IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 6661 - 6680

From: S Pai <>

Subject: steam [Re: Trainhopping/Film]

Date: 17 Jun 1999 18:42:13 -0500


>> This is not fair !!! I came to Pune in 1990, long
>> after this WG had gone !!! Anyway, I've seen steam
>> sights on NFR and WR too........

> The WG is before the 90s. Maybe 70s - 80s. That time we did
> not go ape at the
> sight of a WG.

Yeah... I travelled many times by trains hauled by WG's (Palwal shuttle
trips that I took between Faridabad and New Delhi I remember quite
clearly; later this train terminated at Hazrat Nizamuddin) in the early
'70s, and also took many long-distance north-south trips on trains
hauled by WP's (JJ, GT, etc.). Had I only known then that these beasts
would soon be gone, I'm sure I'd have spent a lot more time just looking
at them and soaking them in. As it is, I don't even have one photograph
(I mean one that I have taken) of any of these from those days, when
they were so accessible that they seemed commonplace and totally
ordinary. As you say, we didn't go ape at their sight, then. :-) I
remember being curious about the catenary poles going up on the
Delhi-Agra section and wondering what they were for... It was quite
common then at a large station anywhere in the country to find a dozen
steam locos resting along with diesel locos, at the various platforms or
in the yard.

But I don't miss getting covered in soot and coal dust at the end of a
three-day journey in an open-window carriage hauled by one of these...

--Satish

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Pilferage

Date: 17 Jun 1999 18:52:09 -0500


Thanks to Satish for his inputs on this subject

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: WDS 4 webpage

Date: 17 Jun 1999 21:05:46 -0500


Gang !

Check out the donkey of the IR - the WDS 4 on my new webpage.
Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A>
and click on the WDS4 link right at the end.

Apurva

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: WDM2 Question

Date: 17 Jun 1999 21:13:09 -0500


 

Steven Sliwka wrote:

Members Funny Apurva that you should mention models.  I'm in the process of making a WDM2, but I have a question that hopefully someone can answer.  Does the radiator grille at the end of the long hood angle with the hood?  Or does it sit flat?  If anyone can help by providing pictures it would be helpful.  That's the problem when you live in the US, you never get to see one of these beasts in real life.  It sounds like taking pictures in India is a hassle too.  At least it isn't as easy as in the states.
The radiators are flat - there are vertical two radiator cores on either side of the loco. The 'radiator room' accesable from a small door in the long hood, contains a drum type oil filter and the single large radiator fan with its hydrostatic drive. Let me know what views of the WDM 2 you need to see and maybe there is already a picture somewhere.

Do not worry too much about taking pictures on the IR. I have had the policemen on duty take pictures of us on the locomotives without problems. It depends on your approach !

Apurva

From: Anne Ogborn <>

Subject: Re: Models

Date: 17 Jun 1999 22:19:05 -0500


Well, the models are spectacular! Very, very impressive work.

The WP is a real tour de force, and the WDM2's are quite spectacular
themselves.
If modellers in India continue to turn out work like Raman Chitale and
Suresh Rao's,
I look forward to a whole new era of really superb modelling.


--
Anniepoo
Need loco motors?
<A HREF="http://www.idiom.com/~anniepoo/depot/motors.html">http://www.idiom.com/~anniepoo/depot/motors.html</A>

From: Dr. M S M Saifullah <>

Subject: Re: Models of Indian Railways

Date: 17 Jun 1999 23:08:51 -0500


Hello Gang!

>Check out some models made in Pune of Indian Railway locos.
>Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A>
>and click on the models link right at the end.

Are the models available for sale? If yes, how much is the cost?

Regards
Saifullah

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Bhore ghat pics

Date: 17 Jun 1999 23:16:23 -0500


The wheels on top of the wagon are used to open the hoppers at the
bottom and
side to let out the ballast stones. All these wagons have automatic
continuos
vacuum brake system. The terrain where this picture was taken has 1 in
22
gradient, so good brakes are essential.

