IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 8261 - 8280
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 06 Sep 1999 23:23:33 -0500
>
> The first section on CR with concrete sleepers was around Badlapur,
Karjat
> some 10 years back. Now almost all the tracks on suburban are having
these
> new ones.
>
> Near Dombivali, towards CST on Up thru line the train used to bounce
quite a
> lot after the wooden sleepers were replaced with concrete ones. So
much so
> there were fears amongst the passengers & complaints were sent from
passengers
> to PRO of CR. Now the problem is more or less solved. May be
something to
> do with cushioning factor. Any of us experienced such bouncy effect
on
> tracks after conversion?
The life of a pre stressed concrete sleeper is 60 years. Even the cast
iron
sleepers used in the 1960s - 70s have a lesser life of about 30 years.
There is a
synthetic rubber pad which is supposed to cushion the ride. In any case
any
further destruction of forest for manufacturing sleepers is not
justified, even if
the ride comfort is somewhat less.
Is the concrete sleeper and pandrol clip the standard method of
permanent way
construction all over the world ?
Apurva
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: sweet names for trains
Date: 07 Sep 1999 00:04:07 -0500
>
> "Haripriya" means literally "Dear Lord". Yes it is a sweet name for
an IR
> train. There don't seem to be many trains with Sanskrit names, or
named
> after Hindu deities, but that could be because the BJP hasn't been in
power
> long enough to do a "Hindutva" job on IR.
Haripriya = god's beloved ?
> A name that I like is the Delhi-Varanasi "Kashivishwanath Express".
Makes
> me want to chant the invocation to Lord Shiva:
> Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambho
> Kashi Vishwanatha Gange
After the Vishwanath temple in Kashi (Varanasi).
Just a thought.
Chanting train and station names must be a part of my railways
religion. I feel the same intense devotion and all fulfilling
joy more in a train than a temple.
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Extract from a trip report
Date: 07 Sep 1999 01:09:03 -0500
This is an extract of a trip report by Lars-Åke Holston
<lasse.holst@swipnet.email about Wankaner/Morbi from the
International Steam pages:
<A HREF="http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/steam/trains/india16.htm">http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/steam/trains/india16.htm</A>
Quote
SATURDAY APRIL 3rd 1999.
Was at Morbi Jcn early to see Pass 412 arrive in time with YP
2684,3 watertanks and 2 coaches.
10 minutes later YG 3430 and 3 coaches arrived with Fast Pass
413 from Dahinsara Jn. Later this
morning I also observed Fast Pass 416 from Wankaner behind YG
3437, and just before lunch-time
YG 3318 arrived alone on its way to pick up the salt-train at
Lavanpur. I took a taxi out to the
loading point at Lavanpur and it was exiting to see the flat
low-land with all basins for the saltwater.
Tiny rails were all over the land with small waggons carrying
the salt to the loading point. The
wagons were emptied by women WITH BARE HANDS and You can
imagine the feelings with salt
on Your skin and the temperature was well over 40 degrees
centigrade. YG 3318 was already
shunting the goods-waggons when I arrived and it was a heavy
work for the engine. There was a
very long rake of empty wagons ready to be loaded.
Back in Morbi I was waiting for my departure to Wankaner with
Fast Pass 409 at 4.30 PM. Before
my departure YG 3318 - 10 goodswaggons and a brakervan
arriuved with the salt train. During the
stop at Morbi it cleaned its fire-box and took water and
before departure the train backed up as
long as possible at Morbi yard just to regain speed. It was
interesting to see the train comming out
from the yard with full speed before it crossed the bridge
just south of the station. Then I went away
with Fast Pass 409 behind YG 3430 down to Wankaner. We arrived
45 minutes late because
engine trouble at the wayside station Nazarbagh. This made me
change at once when I arrived to
Wankaner to catch the Fast Pass 414 back to Morbi.Standing on
the last coach I was lucky to see a
TRIPLE-HEADER just in front of my eys. It was YG 3430-4252 and
3318 shunting on the track
outside the shed. When will I see this again? During the way
back I observed, when we were going
to leave the station at Rafaleshwar, there was some running
very fast not to miss the train. All indian
people onboard pointed at the man and made me notice him. When
we arrived at Morbi we were
presented to each other and it was Heinrich Hubbert out on the
same business as myself. I was glad
to meet him and we had I nice morning together the next day.
