumbai and Thane on 16th
>April, 1853.
>
>-IR has about 62,000 route kms.
>
>-IR employs about 1.6 million people.
>
>-IR carries over 11 million passengers and 1 million tonnes of freight
>everyday.
>
>- IR has 6,984 railway stations.
>
>-The longest journey on IR is from Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari, a
distance
>of about 3,751 kms. covered by Himsagar Exp. in about 66 hrs.
>
>-The longest railway platform in the world is at Kharagpur. It is
2,733
>ft. in length. (this is true if you exclude subways - a station on
>Chicago subway has longer platforms)
>
>-Nehru Setu on river Sone is the longest railway bridge.
>
>-The longest tunnel is on the Konkan rly. which is 6.5 km in length.
>
>-Calcutta Metro is the 1st and only underground rly system in India.
>
>-Computerized reservation system for IR started at Delhi in 1986.
>
>-IR's first electric train ran on Feb. 3, 1925 between Bombay VT -
>Kurla.
>
>-Toilets on trains were introduced in 1891 in 1st class and in 1907 in
>lower classes.
>
>-42 railway companies operated in the country before Independence.
>
>-Fairy Queen (1855) is the oldest preserved locomotive in working
order.
>
>-The manufacture of steam locos. in the counrey stopped in 1972.
>
>-Coaches are manufactured at ICF/Chennai, RCF/Kapurthala and
>BEML/Bangalore (what kind of coaches are produced at BEML?)
>
>-IR's only rack and pinion system type of line is from Mettupalayam to
>Conoor.
>
>-The National Railway Museum at New Delhi was set-up in 1977.
>
>
>Vijay
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From: Marcelo Benoit <>
Subject: India international services
Date: 20 Mar 1999 01:25:41 -0500
Hello to all the list! I have been reading the posts and is very
interesting the operative of the railway in India. I have a question:
how
many international services (to Pakistan and Bangladesh) are operated?
How
is the situation of the railways on the far east of the country?
Thank you
Marcelo Benoit
Montevideo, Uruguay
South America
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~lfu1/index-8.html">http://members.tripod.com/~lfu1/index-8.html</A>
From: Nandagopal Gangadharan <>
Subject: Second largest...
Date: 20 Mar 1999 02:09:17 -0500
Hi gang,
In terms of route length, Russia is still on top. But the gap with IR
has been bridged due to the political disintegration.
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From: Deepak Sapra <>
Subject: SUBSCRIBE to IRFCA
Date: 20 Mar 1999 02:24:31 -0500
Hi,
Can you pl. sign me on in IRFCA.
I am 24, a mech. engineer, and am working in IR.
Thanks and Bye,
Deepak Sapra
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From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: India international services
Date: 20 Mar 1999 03:08:46 -0500
Marcelo Benoit wrote:
> Hello to all the list! I have been reading the posts and is very
> interesting the operative of the railway in India. I have a question:
how
> many international services (to Pakistan and Bangladesh) are operated?
How
> is the situation of the railways on the far east of the country?
I think the Indian Railway rake (I think it is a DMU from Amritsar)
reaches
Wagha and waits. The PR rake is waiting on the Pakistan side of the
border. The
passengers walk into the other country after the custom formalities.
This
arrangement is better from the security point of view by reducing the
risk of
smuggling etc.There used to be a 'Samjhauta Express' from Amritsar to
Lahore in
the recent past, but I think that does not run any more. The Samjhauta
(Hindi
for agreement or is it compromise ?) Exp used to consist of half the
coaches
from IR and half from PR. However the IR used to detach the Indian loco
at the
border and the PR would then use their loco to work the train to Lahore.
The India - Pakistan Bus run seems to be more in the news recently.
Similar bus services between Calcutta and Dhaka are running or almost on
the
verge of running. However there is no passenger train service to B'desh
yet.
Although there is a BG line between the two countries.
Nice to see you on the IRFCA !
Apurva
From: Philip Wormald <>
Subject: unsubscribe
Date: 20 Mar 1999 03:36:51 -0500
unsubscribe
PWormald@bigfoot.email
From: GOODWIN ALCO <>
Subject: Re: Diseasels ?
Date: 20 Mar 1999 19:53:03 -0500
Jayant S wrote:
>
> Shankar wrote ?
> > Why else would you refer to them as "disease"l in your mail?(OK OK,I
> > know its a typo!)
>
> Hmm. I wonder what Dr Walker would call electric locos
> in that case ? :)
>
> "ill-ache-tric" locos, perhaps ?
"Toasters" Perhaps :)
>
> --
> Jayant S
> --
From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>
Subject: Re: railroader and others
Date: 21 Mar 1999 16:22:18 -0500
Hi Shankar, Jayant and GOODWIN ALCO,
I don't actually detest diseasels; indeed I recognise them as a
necessity, however unfortunate. The term was actually invented back in
the
late 1950s by someone who did indeed detest them. He's long dead, having
lost his life when he rolled his Beetle while motorcading steam trains
in
Queensland. He had a very strange turn of phrase, and many of his
expressions have permanently migrated into the language of Australian
fans.
I don't mind electrics at all, incidentally, though the wires do
get
in the way rather when one is trying to photograph steam trains. I'm a
fan
of electrics from childhood, and also far prefer trams to pongmobiles
(buses -- also called "stink buggies"). Most diesel powered vehicles are
rather potent sources of pollutants -- particularly nitrous oxides (NOx)
--
and are a hazard to human health. They are at best a necessary evil.
So behind the lighthearted slinging off there is a slightly more
serious attitude.
But Rajesh still hasn't told me what was in that DHR tender
spec!
Happy railfanning
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: Shankar <shankie@emirates.email
To: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <kjw_meh@powerup.email
Cc: Rajesh Gandhi <rshreeji@bom5.email IRFCA - mailing list
<irfca@cs.email
Date: Friday, 19 March 1999 3:59
Subject: Re: railroader and others
>Hello Dr. Walker,
>IN A VERY LIGHT VEIN:
>You apparently detest diesels.
>Why else would you refer to them as "disease"l in your mail?(OK OK,I
>know its a typo!)
>Anyway, I don't fancy them that much either, nor does Harsh!
>Best regards.
>Shankar
>
>Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath wrote:
>>
>> Dear Rajesh,
>> You mention that Railway Board have called tenders for six
locos
for
>> DHR, Are these for diseasel or steam engines? What was the "earlier
>> specification of 1996"?
>> Ken Walker
>>
>>
>
From: S Pai <>
Subject: women drivers?
Date: 21 Mar 1999 18:30:09 -0500
I've been recently re-reading parts of Bill Aitken's "Exploring Indian
Railways" and I noticed that at one point he mentions IR had a single
woman
diesel loco driver. The book was written around 1987. How many women
drivers does IR have today? Were there ever any women who drove steam
locos on IR?
--Satish