Apurva

Don Mills wrote:

> do the cars there not have individual braking. the wheel at the top
of our
> car operates in this capacity. don in WV
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email
> To: Don Mills <dmills@MARSHALL.email
> Cc: IRFCA <irfca@cs.email
> Date: Thursday, June 17, 1999 1:38 PM
> Subject: Re: Bhore ghat pics
>
> >
> >Don Mills wrote:
> >
> >> apurva,
> >> On your web page, the picture with you and three others on the car,
> >> On the BFR is that dual Braking wheels at the top of the car? If
not,
> what
> >> is the other wheel for? How did you guys get to ride on top of the
car.
> >> Was this a legal ride or where you acting out the role of a hobo?
> >
> >Don, the BFR is the flat car that we are on. The other wagon is a
ballast
> >carrier. The wheels open the discharge hoppers at the bottom. We had
got
> stuck
> >in the ghats because the Pune bound trains were all held up due to a
> derailment.
> >So this maintenance rake was actually a life saver for us. Had this
train
> not
> >arrived, we would have to wait (without food or water) for the
traffic to
> start
> >moving, or walk back 11 Kms in the approaching evening through many
unlit
> >tunnels. It was already 1700 Hrs in the evening.
> >Normally we would not be riding the BFR, but thank god we got some
ride out
> of
> >the ghats.
> >
> >Apurva
> >
> >
> >

From: hvc <>

Subject: Re: Photography -- and idiot restrictions

Date: 17 Jun 1999 23:44:55 -0500


Permit or not, Photography at New Delhi Rly. Station is prohibited.
There
are several signs that say so. If somebody is still keen(and has a
specific
permission), they should approach the ASM on duty who will post an
orderly
with them. Anything else can lead into uninvited trouble.

Footover bridges, aisles and far end of the platforms are not free from
`Thullas' (meaning `one who loafs', a north Indian expression for
khakis).
Big stations, apart from workshops and `bridges/dams' are the most
likely
places for getting into trouble. Also watch out for that RPF/GRP post
usually situated at Platform No. 1.

Shanku's advise on camera and film is perfect only ISO 800 is not freely
available here and when it is, the cost is tantalising. starting from 48
mm,
Pentax 160 zoom does have some limitations when it comes to capturing
width
but is otherwise excellent(best) for long distance stealth photography.
Olympus(mju) and Minolta(Riva) also make some excellent compact cameras.


Harsh

From: hvc <>

Subject: Steaming Movie.

Date: 17 Jun 1999 23:56:59 -0500


Tommorrow i.e. Saturday, June 19th at 21.30 HRS IST, Star Movies(SE Asia beam) are showing an American movie called `Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe'. The movie is as good as it sounds and it has some excellent American steam in action.
 

From: hvc <>

Subject: Re: Trainhopping/Film

Date: 18 Jun 1999 00:19:11 -0500


Dear Satish, Apurva and others,
What you say is
not
entirely unheard of as this was very common thing which one talked about
on
the Delhi - Howrah trunk route in the early eighties. Although Iam not
very
clear about the procedure but it has to be a very thick wire to cause
short
circuiting for everything else would simply burn off.

The above may be a thing of the past(for unknown reasons), but theft of
street light lamps is more prevalent than ever. In Delhi, there are
trained
professional gangs(and training schools) that operate at will. A trained
guy
takes just ten minutes to climb a 30 Ft. pole, open the casing and come
down
with the bulb that costs a mere Rs. 850!

India has no shortage of Natwarlal's (historic conman) who once sold the
Patna Rly. Station as his property!

