IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 9081 - 9100
From: Royston Ellis <>
Subject: Female railfans
Date: 16 Oct 1999 06:09:56 -0500
Gang:
I'm fascinated by Annie's revelations about female railfans (as well as
puzzled as to what a "transsexual" is).
It leads me to wonder if there is any common link in the sexual
orientation
of MALE rail fans, Indian or otherwise.
I was once told by the leader of a group of male, British "gricers"
(rail
fanatics) on a visit to Sri Lanka, that he believed his group, all
bachelors, had no interest in sex at all, only rail.
Seems they found the pursuit of trains more satisfying.
Royston
From: hubbert <>
Subject: Re: Sri Lanka Railways
Date: 16 Oct 1999 11:32:37 -0500
On 16 Oct 99, at 8:54, Royston Ellis wrote:
Sorry,
will it be held in 1999/2000 or 2000/2001?
Thanks,
Heinrich
>
> By the way, Vinod tells me that there is to be a RAIL 2000 EXHIBITION
in
> Colombo put on by Sri Lanka Railways from 27 December to 10 January.
>
> Royston.
>
>
From: Muhammed Khan <>
Subject: Re: Female Railfans
Date: 16 Oct 1999 18:03:53 -0500
Hi ,
So much reaction to 'Female Railfans'.
In 87, I remember a Class 1 officer ( another category from the good old
days) who happened to be a "Female" joining the Indian Railway service
in
the signaling department and had come for training on the Nagpur
division.
She was very active in learning all the aspects of railway operations,
in
fact she proved to be an outstanding person and had no difficulty in
being
on the footplate. With her charming personality she did make the drivers
more comfortable than so called "Male" officers with their noses buried
in
their prestigious posts.
Hope she is still around either on the Central or Western Railway, if
the
male dominated setup has not posted her in some backwaters of a
headquarters.
Muhammed
----- Original Message -----
From: Anne Ogborn <anniepoo@netmagic.email
To: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email
Cc: irfca <irfca@cs.email
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 1999 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: Female Railfans
>
>
>
> >Virtually all the ladies I know would gladly do 'footplating' at
least
> once, if
> >given half a chance. Unfortunately the driver cadre is specially
sensitive
> to
> >let a lady on board lest they should be 'distracted'. This is a deep
routed
> >Indian male viewpoint.
> >
> >Apurva
>
>
> I've certainly met a minority of men who deeply resent my
> presence - I think they feel I'll interfere with it being a 'boys
club'
>
> I hadn't heard the 'distracted' angle.
>
>
From: Mike Brooker <>
Subject: Re: BBCIR
Date: 16 Oct 1999 20:43:48 -0500
>Hello,
>I've just dug out a set of ten postcards I'd picked up at the nrm in
>Nov.1997, showing some nice views of old Bombay.
>I've put them into a small site:
>
><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/bbci.htm">http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/bbci.htm</A>
>
>Check it out. I've still got to add a hits counter, do some fine tuning
>etc. I think the background image has slowed down the download time a
>great deal. I might consider removing it.
I've added this link to my India page
<A HREF="http://webhome.idirect.com/~aum108/bharat.html">http://webhome.idirect.com/~aum108/bharat.html</A> next to the photo that I
took of the BBCIR loco outside Bombay Central.
I read in Royson Ellis's "India by Rail" that BBCIR stood for Bloody Bad
and
Can't Improve Railway! :)
********************************************************************
Mike Brooker
99 Wychcrest Ave.,
Toronto, ON M6G 3X8
CANADA
(416) 536-7406
********************************************************************
From: Royston Ellis <>
Subject: Re: Sri Lanka Railways
Date: 16 Oct 1999 20:00:42 -0500
At 19:32 16/10/99 +0100, you wrote:
>
>
>On 16 Oct 99, at 8:54, Royston Ellis wrote:
>
>Sorry,
>will it be held in 1999/2000 or 2000/2001?
>
>Thanks,
>Heinrich
>
>>
>> By the way, Vinod tells me that there is to be a RAIL 2000 EXHIBITION
in
>> Colombo put on by Sri Lanka Railways from 27 December to 10 January.
