IRFCA Mailing List Archive

Messages 6881 - 6900

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Re: Farraka corpses

Date: 29 Jun 1999 03:24:33 -0500

> > Not far away, the northwards approach to the
> > Farakka Barrage after leaving New Farakka
> > takes a 90 degree turn. At night,the sight of
> > your train slowly snaking on to the brightly
> > lit barrage is a certified gooseflesh-inducer.
>
> Sorry for the off colour subject - I have read somewhere that
> the Farakka barrage traps all the dead bodies of unfortunate
> souls in the grate. Have you sighted any ?

Not a single one yet......(shudder).

--
JS
--

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai

Date: 29 Jun 1999 03:42:10 -0500

Anand - please bore us everyday with similar reports.

> was
> 6.45pm and scheduled dep. was 7.00pm and the points-man nowhere in
sight.
> Finally the guy arrived, seemed were drowsy , but bravely admitted
that he
> slept not knowing the time. How nice of him to keep the train waiting
!!!!
> The driver told me that for a 21 coach train it would take 15-20
minutes for
> the pressure to stabilise throughout the rake formation. As expected
the
> train left 10 minutes late that day. Once the loco was coupled the
driver
> took leave immediately.

So the 10 minute delay was only because the pointsman was absent ?

> Spotted a Vatwa WDM2A hauling a cement load waiting for signal. Very
> abnormal to see an engine from Vatwa. I guess this shed is somewhere
in
> Gujarat (am i right Apurva bhai).

Vatwa is the second station before Ahmedabad from Mumbai side (Sabarmati
is the
next station). It is unusual to see these diesel powers so far away.
Electric
powers are seen all over the country quite far from their home shed. I
remember
seeing BRC (Vadodara/ Baroda) WAG 5s in Mughal Sarai. Tatanagar powers
work the
Igatpuri - Howrah route.
' Long way from home' sighting invited from the rest of the gang
members.

> What was very noticeable is the number of WAG5s on track. Almost
60-65% of
> the locos i spotted were WAG5s and different versions of them WAG5A,
WAG5HA,
> WAG5HB, just WAG5 et al. Wonder what those alphabets stand for.

I have noticed that the HA version is built by BHEL. I could look up
Daboo's
book and check if the different between the variants have been listed.

> They were
> from a wide range of sheds too !! and interesting among them were the
once
> from Tughlakabad, Jhansi, Itarsi.
> Friends !! this sure is interesting. I spotted a WDS6 heavy shunter
with
> markings like BSP640 on its side.

Bhilai steel plant ? This is a private power on the IR tracks.

> Any idea what this means. It was bright
> with yellow and green livery and had no shed markings. I also saw a
WDM2A
> being hauled dead along with a BCNA formation with the markings "NTPC"
on
> his side. These sure very very strange.

National Thermal power corporation (NTPC) uses a large number of WDM 2s
and WDS
6 for their internal marshaling and unloading operations. Maybe this
power is
from Ramagundam (which has a super thermal power station ?) and is being
sent to
Kazipet shed (the nearest large WDM 2 shed) for its serious maintenance.
After
all Bharat Sarkar owns everything, the NTPC, the IR, the KZJ shed, and
the
Bhilai steel plant so such small internal adjustments make a lot of
sense.
Although the Bhilai steel plant sighting is strange, after all they have
the
giant Bondamunda diesel shed nearby at Rourkela which should take care
of their
powers.

> Guess i should stop boring you all.

Once again - Bore us some more.

Apurva

From: hvc <>

Subject: Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai

Date: 29 Jun 1999 04:03:45 -0500

That was a really good travelogue Anand, and I would say you had a
fantastic beginning to your journey.

>The "P" in the WAM4-6PD marking stood for
>"Paralleled".

The D stands for dual brake capability while 6P is a gearing ratio.