Harsh


>Apurva,
>
>Many years ago I heard a story similar to yours, which is that some
>thieves had an organized way to steal the cables of the OHE catenary!
>Apparently the trick was to tie a steel or other wire firmly to one of
>the rails, and a stone at the other end, and hurl the store over the
>catenary. The short-circuit causes the circuit-breakers to trip for
>several km on either side, and these guys know exactly how long it
takes
>for the railway folks to come up there to investigate in their jeep or
>whatever. In that time they use ladders and casually cut and roll up
>catenary wires, grab insulators, etc.
>
>Now, this is only second-hand narration. I don't know whether it
>actually happened, but I'm inclined to believe people would have tried
>it a few times. Haven't heard of it recently, perhaps these days the
>cable is not worth the time and effort for such an operation. (Maybe
>the material has changed; I believe street light wires were also stolen
>regularly earlier when the material was some more expensive alloy than
>currently.)
>
>--Satish
>
>

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Models of Indian Railways

Date: 18 Jun 1999 00:32:43 -0500


The WDM 2 is sold for about 10 K each. You could send a mail to
Raman c/o Dr. Shirish Yande<yandesh@vsnl.email and have a direct
communication with him.

"Dr. M S M Saifullah" wrote:

> Hello Gang!
>
> >Check out some models made in Pune of Indian Railway locos.
> >Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A>
> >and click on the models link right at the end.
>
> Are the models available for sale? If yes, how much is the cost?
>
> Regards
> Saifullah

From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>

Subject: Subway?

Date: 18 Jun 1999 01:38:45 -0500



Hi!

Enclosed here is a mail sent by my colleague to Safety Manager, of
Godrej
& Boyce. The question came to my mind, is this the case of many other
subways around India.?

Shrinivas

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "PATIL S. H. " <psh@godrej.email
To: "A.K.Kulkarni" <akkul@godrej.email
Cc: crly.cpro@gems.email
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 14:27:36 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Godrej Subway-

To,

Mr. A. K. Kulkarni,
Manager, Safety,

Sir,

This is to bring to your notice , the plight of Godrej employees who
suffer
while using the subway for coming & going from work.

Since about 2 weeks,the Railways have taken up some maintenance work on
the tracks above the Godrej subway.Due to which they seem to have
removed
the sheets covering this way. So, one can imagine what must be coming
down
from above each time a passenger train passes overhead. And spoiling the
day of our workmen. Even loose stones come down & have resulted in
causing
minor injuries to a few.

This problem is faced by hundreds of our employees & vehicle users
daily.So,
I hereby request you to look into the matter at the earliest .It will
help
in avoiding any major mishap in near future.

Thanking you,

Patil SH

CC: 1) Chief PRO, Central Railway, Mumbai CST.

From: poras p.saklatwalla <>

Subject: KR Trip! (fwd)

Date: 18 Jun 1999 01:40:09 -0500


Gang,
I am game for such an Idea. Now my trip of Madras.

Well I go chronologically.
June 5. departed from dadar terminus by 1063 Chennai express. Reached
Kalyan on time and then waited for 1/2 an hour at the station. No TT
came
to check tickets and hordes of locals using suburban railway got down at
Kalyan. At kalyan 2137 Punjab Mail came after us and left 10 mins before
us. Reached Karjat, Lonavala and then Pune 20 mins late, though train
running at good speed. At Pune we came on Platform no.2 and there was
chaos, and in all this chaos I went right till the loco and saw the WCAM
3
detach and the Guntakul based WDM2A take over. \WOnder what is this 2A.

Train Started from Pune at 00.10 and alas the police came and told us to
down all window shutters. I asked them and they said it was due to
dacoits between Pune and Solapur. The train ran at great speed to daund
and reached daund at dot 1.30 am. I took a chance and opened the door
and
got out at daund on the pretext of having tea and smoke. I was made to
hurry by the GRP and he closed the door again. After that there was no
point in staying awake but I got up at Solapur and saw the 7032 Hyd exp
aand again slept till Gulbarga. Just after leavng Gulbarga our train
was
taken on the loop and wow I saw the double headed KJM WDM 2 with thick
black smoke in charge of the KK Some bogies of this train were in blue
livelry and the AC coaches too. As soon as the train crossed us we
began
moving backwards a novel experience indeed for me and then after KK had
left we came on to main line and proceeded for Gulbarga. Then it was
Shahad, Wadi, Yadgir, and there was no sign of Udyan express. Then onto
Narayanpet and Raichur and then Manthralayam. Goodness I really saw the
soil change colours. Then I took a chance of sitting on the door as
luckily my wife dozed off and till Guntakul it was on the door of the
compartment. In between I saw the Madras Mail and then till Guntakul
may
be a few 4 bogies passengers.