>>
>> Royston.
>>
>>
>
>
>
Good question! You obviously know a lot about Sri Lanka.
It is supposed to open on 27 December 1999.
Royston
From: s.shankar <>
Subject: Modified ERS Webpage
Date: 17 Oct 1999 01:45:39 -0500
Hello Appu,
The modified ERS page is fascinating, to say the least. It has several
interesting links too. As I'd said a few days earlier, the IR is really
going hi-tech.For workshops to have websites of such quality, makes one
proud to belong to India and to the irfca fraternity.
A few points: I cannot for the life of me figure out how you happen to
be so
close to the chaps at the ERS shed. Diesel freak and all ok, but to have
ready access to their website??
The links are very interesting too. In one of the links,(Mechanical
Workshops...), there is a three car red and white railcar, built at the
Mysore workshop.Where is this unit used?
Cheers, and thanks for the treat.
Shankar
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From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Re: My train derailed yesterday.
Date: 17 Oct 1999 01:49:44 -0500
At least we can thank God that you are safe, and
that no life was lost.
Annie
From: Anne Ogborn <>
Subject: Re: (no subject)
Date: 17 Oct 1999 02:12:30 -0500
Postcard shots are great fun.
Annie
From: San-Ind <>
Subject: Paschim Express !!
Date: 17 Oct 1999 02:44:00 -0500
Dear Vijay,
When i was travelling from Bct to Ndls by 2925 Pashchim Exp. in early
1996, I'd amazed to see this train hauled by a Diesel Engine between
Bct-Vadodra/Ratlam........ I'd enquired some railwaymen, he said its due
to
shortage of Electic Engine..... Is it still hauled by diesel
Engine?????
Its a very good journey between BCT & Vadodra...... Enjoying fresh
Chickoos
on intermediate stations..... But the Painful part is between Mathura &
Ndls...... The Local Passangers from Mathura make the journey a
hell.....
They misbehave the people..... The whole compartments filled like
Mumbai
Locals.... And u have to do a lot of exercise to getting down at New
Delhi
station....
Same thing happen to PAssengers of 2723 A.P. Express between
AGC-MTRJ-NDLS.......1077 Jhelum Exp. between Panipat & Ndls, 4646
Shalimar
Exp. between SRE-NDLS..... and all trains which reach Delhi area between
8.30 to 11.00 a.m.
Railways have must change the timings of these trains..... And for
Suburbun
PAssengers there should be some Fast Passenger Trains during that
time......
Rgards
Sandeep
*-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-
*-*-*
Digital Operation Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
90/30A, Ist Floor, Malviya Nagar,
New Delhi-17
Ph.91-11-6285286, 6451620, 6423136
E-mail: docqcs@nd.email sandeep@docpl.email
Web: www.docpl.com
*-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-
*-*-
*
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Modified ERS Webpage
Date: 17 Oct 1999 06:26:24 -0500
> A few points: I cannot for the life of me figure out how you happen to
be so
> close to the chaps at the ERS shed. Diesel freak and all ok, but to
have
> ready access to their website??
It is in my favourites list, so I go back often.
> The links are very interesting too. In one of the links,(Mechanical
> Workshops...), there is a three car red and white railcar, built at
the
> Mysore workshop.Where is this unit used?
I remember that these railcars were manufactured for Bankura line and
some other NG
line on the WR. Looks like a toy train in an amusement park, doesn't it
?
Apurva
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: My train derailed yesterday.
Date: 17 Oct 1999 06:29:04 -0500
Picture of Karthik's derailed rake would be up on my webpage tomorrow.
Anne Ogborn wrote:
> At least we can thank God that you are safe, and
> that no life was lost.
>
> Annie
From: Dr. Shirish Yande <>
Subject: Fastest Train in India
Date: 17 Oct 1999 09:51:28 -0500
Dear Gang,
Somebody inquired about the fastest train in India.
it's no secret, but the fastest among shatabdi Expresses is still the N.
Delhi- Bhopal Shatabdi Express which was first introduced in the
centenary year as N Delhi Gwalior Shatabdi Express.