>The WAP4 cud provide rapid acceleration. But the difference in
>It was
>6.45pm and scheduled dep. was 7.00pm and the points-man nowhere in
sight.
>Finally the guy arrived, seemed were drowsy , but bravely admitted that
he
>slept not knowing the time.

Seems to me that he was enjoying the afternoon siesta after a sumptuous
Hyderabadi meal.

>Spotted a Vatwa WDM2A hauling a cement load waiting for signal. Very
>abnormal to see an engine from Vatwa. I guess this shed is somewhere in
>Gujarat (am i right Apurva bhai).

Vatwa is the BG diesel loco shed of Ahmedabad.

>What was very noticeable is the number of WAG5s on track. Almost 60-65%
of
>the locos i spotted were WAG5s and different versions of them WAG5A,
WAG5HA,
>WAG5HB, just WAG5 et al. Wonder what those alphabets stand for

WAG 5 is a ubiquitous electric workhorse of IR for goods working.
There are nearly 1000+ examples of it in various forms. A stands for
air-braked. 5H is an uprated version of WAG5 which is of High Adhesion
type.
5HB are built by BHEL for IR.

>Friends !! this sure is interesting. I spotted a WDS6 heavy shunter
with
>markings like BSP640 on its side . Any idea what this means. It was
bright
>with yellow and green livery and had no shed markings. I also saw a
WDM2A
>being hauled dead along with a BCNA formation with the markings "NTPC"
on
>his side.

The Yellow & green striped WDS6 are examples made by DLW for Public
Sector
Enterprises. The BSP640 is an example owned by IR, based at Bilaspur but
is
leased to the Industries there for shunting etc. Lot of Public sector
enterprises in Thermal Power, Mineral, Coal, Fertiliser etc. industries
own
the WDM6, occasionally WDM2 locomotives and an other vast variety of
locomotives.
Some thermal power plants have their own rake and locos for
merry-go-round
services between the plant and nearby collieries.

Harsh

From: hvc <>

Subject: Roof riders.

Date: 29 Jun 1999 04:45:09 -0500

>Perhaps not at Delhi Jn or New Delhi stations, but I've certainly seen
>roof riders around Delhi, including scores alighting from a train at
>Delhi Cantt just before 10am.

It is much the same even today. One surprising thing is that the
parallel BG
line which also has a few locals for Rewari and beyond hardly sees any
roof
riders. I don't know the exact reason but it could be anything. Higher
speed, more room in BG, Obstacles enroute(I can't think of any) etc. to
name
a few. Maybe I should ask one of the chappies next time.

>In March 1987 I left Delhi for Jaipur on the Chetak Exp. Hundreds went
>on to the roof at the first stop, Delhi Serai Rohilla, and I counted
the
>shadows of 50+ on the roof of my ( the leading) coach alone.

Chetak doesn't see such huge No. of roof riders nowadays. Perhaps
because of
the new route or maybe increased No. of trains in the afternoon. However
the
Chetak rake is now utilised in its waiting time(nearly 24 hours) for a
local
service to Rewari which is always bustling even on top.

9615/16 Chetak Exp. Arr. DSR 1350; Dep. DSR 1410(next day)

4719/20 Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Rewari Exp.(stops everywhere except 4
stops
enroute)

Dep. DSR 1715 Dep. Rewari 0845
Arr. Rewari 1935 Arr. DSR 1100

>Such was
>the extra time at stations, the extra load and the efforts of the chain
>pullers that the YP was close to running out of water, a diesel came on
>to assist to the next water column,and Jaipur was reached 5 hours late.
>I've even seen the shadows of a few roof riders on an electrified line.

I have seen a few dare-devil roof riders on top of Tamilnadu Exp. in
1980
when it used to run faster than what it does today. It was the Nagpur -
Itarsi - Bhopal section which has scores of prodigious bends and tunnels
as
well. Of course the line was not electrified back then and TN used to be
hauled by twin WDM2s.