One thing very important I noticed was that there were patches when the
tracks were double. At Guntakul after the train departed finally the
tkt
examiner arrived.

Then it was onto Gooty for 2 mins and then straight to Cuddapah where I
located the 6012 Bombay Express. A very important observation I
noticed
was this time the train skipped Nandalur station. The train reached
Reniguntta 1/2 an hour before time. I had all the time in the world to
go near the loco. There was some problem in detaching the WDM2A - it
nearly took 20 mins. Then came the WAP 4 No.22221 of AJJ shed.

The train reached Perambur at 19.47 and then stood there til 20.15.
and ultimately reached at 20 :235 hrs. At chennai just as we were
entering
the Plat form we saw the Cheran express departing. The Great T.N.
Express
was getting ready to depart. The cheran Express had an excellent
livelry
and it was blue with a white dash on the window.

As per instns from the gang I took the MRTS and went till the last stn
and
returned on the same train once again. Not very impressive as 1/2 the
bogies were green and yellow and other 1/2 yellow and maroon. The train
was absolutely empty and after chepauk I was a little scared to travel
by
this train. At Egmore saw the lovely YAM JUST OUTSIDE THE PLATFORM AND
SAW THE NEW VAIGAI EXP.

Whilst returning from Madras came by air thanks to my wife extending the
stay and I had to cancell 1064 up ticket. I felt as if someone had
brought me abruptly to Mumbai in my sleep ! \

THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO TRAVEL THAN BY IR !

THREE CHEERS TO IR !!!

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Models of Indian Railways

Date: 18 Jun 1999 02:13:21 -0500


Hello,
Bravo, Poona! (or Pune). Its indeed heartening to note that such
masterpieces are turned out from one's own home city.

Both the WDM/2 and WP are very accurate indeed: I was particularly
impressed with the grillework on the short hood of the WDM/2, and the
vertical metal bars on the headlight of the WP: a standard feature in
the earliest WPs.

I have at home a model of a WDM/2 in the same dark blue/light blue
livery. Its made of wood and is quite crudely finished actually. It was
presented to my uncle when he visited the Golden ROck workshops in the
late 1980s in his capacity as the then Financial Commissioner,
Railways.Its now in my home in Poona: I am presently living in Dubai.

Good show by Dr. Yande and his lot. Frankly, I think such models should
take prominence in the Model Rail museum in Poona rather than the models
of (predominantly) German Railways.

Incidentally, workshops also do turn out models off and on, I think. My
WDM/2 is made at Golden ROck workshops. My uncle also has a brass
sleeper coach, presented to him at the ICF, Madras.
I remember reading in one of the rail museum publications that two of
the early upper class car models in the museum (cut section) were built
in the same workshop that built the original cars themselves.
Harsh??

Best regards.
Shankar


Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> Gang !
>
> Check out some models made in Pune of Indian Railway locos.
> Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A>
> and click on the models link right at the end.
>
> Apurva

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Models of Indian Railways

Date: 18 Jun 1999 02:13:21 -0500


Hello,
Bravo, Poona! (or Pune). Its indeed heartening to note that such
masterpieces are turned out from one's own home city.

Both the WDM/2 and WP are very accurate indeed: I was particularly
impressed with the grillework on the short hood of the WDM/2, and the
vertical metal bars on the headlight of the WP: a standard feature in
the earliest WPs.

I have at home a model of a WDM/2 in the same dark blue/light blue
livery. Its made of wood and is quite crudely finished actually. It was
presented to my uncle when he visited the Golden ROck workshops in the
late 1980s in his capacity as the then Financial Commissioner,
Railways.Its now in my home in Poona: I am presently living in Dubai.

Good show by Dr. Yande and his lot. Frankly, I think such models should
take prominence in the Model Rail museum in Poona rather than the models
of (predominantly) German Railways.

