IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 8921 - 8940
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Thames Turbo ?
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:09:51 -0500
> In a similar situation the IR would first clear the tracks and then
look for
> >survivors.
> WOW! Not true, Apurva! This just ain't so!!
The accident relief crew from Daund told me this. The track gets cleared
with
top priority. The bodies get extracted next (possibly by a different
rescue
crew). But of course the injured have to be rescued first.
As per the BBC yesterday night (IST) there are the ashes of over 30
passengers
in one coach and coroners are on the site establishing the exact number
of dead
and then the coaches will be moved to clear the track. It is difficult
to keep
a track closed for 3- 4 days so that the coroner's investigation can be
carried
out. I am depending on the BBC reports of last night, maybe the current
situation is different.
Apurva
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:11:13 -0500
Gang,
This is what I came across in October 99 issue of "TODAY'S RAILWAYS".
In the opinion of the Society of International Railway Travellers, which
has members in 17 countries, the top 20 railway journeys in the world
are:
1. American Orient Express.
2. Bergensbanen, Norway.
3. Bernina Express, Switzerland.
4. Blue Train, South Africa.
5. Toronto-Vancouver, Canada.
6. Coast Starline (Los Angeles-Seattle), USA.
7. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (Chama, New Mexico-Antonito,
Colombia).
8. Trans-Siberian (Moscow-Vladivostok).
9. Eastern & Oriental Express (Bangkok-Singapore).
10. Eurostar.
11. Glacier Express, Switzerland.
12. Indian Pacific (Sydney-Perth), Australia.
13. Napa Valley Wine Train (Napa-St.helena, California), USA.
14. Nice-Digne, France.
15. Orient Express (London-Paris-Venice).
16. Rocky Mountaineer (Vancouver-Calgary), Canada.
17. Rovos Rail, South Africa.
18. Sierra Madre Express, Mexico.
19. TGV, France.
20. Darjeeling- Jalpaiguri, India.
==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrej.email
==========================
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:18:59 -0500
Viraf and gang,
Anybody willing to volunteer a list of the Top 10 in India
Raymond
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: RM Railways
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:25:47 -0500
Malcolm,
Thanks for visiting my website. I take liberty to forward your mail to my 'support group' (for Indian Railway addiction :-)) the Indian Railway Fan Club Association (the IRFCA) where a more comprehensive answer to your query may be found.
Dear Gang,
What is the RM Railways ? The Rajsthan and Marwar ? There was a link earlier on the IRFCA which led to an archive of non Indian persons working on the Indian Railways. Any other suggestions for Malcolm ?
Apurva
Malcolm MacKillop wrote:
Apurva Bahadur ,
I see from your web page that you are interested in railways.
My cousin is researching family history and has heard that our grandmother's brother named Isaac Deans was employed as an engine driver with RM Railways in India, probably around 1920-1930. Do you know anything of this company? eg where it operated? Any information would be of interest.
Many thanks,
Malcolm MacKillop
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Info on WAP1
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:36:37 -0500
>
> Purely a guess, but these occur at regular intervals down the side
> of the carbody. Perhaps they are access to the bolts that hold carbody
> to frame? Or perhaps they are lift points for the crane?
These are the ports to fill sand, hence the cover in the recess. Note
that
there are two of these for the front bogie/ truck. Similarly there are
two more
for the rear bogie. I would vote the items # 2 as the telephone jacks
while the
the item # 5 are the MU connectors. Although I am not sure why three
plugs are
required, while diesels need only one (but large) connector. I guess
additional
signals such as 'raise panto 1' etc would result in these large number
of
contacts. The WCG 2 s that are MUed in CSTM - PA section have only two
cables
as far as I can remember. Come to think of it, I have not seen a MUed
WCG 2 for
a long time now, the MUed WDM 2s handle most of the freight traffic on
this
section (Much to my delight !)
Item # 2 are definitely cab ventilators. item 1 is the orange emergency
flasher
(50 Watts). I have seen the item # 3 of both orange and blue colour
(orange of
a DMU while the blue was on the Calcutta metro) - not sure of the colour
or the
purpose on the WAP 1. How lovely this loco would look if the headlight
were to
moved to the roof !