>There were many too in 1980 on the MG main line between Barauni and
>Sonepur. I was later told that the roof riders there were seasonal
>workers, but the migrations were moving both east-west and west-east.
>The most crowded ( on the roof) train I saw in this area was the diesel
>hauled 16 Lucknow-Gauhati Express.
>

That is true. Roof riding is done most of the time in order to avoid the
ritual of buying a ticket but then you can be caned by the RPF in
bargain
sometimes if you are not quick on your feet. I have the experience of
travelling on the roof of 16 Dn in an overnight journey between Lucknow
and
Gorakhpur. It was a stormy night, raining badly and we had to hold the
fresh
air vents on the top through the journey. We survived with a minor fever
but
it was my bag which succumbed in the hail and flew off to eternity.

Harsh

From: ranand <>

Subject: Re: My web page

Date: 29 Jun 1999 05:38:09 -0500

At the moment, MRTS definitely appear over-engineeered but as the system
expands and connects more populated regions to the south, I think that
the
crowds will increase. The crowds appeared to be quite small last year
but
the system was still very new at the time. In fact, I was the first
person
in my extended family to use the MRTS.

One important problem is that there is no good connection between Park
station
and Central. If this connection is improved, then it will be a valuable
feeder
for
long distance passengers. Currently, passengers have to walk on a dirt
path
alongside the stinking Buckingham canal.

R. Anand

Internet: anand@watson.email
External tel: (914) 784 7054
Notes: Rangachari Anand/Watson/IBM@IBMUS
Tie-line: 863 7054

From: Royston Ellis <>

Subject: Re: Farraka corpses

Date: 29 Jun 1999 06:58:29 -0500

>Sender: sank@idane2.email
>Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 15:54:33 +0530
>From: Jayant S <sank@telco.email
>Reply-To: sank@telco.email
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (X11; I; IRIX64 6.2 IP19)
>X-Accept-Language: en
>To: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email IR List <irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Re: Farraka corpses
>
>
>> > Not far away, the northwards approach to the
>> > Farakka Barrage after leaving New Farakka
>> > takes a 90 degree turn. At night,the sight of
>> > your train slowly snaking on to the brightly
>> > lit barrage is a certified gooseflesh-inducer.
>>
>> Sorry for the off colour subject - I have read somewhere that
>> the Farakka barrage traps all the dead bodies of unfortunate
>> souls in the grate. Have you sighted any ?
>
>Not a single one yet......(shudder).
>
(You probably read it in INDIA BY RAIL in the section about Malda Town:
"Look down out of the window as the train approaches the next station of
New Farakka and you'll see the bloated bodies of the dead bobbing
against
the sluice gates where the railway bridge spans the holy Ganga river." -
Royston)

From: Royston Ellis <>

Subject: Re: Farraka corpses

Date: 29 Jun 1999 07:16:32 -0500

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Farraka corpses

Date: 29 Jun 1999 07:28:00 -0500

> >
> (You probably read it in INDIA BY RAIL in the section about Malda
Town:
> "Look down out of the window as the train approaches the next station
of
> New Farakka and you'll see the bloated bodies of the dead bobbing
against
> the sluice gates where the railway bridge spans the holy Ganga river."
-
> Royston)

That is correct - we all have studied Royston's book so well. The info
is indeed from
that book.

Apurva

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai

Date: 29 Jun 1999 07:39:40 -0500

> >Bhilai steel plant ? This is a private power on the IR tracks.
> >
> Oh! yes i get it now. How many of you all remember me mentioning a
> similar sighting in one of my previous "Boredom essay" series that
involved
> a WDS6 belonging to DURGAPUR Steel plant. I am tempted to conclude
that all
> steel plant locos visit GOC for an overhaul.

I wonder if there is a quotation that the workshops provide to service
'foreign'
locos. So the Bhillai and Durgapur steel plants float inquiries about
which workshops
would set their locos right. Although the steel plants on the SER should
be loyal to
the SE rly's Kharagpur works, GOC must have convinced them that they can
provide good
service. Hence the plants book their dead powers as 'rolling luggage' to
GOC. Sounds
farfetched ? Maybe this is the truth .