The existent Shatabdi Express now averages 88.12 km/hr, which is quite
impressive.(It also has a good track record of punctuality).
Interestingly the fastest run of this train is between N. Delhi and Agra
on the down journey where it averages an impeccable 102 km/hr. and
reaches a maximum of 140 km/hour. it cannot reach 140 km/hr on all
sections except between N. Delhi and Gwalior. According to the drivers
thre best section for speeding is Gwalior- Agra.
No other Shatabdi is allowed the Luxury of 140 km/hr. due mainly to
track conditions and partly because a lot of these Shatabdis are hauled
by WDM-2's which cannot exceed 120km/hour.
Dr. Shirish Yande
From: Dr. Shirish Yande <>
Subject: Madgaon Railway Station
Date: 17 Oct 1999 09:52:09 -0500
Dear Folks,
I have enjoyed Rajan's messages on KR. Having seen and travelled on KR a
few times, I feel it is one of the most fascinting rail journeys of
India and certainly deserves a place in the top ten.
Recently I missed an opportunity of trvelling to Madgaon by KR but
reached my destination by air. I visited the station the next day and
made the following observations.
The station architecture is modern and conforms with the standards of
KR. It has one main platform and an island platform catering for two
trains. Platforms are covered with red cement tiles but are shorter in
height (why?).
ASM's office is a usual busy and crowded place. Since Madgaon has a
double line upto Majorda and a single towards Mangalore, there is a
Double :Line block instrument for the north end and a single line
tokenless Block Instrument for the South end. The station has scanty
stalls, appears rather shabby and has a gloomy look in general. It is a
dirty station by any standards ( Thanks to our rail users) and will not
win any prizes for the ergonomics either. The Footbridge is small
slender and highly inadequate for the traffic it handles. In short it is
a disappointing rail location.
Signalling on KR is the old Absolute Block System with Panel
Interlocking (i.e.only on indivisual stations). The communications are
by underground optical Fibres. This is a conventional Signalling on all
modern lines ( except the optical Fibres) and cannot be called "Modern"
in the true sense. Single Line Traffic restricts the the block sections
to 5 to 8 kms. and not shorter since crossings are only possible on
stations that too with loop lines.
Apart from the great bridges and Tunnels, The best part of KR really is
the track itself. It is a heavy 65 Kg/Metre, continuously welded line
with switch Expansion joints. It lies on Pre Stressed concrete sleepers
and has the smoothest ride on the IR. No wonders the engineers have
claimed that "there would never be a derailment on KR for track related
causes."
Any comments from my colleagues?
Dr. Shirish Yande
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Paschim Express !!
Date: 17 Oct 1999 09:58:00 -0500
Hello,
Yeah, tell me about it. Infiltrators are a big nuisance on the entire
Bombay-Delhi line. Short-hoppers are bad between Gwalior-Agra, but a
positive nightmare between Agra and Delhi.
Back in 1979, on the Jhelum, we were approached by a Sardarini with a
tiny babe in her arms, who meekly reqested: may I sit? Now no one with
any shred of human decency would allow a lone, hapless lady with a baby
to stand all the way to Delhi, so we all agreed.
In a jiffy, she whirled around, and gesticulated, and out of nowhere,
appeared her husband and mother. We really had to sqeeze. When we
objected, she kept repeating, 'but I asked first!'
The most unruly passengers on the entire IR are between New Delhi and
Sonepat, esp. at night. We were swooped upon by some 50 youths at
N.Delhi. Forget about asking, they just helped themselves to the upper
berths, sitting on one and keeping their legs across on the opposite
berth, laughing and talking loudly, smoking and extinguishing the
cigarette butts on the berth, playing cards etc. The emergency alarm
cord is pulled at every station. THe conductor locked the door at one
stage, but the youths outside banged so loudly and hard that he had to
yield. THe reaction of the first youth was, how dare you lock the door
on us? This is the last warning.Remember, you have to work the same line
tomorrow as well.
The whole bunch of wild animals got off at Sonepat.
Cheers.