Apurva
From: Jayant S <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 01:50:45 -0500
> > Anybody willing to volunteer a list of the Top 10 in India
Well, where to begin ?
A great railway system such as IR would make
possible far more than a mere 10 journeys, surely ?
--
JS
--
From: Joydeep Dutta <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 02:03:35 -0500
my top 10 broadgauge indian journeys are
1. Tamil Nadu Express
2. Coromandel Express
3. Deccan Queen
4. Frontier Mail
5. Shan- e - Punjab
6. Vaishali Express
7. Sramjeevi Express
8. Madras - Kanya Kumari Expess
9. Ashram Express
10.Brahmaputra Mail
Great IR overnight journeys ( nocturnal classics)
1. Bangalore - Chennai Mail
2. Darjeeling Mail
3. Lucknow Mail
4. Pandyan Express
5. Mumbai-Ahmaedabad Mail
6. Howrah-Puri Express
7. PrayagRaj Express
8. Mussourie Express
9. Nainital Express (MG)
Joydeep
>From: raymond/Polaris@polaris.email
>To: "VIRAF P.. MULLA " <sncf@godrej.email
>CC: irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
>Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 13:48:59 +0530
>
>
>
>Viraf and gang,
>
>Anybody willing to volunteer a list of the Top 10 in India
>
>Raymond
>
>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>
From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 02:03:39 -0500
>
> Viraf and gang,
>
> Anybody willing to volunteer a list of the Top 10 in India
>
> Raymond
Raymond,
Lets start with the 4 Exotic mountain railways of our IR.
1. Darjeeling
2. Nilgiri
3. Simla
4. Matheran.
What I fail to understand was how were the Top 20 judged. Scenic (then
TGV
& Eurostar are definitely out), Exotic (again these two are out),
comfort
(then Darjeeling Is out). And what's so great about Napa Valley Wine
Train
& the American Oriental Express.
==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrej.email
==========================
From: raymond/Polaris <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 02:11:01 -0500
Viraf,
What about Pathankot - Palampur / Joginder Nagar - I wonder how many of
us have
done that trip. Hill railways I have done are Matheran and Darjeeling.
Funny a
Madrasi not having been to Ooty, but there..
Non-hill rail journeys should basically be specific train journeys. I
mean doing
Mumbai - Delhi by Frontier is a different ball game as compared to the
Rajdhani.
My favourite is Madras - New Delhi on the G.T.
Does any of you know whether there are any dining cars still running on
IR -
maybe the Deccan Queen ??
Regards
Raymond
From: John Lacey <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 02:40:22 -0500
It's an interesting list. Notice how many are " hotel trains" or " land
cruises" and not a way of moving from one place to another.
And what a variation in cost too! How many journeys NJP-Darjeeling for
one night on the Orient Express for example!
John Lacey
From: Shantanu Sen <>
Subject: Dining Cars
Date: 08 Oct 1999 02:44:05 -0500
Hi
The Deccan Queen unfortunately does not have a Dining Car anymore -- it's been replaced by a Pantry car for approx. 4 or 5 years now, i think...
Did you know that the Deccan Express (also running Between Bombay - Poona) used to have a quaint Buffet Car with counter stools upto the 1980s !
I was glad to read that WCG 1 Class "Sir Leslie Wilson" has been preserved at the Railway Meuseum in Delhi. I used to admire this loco quite often in the late 1980s when she used to work as Station Pilot /Shunter at Dadar, V.T. and The Wadi Bunder marshalling yard. I believe it was one of only two of the class ever to bear a name plaque. These 1929 electric DC locos must surely be the oldest working electrics in the world!
Cheers to all
-- S h a n t a n u
raymond/Polaris@polaris.email wrote:
Viraf,
What about Pathankot - Palampur / Joginder Nagar - I wonder how many of us have
done that trip. Hill railways I have done are Matheran and Darjeeling. Funny a
Madrasi not having been to Ooty, but there..
Non-hill rail journeys should basically be specific train journeys. I mean doing
Mumbai - Delhi by Frontier is a different ball game as compared to the Rajdhani.
My favourite is Madras - New Delhi on the G.T.
Does any of you know whether there are any dining cars still running on IR -
maybe the Deccan Queen ??