> This loco was sparkling. It had a brand new look with predominant
yellow
> and a thick broad green band going round the middle. It was coupled
> dead,along with some tankers and BCNAs.

Moving or pointing in which direction ? Towards GOC or away from GOC?
Please elaborate
where you saw the BCNA load.

Apurva

From: Jishnu Mukerji <>

Subject: Re: Curves

Date: 29 Jun 1999 08:35:01 -0500

VIRAF P.. MULLA wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> Here are some of my favourite curves -- IR types I mean, you all one
track
> minded nuts.
>
> 1. Between Vaitarna & Saphale
> 2. Between Dara & Ravtha Road (Dara Pass)
> 3. At Kamshet
> 4. At Ghorawadi
> 5. After leaving Parsik tunnel towards Diva.
> 6. Approach to Bharuch & Pardi bridges.

Here are some from another part of the country:

1. Howrah - Barddhaman Chord Belur - Belanagar (Left hand curve
travelling away from Howarah), and Belanagar - Dankuni Jn. (Right hand
curve travelling away from Howrah. Used to be a favorite place to take
pictures of the Rajdhani Express leaning into the curve.

2. On Grand Chord between Manpur and Gaya Jn. Left hand curve traveling
towards Delhi, also Right hand curve travelling towards Delhi, between
Kastha and Gaya Jn.

3. Grand Chord between Mughal Sarai Jn. and Ganjkhwaja, Right hand curve
travelling towards Howrah. Here Main Line goes off straight towards
Kuchman while the Grand Chord veers away to the right. This one is also
a relatively hgh speed curve with major superelevation (or cant in the
US).

Curves 2 and 3 are indicative of the fact that the Grand Chord was built
later than some of the other lines in those areas, and the new line had
to be curved around to fit into pre-existing alignments into
pre-existing stations.

4. On NR between Delhi and Mughal Sarai, the single line S curve that
connects Kanpur Central station to Chanderi (towards Howrah).

Jishnu.

From: Simon Darvill <>

Subject: Opinions

Date: 29 Jun 1999 11:21:28 -0500

From: hvc <>

Subject: Bends (Was - Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai)

Date: 29 Jun 1999 11:22:08 -0500

I beg you pardon all but something seems amiss here. Since when 180
degrees
constitute a bend?

Harsh

-----Original Message-----
From: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email
To: Dr. M S M Saifullah <saif@aecl.email
Cc: Anand Krishnan <krish_nand@hotmail.email irfca@cs.email
<irfca@cs.email
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 2:55 AM
Subject: Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai

>
>My own vote is the 180 degrees hairpin bend at Adarki - Salpa section
on
the
>Pune - Kolhapur line. I am surprised Viraf forgot that curve, I think
he
had
>the ride of this life on that section.
>At this place, you can see the Adarki station on your left, after
entering
two
>tunnels, the train turns a full 180 degrees and then enters the whisper
quiet
>and crystal clear atmosphered Adarki.
>
>Apurva
>
>"Dr. M S M Saifullah" wrote:
>
>> At 4:53 am +0900 29/6/99, Anand Krishnan wrote:
>>
>> Hello Gang!
>>
>> >There was a talk of opinion polls. Here is my suggestion....... The
Best
>> >view of a train at a curve. Full marks to the region abetting the
Hussain
>> >Sagar Lake. It would alomost be close to a 90 deg curve and the
sight is
>> >spectacular. Probably will get to click one next time if i travel by
the
>> >7053Up during the day time. The max. speed on this curve is 25kmph
on a
>> >total length of 2.5 km, acc. to our driver friend and this should
speak
a
>> >lot of the nature of the curve.
>>
>> I would definitely agree with Anand here. Being to Hyderabad many
times,
I
>> always waited for this beautiful view of Hussainsagar lake. The turn
I
>> think is less than 90 degrees.
>>
>> Two of my favourite almost 90 degree turns is at Bangalore East
towards
>> Yelahanka and at Dharmavaram when the SBC-DMM BG line meets the
MAS-DMM
>> line.
>>
>> Regards
>> Saifullah
>
>
>
>

From: Anand Krishnan <>

Subject: Re: Observations - My trip to Chennai

Date: 29 Jun 1999 11:30:37 -0500

Arre Apurva bhai thanks for your inputs.