Unquote
My question to all of you who have seen the area, why is it
necessary to back up a rake in the Morbi yard, and then come
at speed through the station onto the bridge? In any case the
speed limit on the bridge is 15 Kmph and there seems to be no
upgradient out of MVI towards the bridge.
Apurva
From: John Lacey <>
Subject: Re: Trains after loco names
Date: 07 Sep 1999 02:40:07 -0500
Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> Gang !
>
> There was a recent mail about a train named after the Sentinel
> railcar. I did notice a number of railcar services separately
> marked, they are not mentioned as 'passenger'. I think it is
> to warn the passenger not to expect any toilets !
> I found one more train named after its loco on the lines of
> the Sentinel railcar, this is from the 1999 WR time table. The
> run is Samni - Dahej - Samni (table 53, page 128) and the
> train pair is 417 Dn/ 418 Up whose name is ZDM II (2nd class
> only). Not that there is any distinction required, for these
> are the only train pairs that ply this route.
> I hope to see many more WDM 2 express or a WAP 4 mail
> somewhere :-)
>
> Apurva
How nice it would be to see WP Exp 1 & 2 (P) !
-John Lacey
From: S.B.Mehta <>
Subject: Re: Extract from a trip report
Date: 07 Sep 1999 02:58:53 -0500
For an old workhorse 10 wagons is quite load. And if I am not
mistaken there IS a slight gradient between the bridge and Morvi stn.
Remember, we travelled with only three coaches away from Morvi to
WKR.
Sarosh.
From: Suresh Mutuswami <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 02:59:08 -0500
On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:
> Hi!
>
> IR is using precast concrete sleepers these days on all newly laid
tracks
> & where ever doubling is taking place. Replacing the earlier wooden
with
> these new variety.
>
> The first section on CR with concrete sleepers was around Badlapur,
Karjat
> some 10 years back. Now almost all the tracks on suburban are having
these
> new ones.
>
> Near Dombivali, towards CST on Up thru line the train used to bounce
quite a
> lot after the wooden sleepers were replaced with concrete ones. So
much so
> there were fears amongst the passengers & complaints were sent from
passengers
> to PRO of CR. Now the problem is more or less solved. May be
something to
> do with cushioning factor. Any of us experienced such bouncy effect
on
> tracks after conversion?
>
Around December 1977, I visited my uncle who was then based in the iron
ore project at Donimalai, near Bellary. To get to Donimalai, we had to
get down at a place called Toranagallu (on the Guntakal-Bellary-Hubli
route) and take a jeep. Interestingly, there was a railway line between
Donimalai and Toranagallu which however was used only for ferrying iron
ore. One stretch of the Donimalai-Toranagallu line -- a tunnel named
Bhima-Gandi tunnel -- was supposed to be the first stretch of IR track
using concrete sleepers. I remember visiting this tunnel along with
my uncle, aunt and cousins. We were told that this tunnel was used for
testing the concrete sleepers.
Anyway, it's interesting that after that beginning, it's only
(comparatively) recently that IR is moving in a significant way to
replace
wooden sleepers with precast concrete sleepers.
Incidentally, this uncle of mine after Donimalai, went off to Bailadilla
which of course is at the end of the famous
Vishakapatnam-Kottavalasa-Kirandul line. Unfortunately, I never got to
visit him there!
Suresh
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: [Fwd: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 03:10:07 -0500
Hello,
I do not know if you all have received this before: sorry if I have.
It had come back to me with a bounced mail notification. Maybe it was
for SAtish's address. I do not remember having received it back from the
irfca mail server either.
Cheers.
Shankar
From: Dr. K.J. Walker <>
Subject: Re: IRFCA Web page, and mine
Date: 07 Sep 1999 03:20:14 -0500
Dear Satish, and everyone,
This discussion of webpages is rather timely! I've just been doing
a
quick update of mine, and am anxious to incorporate links to IRFCA pages
as
well as some of the existing ones. (some of which, I note, are outdated
and
will need to be fixed). I'll be happy for your to incorporate a link to
my
page; while the IRFCA page is under construction, what pages should I
link
to?
If any one wants to take a peek at my page now, it's at
<A HREF="http://powerup.com.au/~kjw_meh">http://powerup.com.au/~kjw_meh</A>. I have considerably improved
cross-linking
among the pages, making the site easier to navigate. There is a new
RAILSTUFF video, on the Ooty Rack, and I'm at work on a Calcutta Trams
one.
Details on the videos page.