Regards
Raymond
From: John Lacey <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 03:07:23 -0500
raymond/Polaris@polaris.email wrote:
> Non-hill rail journeys should basically be specific train journeys. I
mean doing
> Mumbai - Delhi by Frontier is a different ball game as compared to the
Rajdhani.
>
> My favourite is Madras - New Delhi on the G.T.
A MG nomination:
The (former 199) Tirupati-Madurai Express. Departing Tirupati with those
temple-terraced hills about 15.00, in a rake of 8 green bogies, hauled
by a SCR YP. As the afternoon progressed, the scenery became wilder,
horseshoe curves, with steep blue hills then arrival at Katpadi Jn ( see
Tim Wakeman's photos). Here a SR YP took over, another loco change at
Villupuram, through the night down the Main line on well maintained
smooth track, dawn at the Rock Fort, then early morning arrival at
Trichi. Now the run south in the warmer morning, the green fields, the
blue mountains, the hard work from the YP on the long climb to Ayyalur;
cross the nortbound train on the way, the rumble on the bridge and then
a late morning arrival in Madurai. Wonderful memories!
John Lacey
From: San-Ind <>
Subject: Re: Hi !!!
Date: 08 Oct 1999 03:17:43 -0500
dear Vijay,
Hi !
Got a mail form u..... about Harsh but his e-mail address was not there
???
Can i have it ????
I've some other things to ask .....
Can i know the history of Frontier MAil(Golden Temple Mail), Punjab
Mail,
Amritsar Howrah mail and Howrah-Mumbai mail via Allahbad !!!!
Before 1947, which route was followed to reach Guwahati ????
o.k.
Regards
Sandeep
____( \ .-' `-. / )____
(____ \_____ / (O O) \ _____/ ____)
(____ `-----( ) )-----' ____)
(____ _____________\ \____/ /_____________ ____)
(______/ `-.____.-' \______)
"A part of you has grown in me,
together forever we shall be,
never apart,
maybe in distance,
but not in heart"
~unknown
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: emu enigma
Date: 08 Oct 1999 05:49:20 -0500
Hello,
Nothing new, but my emu enigma has just undergone extensive renovation.
Check it out at:
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/emuenigmain.html">http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/emuenigmain.html</A>
The page colors are supposed to denote:
Teal: main page: just a pleasant color
Silver: History page: to denote the silver mg emus of the mg Madras
system of yesteryear.
Maroon: dc emu page: the standard maroon/cream of the B0mbay emus
Green: ac pages: the standard livery of the ac emus and memus. Let me
know if that green should be slightly darker.
Cheers.
Shankar
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Re: RM Railways
Date: 08 Oct 1999 05:50:13 -0500
Hello,
I think RMR stands for Rajputana-Malwa Railway.
Cheers.
Shankar
Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
>
> Malcolm,
>
> Thanks for visiting my website. I take liberty to forward your mail to
> my 'support group' (for Indian Railway addiction :-)) the Indian
> Railway Fan Club Association (the IRFCA) where a more comprehensive
> answer to your query may be found.
>
> Dear Gang,
>
> What is the RM Railways ? The Rajsthan and Marwar ? There was a link
> earlier on the IRFCA which led to an archive of non Indian persons
> working on the Indian Railways. Any other suggestions for Malcolm ?
>
> Apurva
>
> Malcolm MacKillop wrote:
>
> Apurva Bahadur ,
>
> I see from your web page that you are interested in
> railways.
>
> My cousin is researching family history and has heard that
> our grandmother's brother named Isaac Deans was employed as
> an engine driver with RM Railways in India, probably around
> 1920-1930. Do you know anything of this company? eg where
> it operated? Any information would be of interest.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Malcolm MacKillop
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: Thames Turbo ?
Date: 08 Oct 1999 08:11:29 -0500
Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
> > In a similar situation the IR would first clear the tracks and then
look for
> > >survivors.
> > WOW! Not true, Apurva! This just ain't so!!
>
> The accident relief crew from Daund told me this. The track gets
cleared with
> top priority. The bodies get extracted next (possibly by a different
rescue
> crew). But of course the injured have to be rescued first.