>So the 10 minute delay was only because the pointsman was absent ?
>
Yes i guess so. The asst. driver was in a hurry to get things
going. Even after repeated announcement over the mike screaming "Driver
of
Charminar Exp please start your train immediately" the train did not
move an
inch. The last message over the PA system was "Guard has given the Go
Ahead". But i sure saw the lineman in the guard van having a very
watchful
eye on the pressure guage and repeated kept nodding his head with a look
of
dejection.

>' Long way from home' sighting invited from the rest of the gang
members.
Oh! yes i remember the Mp3 sounds of one of the Vatwa deisels.
Thanx for the timely reminder Apurva bhai.

>I have noticed that the HA version is built by BHEL. I could look up
>Daboo's
>book and check if the different between the variants have been listed.
One of the activities that we can take up along with the opinion
polls
is collecting data such as these and its significance.

>
>Bhilai steel plant ? This is a private power on the IR tracks.
>
Oh! yes i get it now. How many of you all remember me mentioning a
similar sighting in one of my previous "Boredom essay" series that
involved
a WDS6 belonging to DURGAPUR Steel plant. I am tempted to conclude that
all
steel plant locos visit GOC for an overhaul.

>Although the Bhilai steel plant sighting is strange, after all they
have
>the
>giant Bondamunda diesel shed nearby at Rourkela which should take care
of
>their
>powers.
This loco was sparkling. It had a brand new look with predominant
yellow
and a thick broad green band going round the middle. It was coupled
dead,along with some tankers and BCNAs.

>Once again - Bore us some more.
May be next week when i travel. I would in all probabilities
travelling
on MG line that will soon be on the convertion list. Its the
Tirupathi-Pakala-Guntakal line.

regards,
anand

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From: Anand Krishnan <>

Subject: Re: Opinion poll

Date: 29 Jun 1999 11:51:42 -0500

Hi all,
>
>Godavari river bridge pictures coming up on my website soon.
>
Yes thats a good nomination. There was this old Godavari bridge near
Rajamundry and there was the first of the two new ones next to it. The
view
from the new one when a train crossed the old bridge was a fascinating
sight. The speed on the old one was very less (25-30kmph max) and it was
an
absolute gem of a view. This bridge is a km long.

> > Perhaps we should also include "Cleanest station."
A few stations in Kerala are kept well. Down south Trichy,
Tirunelveli.
Kannyakumari and Madurai also can get a V.Fair(like in primary schools).
I
was'nt impressed much with any of SCR stations including Secunderabad.
Let me give u some snippet about Sec'bad station announcements. Whenever
a
train(originating) from Sec'bad is about to depart, all the passengers
are
wished a very happy journey and then the details of the men in charge of
the
train are also announced. This includes the driver of the train, the
asst
driver, the train superintendant and the guard. They also announce who
should be contacted in case of an emergency. Very innovative idea !!

>

>Dirtiest station ??? Pune Jn !!!
Its no use asking this question as there are plenty of them

Kind regads,
Anand

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From: Shankar <>

Subject: Opinion poll + food trivia

Date: 29 Jun 1999 11:59:21 -0500

Hello,

One problem with opinion polls is that after a point, they become
rather----ah---well, opinionated!