Cheers
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: S Pai <s_pai@bigfoot.email
To: irfca@cs.email <irfca@cs.email
Date: 6 September 1999 7:29
Subject: IRFCA
>
>As for linking together members' web pages, there's already a plan to
>have a Members area at the IRFCA web site (www.irfca.org, under
>construction by Shanku) which should have links to as many members'
>web sites as we can manage. That would be the long-term solution.
>Until then, I suppose a temporary repository of members' pages would
>be useful. I can point a link off the FAQ if someone can send me a
>reasonably up-to-date collection of URLs. Keeping the list current is
>the harder problem.
>
>(I don't know if there would be much to be gained by more complex
schemes
>such as link-exchanges or web-ring arrangements to connect together
pages,
>although if the people involved are agreeable, that might help -- but
it
>does create more work for everyone involved to keep the links updated.)
>
>--Satish
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
From: Dr. K.J. Walker <>
Subject: Re: Train names, Queens and Godesses
Date: 07 Sep 1999 03:29:22 -0500
Dear Samit,
Don't be too downhearted. I frequently share your frustration;
indeed,
as I watch the massacres in East Timor unfold on Australia's doorstep my
hostility and anger at our politicians and Foreign Affairs Department
grows
in leaps and bounds.
I think the point is precisely that it must be relevant to IRFCA.
However, I do think that railfans, as citizens of the world in a
stronger
sense than most people (we tend to travel more, and most of us are
professionals, often members of international communities) do have a
vested
interest in civil order, because it lets us pursue our hobby more
freely.
I've seen the adverse effects of repressive regimes in a number of parts
of
the world, and I have a firm and unyeilding hostility to any politicians
who
stir up intercommunal tensions or exploit nationalistic feelings for
short-term political gain. We should avoid them; often they're the same
guys
who run the railways into the ground.
That's all from me. As a non-Indian, I realise I'm walking on eggs,
but
please, everyone, do appreciate that I'm takling in general terms, not
particular.
Now let's all get back to enjoying Indian (and other) trains!
Best wishes to all
Ken Walker
-----Original Message-----
From: Samit Roychoudhury <samr@vsnl.email
Cc: IRFCA <irfca@cs.email
Date: 6 September 1999 7:33
Subject: Re: Train names, Queens and Godesses
>i guess the people who have pointed out that IRFCA isnt the place to
remark
>on politicians are correct. we were (at least i was) wrong in that.
>
>its just that sometimes i find them so blooming frustrating ... and i
found
>a little vent for my thoughts. i dont want this to be a mud slinging
match
>at all.
>
>samit
>
>
From: C. Zeni <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 05:12:50 -0500
Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> >
> > The first section on CR with concrete sleepers was around Badlapur,
Karjat
> > some 10 years back. Now almost all the tracks on suburban are having
these
> > new ones.
> >
> > Near Dombivali, towards CST on Up thru line the train used to bounce
quite a
> > lot after the wooden sleepers were replaced with concrete ones. So
much so
> > there were fears amongst the passengers & complaints were sent from
passengers
> > to PRO of CR. Now the problem is more or less solved. May be
something to
> > do with cushioning factor. Any of us experienced such bouncy effect
on
> > tracks after conversion?
>
> The life of a pre stressed concrete sleeper is 60 years. Even the cast
iron
> sleepers used in the 1960s - 70s have a lesser life of about 30 years.
There is a
> synthetic rubber pad which is supposed to cushion the ride. In any
case any
> further destruction of forest for manufacturing sleepers is not
justified, even if
> the ride comfort is somewhat less.
> Is the concrete sleeper and pandrol clip the standard method of
permanent way
> construction all over the world ?
Should be in the US but it isn't...concrete sleepers are being used in
some places but not for ecological reasons. They're being used on the
Northeast Corridor (Amtrak's high speed line) as they hold track
alignment better and are more durable; on the UP/BNSF Powder River line
to withstand the tremendous punishment of numerous daily 15,000 ton coal
trains; and on the Florida East Coast Railway for durability and that
they won't rot in the soggy sub-tropic Florida soil
Otherwise, it's pretty nearly all wood...CSX is replacing ties nearby,
again with wood...
--
Craig Zeni - REPLY TO -->> clzeni at mindspring dot com
<A HREF="http://www.mindspring.com/~clzeni/index.html">http://www.mindspring.com/~clzeni/index.html</A>
Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem
smarter when they come at you rapidly.