> As per the BBC yesterday night (IST) there are the ashes of over 30
passengers
> in one coach and coroners are on the site establishing the exact
number of dead
> and then the coaches will be moved to clear the track. It is difficult
to keep
> a track closed for 3- 4 days so that the coroner's investigation can
be carried
> out. I am depending on the BBC reports of last night, maybe the
current
> situation is different.
It is more than just the coroners that they are waiting for. Coach H was
in an
unstable condition and was deemed to be dangerous to enter. They needed
heavy
moving equipment to stabilize the situation. In the constrained area
around
Ladbroke Grove bridge it took them time to move in heavy moving
equipment. They
built a road and demolished a few small structure to move in and erect
the
equipment. That is what mainly took the time. Of course the fact that
the area
of the accident has been declared a crime scene by London Police is
adding to
the time it is taking to do everything because all pieces of evidence
has to be
collected carefully from the tracks and the surrounding areas. For
example, they
were still looking for the black box or pieces of it, from the lead car
of the
Thames Turbo yesterday, in a backyard of a house adjacent to the track
100m
away!
Jishnu.
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 08:34:04 -0500
VIRAF P.. MULLA wrote:
> 1. American Orient Express.
This is not really a regular service. It is more of a trainset that runs
here
and there from time to time.
> 2. Bergensbanen, Norway.
> 3. Bernina Express, Switzerland.
Thats pretty.
> 4. Blue Train, South Africa.
> 5. Toronto-Vancouver, Canada.
The area through the parks in Rocky Mountains is spectacular. the rest
is
spectacularly boring IMHO. But the hotel service on this train was
really good
the last time I was on it.
> 6. Coast Starline (Los Angeles-Seattle), USA.
Coast Starlight. It is a fun journey with great views from the upper
deck of
Superliner Lounge, of Pacific coastline and Mount Shasta, Hood, St.
Helen, and
the Puget Sound.
> 7. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (Chama, New Mexico-Antonito,
> Colombia).
That Colombia better be Colorado, otherwise it is a darned long journey
over
non-existent tracks!:-) This one is a neat NG line through deep canyons.
In Colorado, I would also place the Denver - Salt Lake City portion of
the
journey by California Zephyr high on my list of scenic journeys.
> 8. Trans-Siberian (Moscow-Vladivostok).
> 9. Eastern & Oriental Express (Bangkok-Singapore).
Travelled part of that route by regular trains, and was an interesting
journey.
> 10. Eurostar.
Presumably the cross-channel one (the Italians have a service called
Eurostar
too!:-(). Great for people interested in experiencing the wonders of
modern rail
and civil engineering technology, and getting to Paris from London in
three
hours. As far as journey goes, specially in standard class - pretty
mundane, in
borderline uncomfortable seats. First class used to have great food but
has gone
downhill to just good food, since change of management couple of years
back. But
the schedule and service is truly convenient for trans-manche (i.e.
cross-channel) travel.
> 11. Glacier Express, Switzerland.
Absolutely spectacular. If you care about the scenary more than the
ambiance in
the train, I'd recommend travelling this route by local trains rather
than the
Glacier Express. On local trains you can open the windows all the way
and stick
your neck out carefully to get great pictures. I popped of ten reels of
36
exposures on a single trip from Brig to Disentis one time.
> 12. Indian Pacific (Sydney-Perth), Australia.
> 13. Napa Valley Wine Train (Napa-St.helena, California), USA.
I wouldn't put this one on my list.
> 14. Nice-Digne, France.
Hopefully this is back in service again. Couple of years back a lot of
it got
washed away in landslides and floods. It is quite a ride.
> 15. Orient Express (London-Paris-Venice).
Presumably the luxury train. Travels through Rhone valley and Simplon
tunnel. Is
this a regular service or is it one of those that runs occasionally?
> 16. Rocky Mountaineer (Vancouver-Calgary), Canada.
> 17. Rovos Rail, South Africa.
> 18. Sierra Madre Express, Mexico.
> 19. TGV, France.
Similar to comments on Eurostar, except that the food is much worse.:-(
Actually
the ambiance on the German ICE trains is better than on TGVs I think,
with
Thalys and Eurostar falling somewhere between the two.
> 20. Darjeeling- Jalpaiguri, India.
Spectacular! Right up there with Glacier Express.
Jishnu.