Anyway, here is my two bits worth:

1. Most handsome steam engine: WP (with the large star up front)
2. " " diesel " : WDM/2
3. " " electric" : WCM/1
4. Cutest engine on the IR : YAM/1
5. " e.m.u. " " " : old mg 3-car rigid formation emus: MAdras
6. Best steam whistle : Typically American hum type whistle of
the WP and some YGs.
7: " diesel horn : WDM/2 (the loud one, not the other one)
8: " electric horn : The two-tone horn on some WAM/WCAM/1
9. Most irritating horn : SIngle horn of the YDM and ZDMs
10.Most unusual dining expe-
rience: Lunch served piping hot on banana leaves
at Cudappah. Train passengers actually
leave the train, gulp down a quick meal
and get back on.
11:Most delicious snack : Boiled chana (chickpeas) served with
chopped onions,tomatoes and sometimes
radish on teh route between Gwalior and
Delhi
12.Most spicy food : That served in Andhra Pradesh on the
Madras-Howrah line.
13.Best coffee: : From a 'filter coffee' vending stall at
Madras Central.Terrific, man.
14.Most unusual items sold
on station platforms : 1.Khus Khus tatties,mats,fans and serai
covers at Waltair station
2.Chapati rolling stones at Cudappah
3.Lacquered wooden toys at Allahabad
15.Filthiest lineside
operation : Washing fresh vegetables in an open
septic drain at Wadala (Bombay)

16.Most unusual snack served
on board : Baked beans on toast, fried fish
on the Deccan Queen
17.Cleanest trains : SR esp. Madras division
18:Filthiest trains : ER (Bihar particularly).
In the 1970s, trains on teh ER used to
be more Communist graffiti and less
paintwork.

And so on and so forth.

Now for gastronomic/food trivia:

Several 'best' stations have actually gone to seed over the years,
having deteriorated considerably or having disappeared althogether.

1.Chilgleput (now Chengalpattu) used to serve the best milk on the
network, now you get white water that passes off for milk.
2.Madurai was famous for terrific 'rose milk'. Its too watery now.
3.Daund used to serve the best coffee on the CR. (Nyescophee, they used
to call it). The quality is distinctly poorer now.
4. Guntakal was famous for its chicken biriyani and mango jelly.
The jelly is still there, and usually tastes terrific.Another famous
mango jelly station is Rajamundhry (or is it Samalkot?)
5.Bombay VT used to serve terrific veg meals in the cafeteria starting
from 1130. The queues were considerable.
6.Poona was famous for salted fried dal served with chopped onions.
7.Allahabad was renowned for massive guavas with red interiors, and
Nagpur for oranges.
8.Kodaikanal road was famous for plums, and tiny 'hill' plantains:
barely more than a couple of inches long,sold in terms of 50s or 100s.
more often than not with blackened skin, but terrific in taste.
9.Itarsi is famous for piping hot poories with potato curry.
10.Pathankot has terrific tea made on stoves with ususual looking
holders.
11.Budrwan (Bardhamman) was once famous for sweet boiled rice, called
sita bhog, I think. The trolleys were filthy though.
12.And who can forget Mathura's petha?

Thats all I could think of for now.

Best regards.
Shankar

From: Anand Krishnan <>

Subject: MRTS review

Date: 29 Jun 1999 12:07:17 -0500

Hi all,

>At the moment, MRTS definitely appear over-engineeered

This system has slowly but steadily picked up momentum. They have
increased
the morning frequency with 2 more shuttles. There is an additional
Tirumailai-Beach-Tambaram-Chengleput trip and a
Tirumailai-Beach-Gummidipoondi(howz this name)-Sulurpeta(in AP) trip in
the
mornings. From July they are planning an up and down trips from
Tirumailai-Beach-Arakonam-Tiruttani trips. This would be doubled during
weekends to take care of the rush shuttling between these two places of
spiritual interest.