From: Anand Krishnan <>
Subject: More sweet names for trains
Date: 07 Sep 1999 06:18:33 -0500
Hi Mike,
>"Haripriya" means literally "Dear Lord". Yes it is a sweet name for
>an IR
>train.There don't seem to be many trains with Sanskrit >names, >or
named
>after Hindu deities,
Actually "Hari" is a reference to Lord VIshnu . "Priya" means
"like" or "loved". It might be the case that Tirupathi is one of the two
end
points of this train that this name is given to the train. Let me give
you
one more very traditional sanskrit name for a train, "AhilyaNagari"
express
that runs between Cochin and Indore. Then there ia "RaptiSagar" that
runs
between Cochin and Gorakhpur.
The latter actually sounds more aggressive.
Kind regards,
Anand
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Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: IR links
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:01:02 -0500
Folks,
I have attached my IR links document designed for the official IRFCA
site that
Shanku is developing. It is outdated by about 3 months and you may
notice
missing
member pages and other links. Have fun surfing!!
Vijay
<<IR links.doc>>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Apurva Bahadur [SMTP:iti@vsnl.email
> Sent: Saturday, September 04, 1999 3:21 AM
> To: Prateep Chatterjee; Vijay Balasubramanian; Niyogi, Shanku
> Subject: IR links
>
> I liked your link page very much. You should put this up on the IRFCA,
the
> comments of the whole gang is always enlightning. You could remove my
> webpage from the catergory of IRFCA (current) homepage to the
'photograph'
> pages. I am just an ordinary member of the IRFCA. You would also
consult
> Vijay Balasubramanian on the links issue, he has a HUGE set of Indian
> railway links. He is one of the founder members of the group. Also
talk to
> Shanku Niyogi who has actually developed 'our' own website and a
domain.
> The
> email addresses of these two members are in the header. Vijay's Vaigai
Exp
> and many other pics are missing in your link ?
>
> Apurva
>
> Prateep Chatterjee wrote:
>
> > Hello !
> >
> > I was hoping if you would be able to go over to my homepage once and
> > check out a links page that I have compiled. I didn't want to send
this
> > mail to IRFCA because I felt that the page is in an embryonic stage
and
> > it would be better for me to keep it in wraps till I get something
> > useful (photographs etc.). The page is :
> > <A HREF="http://www.umr.edu/~prateep/links.html">http://www.umr.edu/~prateep/links.html</A>. Please write back what you
think
> > about the page and suggest changes/additions etc. I would be really
> > thankful if you would help me in evaluating the page. Also, I would
also
> > like you to see <A HREF="http://www.umr.edu/~prateep/faq.pdf">http://www.umr.edu/~prateep/faq.pdf</A>, which I
compiled
> > from the IRFCA faq gzipped html file (I used html2ps and ps2pdf to
> > convert it). The PDF file has hyperlinks and therefore is easier to
> > browse compared with the html files. It can also be downloaded
easily,
> > takes up less space and offline & instant referencing is possible.
> >
> > Best wishes.
> >
> > Prateep
> >
> > --
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > Prateep Chatterjee
> > Graduate Student
> > Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
> > and Engineering Mechanics
> > University of Missouri-Rolla
> > Rolla, MO 65409
> > Phone : (573) 308-1542
> > --------------------------------------------------
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:04:05 -0500
> Around December 1977, I visited my uncle who was then based in the
iron
> ore project at Donimalai, near Bellary. To get to Donimalai, we had
to
> get down at a place called Toranagallu (on the Guntakal-Bellary-Hubli
> route) and take a jeep. Interestingly, there was a railway line
between
> Donimalai and Toranagallu which however was used only for ferrying
iron
> ore. One stretch of the Donimalai-Toranagallu line -- a tunnel named
> Bhima-Gandi tunnel -- was supposed to be the first stretch of IR track
> using concrete sleepers. I remember visiting this tunnel along with
> my uncle, aunt and cousins. We were told that this tunnel was used
for
> testing the concrete sleepers.
Was this a MG line then ? In any case now this line hosts heavy mineral
trains, so
this must be the correct place for testing sleepers. BTW, I remember
seeing
'ballastless' tracks inside the tunnels of the KR in 1997.
>
>
> Anyway, it's interesting that after that beginning, it's only
> (comparatively) recently that IR is moving in a significant way to
replace
> wooden sleepers with precast concrete sleepers.
>
> Incidentally, this uncle of mine after Donimalai, went off to
Bailadilla
> which of course is at the end of the famous
> Vishakapatnam-Kottavalasa-Kirandul line. Unfortunately, I never got to
> visit him there!