Incidentally, workshops also do turn out models off and on, I think. My
WDM/2 is made at Golden ROck workshops. My uncle also has a brass
sleeper coach, presented to him at the ICF, Madras.
I remember reading in one of the rail museum publications that two of
the early upper class car models in the museum (cut section) were built
in the same workshop that built the original cars themselves.
Harsh??

Best regards.
Shankar


Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> Gang !
>
> Check out some models made in Pune of Indian Railway locos.
> Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A>
> and click on the models link right at the end.
>
> Apurva

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Photography -- and idiot restrictions

Date: 18 Jun 1999 02:13:28 -0500


Hello,
Actually, the degree of hassles varies from region to region.
Although in the South, people are generally of a more placid
temparament, you have hte maximum number of oversincere busybodies out
there.
North, everyone is a terrorist, or so it seems. Thanks to the activities
of the misguided zealots all over the North, you always seem to be eyed
with suspicion. THis is true even in the monuments of
Agra and Delhi, as I experienced this time when I visited that area.
You can get really roughed up and literally barked at. And there seem to
be so many of them security wallahs all over the place!
I do not know much about the East, i haven't done much there.
West is think is most amenable to photography.

A few odd observations however:

1. Harsh said, don't overdo it.How true. Generally, do not be seen too
frequently at the same place at the same time.Someone might actually
tolerate a casual snapshot or two, but more than that, then you are
asking for trouble.
My friend was really roughed up in Hyderabad station as he shot one
too many.I had briefed him on all the techniques,but he stayed on
for too long, and made his presence there quite obvious.(probably
he misunderstood: I had told him oblivious!)
From my bitter experience, I can tell you,I have been roughed up at
Poona station on three different occasions, each experience several
years apart, as the RPF chaps were convinced that I was contemplating
suicide, and was unable to make up my mind! One chap even told me, if
you want to jump, go jump outside station limits! All because I
went to the same spot three days in a row. I now feel it was so
bloody
obvious, but I was comparatively inexperienced then!

2. A big problem with large cameras and equipment is that, even if you
do manage togive the khakis a slip, the public is sometimes a
nuisance. Some chaps
just stare and stare, and THAT attracts attention, apart from leaving
you feeling uncomfortable and flabbergasted. This is of course true
of smaller stations with a large number of urchins.

3. Someone mentioned, approach. Yes, that works too. Sometimes. (though
not always). Attack is sometimes the best form of defence.But some
caution in whom you approach helps.

4. Off and on, you find that you become painfully aware that the chap
who hassles you is doing it more with the intention of making a fast
buck rather than with the good of the railways in his heart. A
tenner or so should help. Again, one has to be cautious in who you
are trying to bribe: a menial or lowly chap OK, definitely not the
loco foreman!
For those who have expressed apprehension and all, yes, idiot
restrictions: couldn't be more true.

But, don't be paranoid, don't get unduly obsessed with getting caught
and being hassled (that way you become even more conspicuous), follow
the basic ground rules (no flashing equipment,no using flash etc),
take the name of the good lord, and S H O O T !