>One important problem is that there is no good connection between Park
>station
>and Central. If this connection is improved, then it will be a
valuable
>feeder
>for
>long distance passengers. Currently, passengers have to walk on a dirt
path
>alongside the stinking Buckingham canal.
Currently the passengers can avoid the stink by walking halfway up
the
overbridge opposite central and diectly going down the stairs to the
platforms on Park Station. This has been commissioned very
recently.......i
mean the stairs ;-)

A note to those who can read Tamil. i get all these news from the Tamil
newspapers on the net. I dont get any such news here at Hyd. I have
gathered
these from the net only.You can visit www.dinamani.com,
www.dinakaran.com,or
visit www.dailythanthi.com. There are occassional news on this. Last
week's
Monday or Tueday edition gave some news on the new BG lines in TN.
There is also a English version on one of these papers

Great Pix Mr.SameName, kalakiteenga !!!

Regards,
Anand

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From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Roof riders.

Date: 29 Jun 1999 12:10:19 -0500

Hello,
Talking of roof riders, some real daredevils reside at Poona, or so it
seems.
These misguided zealots (read brave souls) used to climb onto the roof
of trains, particularly the Bombay-Hyderabad Express (the Dadar-Madras
Express also in summer, when it was still light at 1845 when the train
left Poona), and actually WALK on the roof on the running train,crossing
over from car to car. I've not actually seen whether they jump the
cars,or climb down between cars and climb up again, but I have seen it.
The place I used to work was in Mundhwa, in Poona, between Poona Jn and
Hadapsar.(a small station a few km away). THe road to my place of work
used to run along the rail line for a km or so, and we used to cross the
Hyderabad Express on its run towards Hyderabad. I have personally seen
at least 2 or 3 runners on the roof.
I say runners atop the Udyan Express too, in 1992.
Riding between cars is quite common as well, esp on the Flying Ranee and
so many other trains.
But what takes teh cake is what I'd seen in Bihar long long ago, when I
was a kid.Several of the old cars had an inverted trapezoid like
structure between the front bogie(wheel set) and the rear bogie.
I have Actually seen people riding under the car, sitting on this
structure. One brave woman even had a child with her! Fancy riding under
the car, resting your bottom on barely two inches of metal!
Best regards.
Shankar

hvc wrote:
>
> >Perhaps not at Delhi Jn or New Delhi stations, but I've certainly
seen
> >roof riders around Delhi, including scores alighting from a train at
> >Delhi Cantt just before 10am.
>
> It is much the same even today. One surprising thing is that the
parallel BG
> line which also has a few locals for Rewari and beyond hardly sees any
roof
> riders. I don't know the exact reason but it could be anything. Higher
> speed, more room in BG, Obstacles enroute(I can't think of any) etc.
to name
> a few. Maybe I should ask one of the chappies next time.
>
> >In March 1987 I left Delhi for Jaipur on the Chetak Exp. Hundreds
went
> >on to the roof at the first stop, Delhi Serai Rohilla, and I counted
the
> >shadows of 50+ on the roof of my ( the leading) coach alone.
>
> Chetak doesn't see such huge No. of roof riders nowadays. Perhaps
because of
> the new route or maybe increased No. of trains in the afternoon.
However the
> Chetak rake is now utilised in its waiting time(nearly 24 hours) for a
local
> service to Rewari which is always bustling even on top.
>
> 9615/16 Chetak Exp. Arr. DSR 1350; Dep. DSR 1410(next day)
>
> 4719/20 Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Rewari Exp.(stops everywhere except 4
stops
> enroute)
>
> Dep. DSR 1715 Dep. Rewari 0845
> Arr. Rewari 1935 Arr. DSR 1100
>
> >Such was
> >the extra time at stations, the extra load and the efforts of the
chain
> >pullers that the YP was close to running out of water, a diesel came
on
> >to assist to the next water column,and Jaipur was reached 5 hours
late.
> >I've even seen the shadows of a few roof riders on an electrified
line.
>
> I have seen a few dare-devil roof riders on top of Tamilnadu Exp. in
1980
> when it used to run faster than what it does today. It was the Nagpur
-
> Itarsi - Bhopal section which has scores of prodigious bends and
tunnels as
> well. Of course the line was not electrified back then and TN used to
be
> hauled by twin WDM2s.
>
> >There were many too in 1980 on the MG main line between Barauni and
> >Sonepur. I was later told that the roof riders there were seasonal
> >workers, but the migrations were moving both east-west and west-east.
> >The most crowded ( on the roof) train I saw in this area was the
diesel
> >hauled 16 Lucknow-Gauhati Express.
> >
>
> That is true. Roof riding is done most of the time in order to avoid
the
> ritual of buying a ticket but then you can be caned by the RPF in
bargain
> sometimes if you are not quick on your feet. I have the experience of
> travelling on the roof of 16 Dn in an overnight journey between
Lucknow and
> Gorakhpur. It was a stormy night, raining badly and we had to hold the
fresh
> air vents on the top through the journey. We survived with a minor
fever but
> it was my bag which succumbed in the hail and flew off to eternity.
>
> Harsh