>
> Suresh
From: lwebber <>
Subject: Central Railway - some missing information, help please... :)
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:19:12 -0500
Could someone with old or new Central Railway Timetables or other
sources, please provide inter-station distances for CR (BG) as follows -
approximately will do? Please, answers to irfca, thanks to my
misbehaving filter that is all I can read.
NEW-ISH LINES
* Dativali,Bhivandi Jn. (direct, not via Diva Jn. or Dombivli - this is
on the Vasai Road to Panvel link)
*
Khajuri,Parakheda,Churelkheda,Mohana,Renhat,Ghatigaon,Panihar,Naugaon,Gw
alior Jn. (just completed)
OTHER/DISUSED LINES
* Diva Jn.,Airoli
* Thane,Airoli,Ghansoli,Rabale,Mahape,Kopar Khairane,Pavane,Turbhe (This
is intended to link to Juinagar)
* Tadali Jn.,Ghugus
* Wani Jn.,Pimpalkhuti,Chanakh (This is intended to link to Adilabad on
SCR?)
This info will enable me to complete the Central Railway (Part #1/9) of
my Indian Railway Simulation Database (IRSD), which will find its way to
the web. Next, I move to ER (Part #2/9).
Many thanks in advance!
Regards to all
Larry
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From: Suresh Mutuswami <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:34:27 -0500
On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, Apurva Bahadur wrote:
> > Around December 1977, I visited my uncle who was then based in the
iron
> > ore project at Donimalai, near Bellary. To get to Donimalai, we had
to
> > get down at a place called Toranagallu (on the
Guntakal-Bellary-Hubli
> > route) and take a jeep. Interestingly, there was a railway line
between
> > Donimalai and Toranagallu which however was used only for ferrying
iron
> > ore. One stretch of the Donimalai-Toranagallu line -- a tunnel
named
> > Bhima-Gandi tunnel -- was supposed to be the first stretch of IR
track
> > using concrete sleepers. I remember visiting this tunnel along with
> > my uncle, aunt and cousins. We were told that this tunnel was used
for
> > testing the concrete sleepers.
>
> Was this a MG line then ? In any case now this line hosts heavy
mineral trains, so
> this must be the correct place for testing sleepers. BTW, I remember
seeing
> 'ballastless' tracks inside the tunnels of the KR in 1997.
So far as I remember, it was BG. But, it's been some time and I haven't
been to that part of the country since then, so I am not entirely sure.
But yes, given the heavy iron ore trains plying that area, it was a good
choice to test out the concrete sleepers.
Suresh
From: lwebber <>
Subject: The Assam Rail Link Project
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:35:17 -0500
Extract from 'INDIAN RAILWAYS' (1988) by the late M.A. Rao, GM of IR
from 1948-67.
ASSAM'S LIFELINE : THE ASSAM RAIL LINK PROJECT The story of this project
Covers some of the brightest pages in the history of railway engineering
in India. On 15 August 1947, the railways in India were divided, along
with the Partition of the country, between India and Pakistan. In the
cast, this partition of railways created a serious problem as the only
access between Assam and the rest of India by rail or road was through
Pakistan. Assam was girdled by Bhutan, Tibet, Burma and Pakistan and
connected with India only by a narrow neck, 19 kin wide, running between
Pakistan and Nepal. For political, strategic and commercial reasons, the
Government of India, therefore, decided upon the construction of a rail
link between Assam and the rest of India, within a few weeks of the
Partition of the country. A rapid reconnaissance was carried out by air,
followed by a return trip on the ground, employing all conceivable forms
of transport, as. the country to be traversed was, in many pa!
!
!
rts, an impregnable forest teeming with wild animals and reptiles and
interspersed by innumerable streams in the sub-montane regions. From
then onwards, things moved with lightning speed, thanks to the
astonishing. organising ability, skill and energy of Shri Karnail Singh,
who was appointed as Engineer-in-Chief of this project. (He later became
Chairman of the Railway Board.) After the reconnaissance by air of the
entire route, aerial surveys of the difficult portions were carried out
through the Survey of India. Crossings of the Tista, the Torsa and the
Sankosh rivers were provisionally fixed on the aerial surveys and a
provisional alignment marked out on the topographical maps. The entire
length of 230 km was divided into a number of sections and different
survey parties were organised, complete with equipment in every detail
and the survey work was taken up simultaneously on all the sections.
Assistance was asked for and freely given by the Survey of India and the
Army. Ea!