Best regards.
Shankar












Shanku Niyogi wrote:
>
> >From my recent experience, I was able to take photographs without
being
> hassled at Howrah, New Delhi, and Asansol stations.
>
> I actually had a permit for Howrah, which I obtained from the Senior
PRO in
> Calcutta, but no one came to ask for it when I took pictures. I was
actually
> walking around with a camera plainly visible in hand, but no one
seemed to
> care.
>
> In New Delhi, I had to be a lot more cautious. There's actually a
great
> place at New Delhi station to get good pictures inconspicuously -
sitting in
> the covered area under or near the overbridge (on Platform 8?
Whichever one
> the Poorva Exp. departs from). There's no one out there between trains
(the
> platform nearby is empty), and you get a great view of the electric
shed and
> all the shunting activity (if you want a photo of the WDS4
"Indraprastha",
> CLW's first diesel, in action, this is the place to be). Compare this
with
> the crowd on Platform 1 or 2.
>
> At Asansol station, no one approached me at all. Even the "khakis"
were
> preoccupied with removing panhandlers and street kids sitting on the
> platform. I did have to be fairly discrete in how I was holding my
camera.
>
> At smaller wayside stations, I had no problems at all, except for when
> somebody in Bihar started chasing after my (moving) train, because I
had
> been shooting (and hence flirting with) some female workers at the
station!
> :-) (Having read the recent posting, I think maybe it's a good thing
he
> didn't catch me!) I was also able to take a large number of shots from
the
> door of the moving train, and most of the officials let me (with some
> talking) stand with the door open, even of A/C coaches, to take shots
> freely.
>
> Overall, I do agree with Harsh's assessment - not overdoing it gets
you a
> long way. And a compact zoom camera (I used the Pentax 160) with 800
speed
> film couldn't hurt.
>
> But don't ask me how I got those shots at Asansol shed.... ;-)

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Photography -- and idiot restrictions

Date: 18 Jun 1999 02:13:28 -0500


Hello,
Actually, the degree of hassles varies from region to region.
Although in the South, people are generally of a more placid
temparament, you have hte maximum number of oversincere busybodies out
there.
North, everyone is a terrorist, or so it seems. Thanks to the activities
of the misguided zealots all over the North, you always seem to be eyed
with suspicion. THis is true even in the monuments of
Agra and Delhi, as I experienced this time when I visited that area.
You can get really roughed up and literally barked at. And there seem to
be so many of them security wallahs all over the place!
I do not know much about the East, i haven't done much there.
West is think is most amenable to photography.

A few odd observations however:

1. Harsh said, don't overdo it.How true. Generally, do not be seen too
frequently at the same place at the same time.Someone might actually
tolerate a casual snapshot or two, but more than that, then you are
asking for trouble.
My friend was really roughed up in Hyderabad station as he shot one
too many.I had briefed him on all the techniques,but he stayed on
for too long, and made his presence there quite obvious.(probably
he misunderstood: I had told him oblivious!)
From my bitter experience, I can tell you,I have been roughed up at
Poona station on three different occasions, each experience several
years apart, as the RPF chaps were convinced that I was contemplating
suicide, and was unable to make up my mind! One chap even told me, if
you want to jump, go jump outside station limits! All because I
went to the same spot three days in a row. I now feel it was so
bloody
obvious, but I was comparatively inexperienced then!

2. A big problem with large cameras and equipment is that, even if you
do manage togive the khakis a slip, the public is sometimes a
nuisance. Some chaps
just stare and stare, and THAT attracts attention, apart from leaving
you feeling uncomfortable and flabbergasted. This is of course true
of smaller stations with a large number of urchins.

3. Someone mentioned, approach. Yes, that works too. Sometimes. (though
not always). Attack is sometimes the best form of defence.But some
caution in whom you approach helps.

4. Off and on, you find that you become painfully aware that the chap
who hassles you is doing it more with the intention of making a fast
buck rather than with the good of the railways in his heart. A
tenner or so should help. Again, one has to be cautious in who you
are trying to bribe: a menial or lowly chap OK, definitely not the
loco foreman!
For those who have expressed apprehension and all, yes, idiot
restrictions: couldn't be more true.

But, don't be paranoid, don't get unduly obsessed with getting caught
and being hassled (that way you become even more conspicuous), follow
the basic ground rules (no flashing equipment,no using flash etc),
take the name of the good lord, and S H O O T !