From: Dr. M S M Saifullah <>

Subject: Re: Curves

Date: 29 Jun 1999 18:11:49 -0500

At 12:35 am +0900 30/6/99, Jishnu Mukerji wrote:

>1. Howrah - Barddhaman Chord Belur - Belanagar (Left hand curve
>travelling away from Howarah), and Belanagar - Dankuni Jn. (Right hand
>curve travelling away from Howrah. Used to be a favorite place to take
>pictures of the Rajdhani Express leaning into the curve.

Jishnu-da, that is definitely a neat curve to take pictures. As far as I
remember, the speed on the curve is about 90kmph. That was around 1992.
I
am pretty sure that same kind of speed is maintained even now.

I would probably sit at the beginning of Belanagar other side of the
platform to take pictures of trains coming on the HWH-DKAE-BWN chord
line.

Saifullah

Dr. M S M Saifullah, Researcher
Nanostructure Technology Research Group
Device Physics Research Laboratory
NTT Basic Research Laboratories
3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi
Kanagawa Pref., 243-0198
Japan

Email: saif@aecl.email Tel: 0081 (0)462 40 2634
Fax: 0081 (0)462 40 4317

From: Vdate <>

Subject: Re: Opinion poll + food trivia

Date: 29 Jun 1999 18:20:34 -0500

Add to your already impressive list (I already gained a pound just by
reading
it!)
Petha at Agra, Dalmoth at Bandikui, Purees and shag at Phulera,
Rasgullas at
Pali, Farsan at Mehasana and Surat, Omlettes at Khandwa, Batatawada at
Karjat, Chikki at Lonawala, Pedhas at Indi, Idli at Hotgi.

From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>

Subject: Re: Adarki

Date: 29 Jun 1999 19:36:37 -0500

On Tue, 29 Jun 1999, Apurva Bahadur wrote:

>
> My own vote is the 180 degrees hairpin bend at Adarki - Salpa section
on the
> Pune - Kolhapur line. I am surprised Viraf forgot that curve, I think
he had
> the ride of this life on that section.
> At this place, you can see the Adarki station on your left, after
entering two
> tunnels, the train turns a full 180 degrees and then enters the
whisper quiet
> and crystal clear atmosphered Adarki.

OOPS! I FORGOT.
Thanks Appu for reminding. I think I am getting older now.

Yes on my opinion list the QUIETEST STATION: ADARKI.

The Best Station For Marketing: DHANU RD (till early 70's). We used to
get
freshest of vegetables, fruits, flowers & coconut water. I remember
buying
small baskets of Papri (Runner Beans), French Beans, Chickoos (Sapota),
Lemons & Limes, Blueberries, Mulberries, Small Red Radishes, Baby
Carrots,
Sweet Onions, Spring Onions, Lemon Grass Spearmint & Peppermint - all
Bawa
ingredients for a good cuppa, Roses & Lillies.

Regards
Viraf

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