!
!
ch party had a group of men hacking their way through the u!
ndergrowth and clearing a path for the surveyors to follow. At either
end, the field work was linked up with that of the adjacent parties. In
this way, the field work for the final location was completed just
before the break of the monsoon in 1948. For the construction work, the
first thing needed was the establishment of communications through the
inaccessible country and its cross drainage. A service road was
constructed for the movement of vehicles, with bamboo bridges or boat
ferries across streams and rivers. In some places, transport needs were
met by the construction of temporary railway track on ground level, with
bridges on sleeper cribs or shallow hand-driven piles. The bridging of
the inaccessible Sankosh river required the transport of huge
quantities-of boulders and heavy plant and machinery. For this purpose,
five temporary pile bridges were constructed between Fakiragram. and the
Sankosh, of a total length of 305 m. As the construction progressed,
some of the b!
!
!
ridges were replaced by stronger spans to take heavier construction
loads. In a number of cases, the bamboo bridge of the service road was
replaced in turn by a sleeper crib structure for trolley track, a pile
bridge for the passage of boulder trains and, finally, the permanent
steel girder bridge on well foundations. Measures like these had to be
adopted in order to ensure continuity of work at a high pitch. The staff
faced the terrors of the forest and the ravages of disease alike, with
singular fortitude and steadfastness of purpose. The apocryphal story is
often told of the lone signaller at a construction site continuing to
tap his instrument from inside a tiger's stomach, by thrusting his arm
out of its mouth! Earthwork is normally not difficult to carry out but,
on this project, the shortness of the working season and the scarcity of
labour were serious obstacles. Nearly 57 lakh cubic metres of earthwork
had to be done between November 1948 and April 1949 as the heavy r!
!
!
ainfall and high sub-soil water level made earthwork almost!
impossible during the rest of the year. All possible resources, manual
as well as mechanical, were tapped to deal with this. Wherever possible,
earth moving machinery was employed with the assistance of army units.
The labour force of 15,000 consisted mostly of men brought in from other
States, involving problems relating to their food, shelter and health.
Besides the Tista, Torsa and Sankosh, there were 19 rivers requiring
deep well foundations and for 17 of these, which involved 69 wells sunk
to a total depth of 823 in, well foundations were provided in the short
1948-49 working season; on the remaining, pile bridges were constructed
as a semi-permanent measure. For other flood openings, and hill streams,
steel girder bridges on masonry abutments and piers were provided. For
high embankments, big corrugated iron 'Armco' pipes, ranging from 1.8 to
3.6 m in diameter, were specially imported on high priority. The
erection of steel girders started at the end of February 1949. I!
!
!
ngenious methods were devised for the launching of some of the spans.
The central span of 76.2 m for the Tista was erected in the bed of the
river and slewed on to the piers within the first 28 days of March, in
time to escape the first flood. Twenty-nine other spans of 45.7 in, 4
spans of 30.5 in, 14 spans of 24.4 m, 18 spans of 18.3 in, 20 spans of
12.2 m and 100 spans of 9.1 m and under were erected and placed in
position during this short period. A total of 368 channels, varying in
size of bridge opening from 1 m to 434 m, were bridged within a period
of one short working season. For the construction of this 229.4 km long
metre gauge line, 20 crore cubic feet of earth and rock was moved, one
lakh cubic metres of cement concrete poured, more than 7,000 tonnes of
steel was used, apart from track material and over 2 lakh tonnes of
materials were transported from place to place, the total movement being
11 crore tonne-km. All this was done within Space of two years and the
lin!
!
!
k was opened for passenger traffic on 26 January 1950, the !
day India became a Republic. The Assam Rail Link Project is an
outstanding example, not only of the effective application of
engineering knowledge and experience to overcome some of the most
difficult natural obstacles to be found anywhere but also of admirable
co-ordination and teamwork achieved between more than two score
different Government and other organisations. The Government, trade,
commerce and industry and the man in the street joined Parliament in
paying handsome tributes to the Indian Railways for their singular
achievement, which was hailed all over the world as an epic of railway
construction.
This book is highly recommended by me. It is published by National Book
Trust, India.
Regards to all
Larry
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From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: Status of Srinagar Rail Link?
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:45:18 -0500
I thought I'd better correct a serious error that I posted before I
confuse everyone else. It is regarding the lay of the land in Tibet.