Best regards.
Shankar












Shanku Niyogi wrote:
>
> >From my recent experience, I was able to take photographs without
being
> hassled at Howrah, New Delhi, and Asansol stations.
>
> I actually had a permit for Howrah, which I obtained from the Senior
PRO in
> Calcutta, but no one came to ask for it when I took pictures. I was
actually
> walking around with a camera plainly visible in hand, but no one
seemed to
> care.
>
> In New Delhi, I had to be a lot more cautious. There's actually a
great
> place at New Delhi station to get good pictures inconspicuously -
sitting in
> the covered area under or near the overbridge (on Platform 8?
Whichever one
> the Poorva Exp. departs from). There's no one out there between trains
(the
> platform nearby is empty), and you get a great view of the electric
shed and
> all the shunting activity (if you want a photo of the WDS4
"Indraprastha",
> CLW's first diesel, in action, this is the place to be). Compare this
with
> the crowd on Platform 1 or 2.
>
> At Asansol station, no one approached me at all. Even the "khakis"
were
> preoccupied with removing panhandlers and street kids sitting on the
> platform. I did have to be fairly discrete in how I was holding my
camera.
>
> At smaller wayside stations, I had no problems at all, except for when
> somebody in Bihar started chasing after my (moving) train, because I
had
> been shooting (and hence flirting with) some female workers at the
station!
> :-) (Having read the recent posting, I think maybe it's a good thing
he
> didn't catch me!) I was also able to take a large number of shots from
the
> door of the moving train, and most of the officials let me (with some
> talking) stand with the door open, even of A/C coaches, to take shots
> freely.
>
> Overall, I do agree with Harsh's assessment - not overdoing it gets
you a
> long way. And a compact zoom camera (I used the Pentax 160) with 800
speed
> film couldn't hurt.
>
> But don't ask me how I got those shots at Asansol shed.... ;-)

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Steaming Movie.

Date: 18 Jun 1999 03:02:29 -0500


Harsh, me dear fellow,
You must have a close friend in the film industry.Misleading titles and
all.
When I saw the title 'steaming movie', I thought to myself, 'interesting
but how does it concern the railways?'
Only when I opened the mail did I see about steam on the railways.
Jai hind phor that!
Shankar


hvc wrote:
>
> Tommorrow i.e. Saturday, June 19th at 21.30 HRS IST, Star Movies(SE
> Asia beam) are showing an American movie called `Fried Green Tomatoes
> at the Whistle Stop Cafe'. The movie is as good as it sounds and it
> has some excellent American steam in action.
>
> Harsh

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Porus' MAS trip

Date: 18 Jun 1999 03:09:10 -0500


> Just after leavng Gulbarga our train was
> taken on the loop and wow I saw the double headed KJM WDM 2 with thick
> black smoke in charge of the KK Some bogies of this train were in
blue
> livelry and the AC coaches too. As soon as the train crossed us we
began
> moving backwards a novel experience indeed for me and then after KK
had
> left we came on to main line and proceeded for Gulbarga.

Does it mean that the 1063 was stabled in a dead-end loop till KK passed
?
I too have experienced this reversing of mail/ express train, once on MG
Kittur Express between Hubli and Arsikere and once on Maharashtra Exp
between
Manmad and Ahmednagar. My guess is that the facing points of the loop
line
were defective, hence the train could not come back on the main line in
the
forward direction. Yes but I agree that this is great fun for one who
understands the intricacies.
>THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO TRAVEL THAN BY IR !

> THREE CHEERS TO IR !!!

Absolutely correct !

Apurva

From: Dr. M S M Saifullah <>

Subject: High-speed coaches from RCF et al.

Date: 18 Jun 1999 03:59:59 -0500


Hello everyone!

I had read a few years ago that RCF, Kapurthala is going to produce
high-speed coaches. There were also some pictures shown. I wonder what
happened to that project? Any ideas?

As far as I remember the coaches were of aluminium body with some
corrugated structure on top and bottom of the windows.

Also does DLW or CLW have wind-tunnel testing machines for checking the
aerodynamics? As far as DLW is concerned, I truly doubt. They produce
some
of the most non-aerodynamic and unaesthetic locos of the world (but
great
work horses!!). CLW may have one or may ask some institute like IISc,
Bangalore or ADA for their wind-tunnel tests. WAP locos are slightly
better
than WAM or WAG locos as far as aerodynamics are concerned.

In Japan, wind-tunnel testing is carried out on the cars and I am pretty
sure the trains too...

Regards
Saifullah