From: Jishnu Mukerji <>
Subject: Re: TOP 20 RAIL JOURNEYS.
Date: 08 Oct 1999 08:39:28 -0500
VIRAF P.. MULLA wrote:
>
> >
> > Viraf and gang,
> >
> > Anybody willing to volunteer a list of the Top 10 in India
> >
> > Raymond
>
> Raymond,
>
> Lets start with the 4 Exotic mountain railways of our IR.
>
> 1. Darjeeling
> 2. Nilgiri
> 3. Simla
> 4. Matheran.
Add to that Pathankot - joginder Nagar
> What I fail to understand was how were the Top 20 judged. Scenic (then
TGV
> & Eurostar are definitely out),
Eurostar, yes, TGV not necessarily. TGVs travel to Milan via Modane and
Frejus
tunnel. They also travel to various locations in the Alps like Bourge
St.
Maurice, Albertville, Geneva, Lausanne etc. Quite a bit of scenary
around these
places.
> Exotic (again these two are out), comfort
> (then Darjeeling Is out). And what's so great about Napa Valley Wine
Train
> & the American Oriental Express.
American Orient Express is in the same category as Orient Express and
Eastern
and Oriental Express.... purely for extremely expensive ambiance.
Jishnu.
From: Shanku Niyogi <>
Subject: Re: Info on WAP1
Date: 08 Oct 1999 08:59:06 -0500
> the item # 5 are the MU connectors. Although I am not sure why three
plugs
are
> required, while diesels need only one (but large) connector. I guess
additional
> signals such as 'raise panto 1' etc would result in these large
number of
> contacts. The WCG 2 s that are MUed in CSTM - PA section have only
two
cables
I agree about the strangeness of the "MU connectors". Note that there
are
actually not 3, but 6 connectors, 3 on each side. This seems quite
excessive
for an MU connection. Maybe the MU wires for a WAP1 are thinner due to
streamlining, so you need more information?
Some other WAP1 pictures I have seen show yet another jack, a single
one,
just above this column on the right side. For an example of one, see the
one
on Bharat's Loco page at
<A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~railinindia/wap1.jpg">http://members.tripod.com/~railinindia/wap1.jpg</A>
or this slightly different one on Avinash's page at
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/3793/raj02.jpg">http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/3793/raj02.jpg</A>
This jack looks much more like the diesel MU connector, no? Why so many
MU
jacks? Perhaps Joydeep can shed some light.
Curiously, Avinash's picture also shows some sort of odd unidentified
box on
the same side of the locomotive face. The amazing variety of attachments
on
the front of the WAP1 is beginning to astonish me.
From: PG JULIAN RAINBOW <>
Subject: Re: RM Railways
Date: 08 Oct 1999 09:05:00 -0500
Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 16:50:13 +0400
From: "S.Shankar" <shankie@emirates.email
Subject: Re: RM Railways
To: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email
Cc: Malcolm MacKillop <mdmackillop@zetnet.email IRFCA
<irfca@cs.email
Reply-to: shankie@emirates.email
Shankar is right, but I thought the RMR was amalgamated much earlier
than 1920, into GIPR? Try Indian Office records or Hugh Hughes books
Julian
Hello, I think RMR stands for Rajputana-Malwa Railway.
Cheers.
Shankar
Apurva Bahadur wrote:
>
>
> Malcolm,
>
> Thanks for visiting my website. I take liberty to forward your mail to
> my 'support group' (for Indian Railway addiction :-)) the Indian
> Railway Fan Club Association (the IRFCA) where a more comprehensive
> answer to your query may be found.
>
> Dear Gang,
>
> What is the RM Railways ? The Rajsthan and Marwar ? There was a link
> earlier on the IRFCA which led to an archive of non Indian persons
> working on the Indian Railways. Any other suggestions for Malcolm ?
>
> Apurva
>
> Malcolm MacKillop wrote:
>
> Apurva Bahadur ,
>
> I see from your web page that you are interested in
> railways.
>
> My cousin is researching family history and has heard that
> our grandmother's brother named Isaac Deans was employed as
> an engine driver with RM Railways in India, probably around
> 1920-1930. Do you know anything of this company? eg where
> it operated? Any information would be of interest.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Malcolm MacKillop