Jishnu Mukerji wrote:
> BTW, this summer when I was in Tibet for a week I heard that the
> Chinese
> have pretty much given up on constructing a rail link to Lhasa from
> Golmud. Instead they are now seriously consideraing constructing a
> link
> almost directly to the East from Lhasa (well actually first South
> along
> the Lhasa River valley to its confluence with Yarlung Tsangpo, and
> then
> East), along the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) valley and then East
> South East to connect to some rail head East of Burma (I forget the
> exact name).
The problem text is the following. The corrected version and further
description of the lay of the roads appears below it.
> What is interesting about this proposed alignment is that
> it passes through Tsetang on the south bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo,
> which has a relatively direct and relatively good quality road
> connection to the Teesta Valley through Yadong in Tibet and the Nathu
> La
> Pass. The road follows an old traditional trade route, and was
> upgraded
> considerably by the Chinese in preparation for the 1962 operations in
>
> NEFA.
The road from Yadong actually goes up to Gyangtse. The road from Tsetang
actually comes down through Tawang in the Kameng Frontier Division of
Arunachal Pradesh. The climb from the Brhmaputra valley in Assam to
Tawang via Bomdila is relatively difficult and would be hard to
construct a railway line through, one would think, at least much harder
than one up Teesta Gorge under Nathu La pass to Yadong. And yes, the
Chinese did improve both of these roads considerably in preparation for
the 1962 conflict.
From Gyangtse, there are two routes to Lhasa. The easier but longer one
is via Shegatse. It is all along pretty flat territory along the Yarlung
Tsangpo valley. The harder one is via Nagartse, the traditional route
followed by te Dalai Lama to escape from Tibet. The harder route crosses
three high passes (above 16,000') - the Sim La, Karo La and Kamba La
before getting to the Tsangpo Valley. Ever since the road from Lhasa to
Shegatse has been metalled all commercial traffic to Gynagtse goes via
Segatse, and only local people and tourists go via the high pass route
through Nagartse.
> Currently foreigners are not allowed to travel on this road very far
> south, but some have on occasions made it as far south as
> Yadong. The border at Nathu La Pass is currently closed, except for
> local folks. From the Indian side it takes a special permit to get
> anywhere near Nathu La Pass.
>
The following paragraph also changes as shown below it.
> Anyway, perhaps with fantasy hats tightly on:-), this opens up
> interesting possibilities of the construction of a spectacular piece
> of
> railway engineering to get a track from say NJP/Siliguri across
> numerous
> bridges and tunnels upto the Tibetan plateau around Yadong, basically
> tunnelling under the Nathu La Pass, and then onto Tsetang.
> Unfortunately
> politics will probably prevent this from ever happening, but such a
> link
> would be a real boon to Tibet SAR, China and India in terms of a trade
>
> link.
>
The connection from Nathu La Pass would be to Lhasa via Gynagtse -
Shegatse, not via Tsetang.
Sorry about the error.
Jishnu.
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>
Subject: Re: sleepers
Date: 07 Sep 1999 07:55:07 -0500
The SCR map shows a line from Toranagallu Jn. to Ranjitpura but
this is not indicated in the schedules, suggested this is the iron
ore line that you have mentioned. In fact, the 1998-99 rly. budget
had included the electrification of
Renigunta-Guntakal-Toranagallu-Hospet
and Toranagallu-Ranjitpura sections, presumably, for moving crack
trains carrying iron-one to Chennai port. Wonder what's the progress
here?!
Vijay
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Suresh Mutuswami [SMTP:suresh@math.email
> Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 1999 5:59 AM
> To: irfca@cs.email
> Subject: Re: sleepers
>
>
>
> On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:
>
> > Hi!
> >
> > IR is using precast concrete sleepers these days on all newly laid
> tracks
> > & where ever doubling is taking place. Replacing the earlier wooden
with
> > these new variety.
> >
> > The first section on CR with concrete sleepers was around Badlapur,
> Karjat
> > some 10 years back. Now almost all the tracks on suburban are having
> these
> > new ones.
> >
> > Near Dombivali, towards CST on Up thru line the train used to bounce
> quite a
> > lot after the wooden sleepers were replaced with concrete ones. So
much
> so
> > there were fears amongst the passengers & complaints were sent from
> passengers
> > to PRO of CR. Now the problem is more or less solved. May be
something
> to
> > do with cushioning factor. Any of us experienced such bouncy effect
on
> > tracks after conversion?
> >
>
> Around December 1977, I visited my uncle who was then based in the
iron
> ore project at Donimalai, near Bellary. To get to Donimalai, we had
to
> get down at a place called Toranagallu (on the Guntakal-Bellary-Hubli
> route) and take a jeep. Interestingly, there was a railway line
between
> Donimalai and Toranagallu which however was used only for ferrying
iron
> ore. One stretch of the Donimalai-Toranagallu line -- a tunnel named
> Bhima-Gandi tunnel -- was supposed to be the first stretch of IR track
> using concrete sleepers. I remember visiting this tunnel along with
> my uncle, aunt and cousins. We were told that this tunnel was used
for
> testing the concrete sleepers.
>
> Anyway, it's interesting that after that beginning, it's only
> (comparatively) recently that IR is moving in a significant way to
replace
> wooden sleepers with precast concrete sleepers.
>
> Incidentally, this uncle of mine after Donimalai, went off to
Bailadilla
> which of course is at the end of the famous
> Vishakapatnam-Kottavalasa-Kirandul line. Unfortunately, I never got to
> visit him there!
>
> Suresh
>
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Khyber pass
Date: 07 Sep 1999 09:57:19 -0500
Hello,
This is something I'd hoped to incorporate into my Pakistan railways
'neighbors' site, but didn't, as I couldn't get any material at that
time.
Its about Pakistan's steam excursion on the Khyber pass.
Click on the following url, and then follow another url which will
appear inside the site to get info about the excursion.
For a project aimed at foreign tourists, the getup and photos
(particularly the photos, esp of the trains) are of an abysmally low
quality.
Anyway, check it out for whatever its worth:
<A HREF="http://www.pakcyber.com/sehrai-travels/main.html">http://www.pakcyber.com/sehrai-travels/main.html</A>
Cheers.
Shankar
From: lwebber <>
Subject: Eastern Railway - some missing information, help please... :)
Date: 07 Sep 1999 12:03:30 -0500
Could someone with old or new Eastern Railway Timetables or other
sources, please provide inter-station distances (and/or any missing
stations) as follows - approximately will do? Please, answers to irfca,
thanks to my misbehaving filter that is all I can read.
CALCUTTA REGION LINES
* Seoraphuli Jn.,Kamarkundu Jn.,Tarkeshwar
* Princep Ghat,Dum Dum Jn.,BBD Bagh (Rest of Port Trust Railway?)
* Sheakhala,Dankuni Jn.,Andul Jn.
* Kalyani,Kalyani Silpanchal,Kalyani Ghoshpara,Kalyani Simanta
* Dum Dum Jn.,Dum Dum Cantonment,Durganagar,Birati,New
Barrackpur,Madhyamgram,Hridaypur,Barasat
Jn.,Dattapukur,Bira,Guma,Ashoknagar Road,Habra,Gobardanga,Bongaon
Jn.,Ranaghat Jn.,Ranaghat Jn.,Taraknagar
Halt,Aranghata,Bagula,Majhdia,Banpur,Gede
* Kalinarayanpur,Phulia,Habibpur,Shantipur
* Baliganja Jn.,Lake Gardens,Kalighat,Kalighat,Tollyganj,New
Alipur,Majherhat,Brace Bridge,Santoshpur,Akra,Nungi,Baj Baj
* Dhakuria,Jadavpur,Baghajatin,Garia,Sonarpur
Jn,Piali,Champahati,Ghutiari Sharif,Taldi,Canning
* Sonarpur Jn.,Subhasgram,Malikpur,Baruipur Jn,Baruipur Jn.,Kalyanpur
(W.B.),Magra Hat,Diamond Harbour
* Baruipur Jn.,Gocharan,Jaynagar Majilpur,Lakshmikantapur,Namkhana
* Hasnabad, Taki Road, Basirhat,Kareya Kadambagachhi,Barasat Jn.
OTHER LINES
* Damodar Jn.,Kalipahari
* Patna Jn.,Digha
* Mokama Jn.,Mokama Ghat
* Ikra Jn.,Gaurangdih
* Talgaria,Katrasgarh (Colliery)
* Hathidah Jn.,Rajendra Pul,Simaria,Garhara,Barauni Jn.
* Sindri Town,Pathardih Jn.
This info will enable me to complete the Eastern Railway (Part #2/9) of
my Indian Railway Simulation Database (IRSD), which will find its way to
the web. As I have already completed Konkan Railway (Part #3/9, easy), I
shall then move to NEFR (Part #4/9).
Many thanks in advance, for this and also any help with CR as
requested...
Regards to all
Larry
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