Shankar
San-Ind wrote:
>
> Dear Vijay,
>
> When i was travelling from Bct to Ndls by 2925 Pashchim Exp. in
early
> 1996, I'd amazed to see this train hauled by a Diesel Engine between
> Bct-Vadodra/Ratlam........ I'd enquired some railwaymen, he said its
due to
> shortage of Electic Engine..... Is it still hauled by diesel
Engine?????
>
> Its a very good journey between BCT & Vadodra...... Enjoying fresh
Chickoos
> on intermediate stations..... But the Painful part is between Mathura
&
> Ndls...... The Local Passangers from Mathura make the journey a
hell.....
> They misbehave the people..... The whole compartments filled like
Mumbai
> Locals.... And u have to do a lot of exercise to getting down at New
Delhi
> station....
>
> Same thing happen to PAssengers of 2723 A.P. Express between
> AGC-MTRJ-NDLS.......1077 Jhelum Exp. between Panipat & Ndls, 4646
Shalimar
> Exp. between SRE-NDLS..... and all trains which reach Delhi area
between
> 8.30 to 11.00 a.m.
>
> Railways have must change the timings of these trains..... And for
Suburbun
> PAssengers there should be some Fast Passenger Trains during that
time......
>
> Rgards
>
> Sandeep
>
>
*-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-
*-*-*
> Digital Operation Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
> 90/30A, Ist Floor, Malviya Nagar,
> New Delhi-17
> Ph.91-11-6285286, 6451620, 6423136
> E-mail: docqcs@nd.email sandeep@docpl.email
> Web: www.docpl.com
>
*-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-*-*-**-
*-*-
> *
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Re: BBCIR
Date: 17 Oct 1999 09:59:35 -0500
Hello Mike,
Thank you very much. I,m greatly honoured!
Cheers.
Shankar
Mike Brooker wrote:
>
> >Hello,
> >I've just dug out a set of ten postcards I'd picked up at the nrm in
> >Nov.1997, showing some nice views of old Bombay.
> >I've put them into a small site:
> >
> ><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/bbci.htm">http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/bbci.htm</A>
> >
> >Check it out. I've still got to add a hits counter, do some fine
tuning
> >etc. I think the background image has slowed down the download time a
> >great deal. I might consider removing it.
>
> I've added this link to my India page
> <A HREF="http://webhome.idirect.com/~aum108/bharat.html">http://webhome.idirect.com/~aum108/bharat.html</A> next to the photo that
I
> took of the BBCIR loco outside Bombay Central.
>
> I read in Royson Ellis's "India by Rail" that BBCIR stood for Bloody
Bad and
> Can't Improve Railway! :)
>
> ********************************************************************
> Mike Brooker
> 99 Wychcrest Ave.,
> Toronto, ON M6G 3X8
> CANADA
> (416) 536-7406
> ********************************************************************
From: S.Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Want History Lessons?
Date: 17 Oct 1999 18:37:42 -0500
Hello,
Hardly personal: you have apparently missed the mail from Viraf to which
this is a reply.
This is in reply to an earlier post from Viraf with a very kind offer to
snail mail some snippets from old newspapers pertaining to IR history.
It was an offer to irfca members.
Cheers.
Shankar
T.H.Sanyal. wrote:
>
> What is the point of sending this clearly personal mail to irfca?
>
> ths.
> -----------------------------------------
> >Hello Viraf,
> >Thank you, you have made my day!!
> >My snail mail address is:
>
> >S.Shankar, P.O.Box 2144, Dubai, UAE.
>
> >Cheers, and thanks again!
>
> >Shankar
From: SAMIR M. DAMLE <>
Subject: DAMLES ARE MOVING .. .. ..
Date: 17 Oct 1999 22:01:13 -0500
FRIENDS,
THIS WEEKEND
I AM LEAVING GODREJ
TO MOVE PALLAVI AND MYSELF
TO PUNE
AND SPEND OUR FUTURE OVER THERE !!
IF YOU ARE IN PUNE,
SEE YOU THERE !
IF YOU ARE NOT,
YOU ARE MOST WELCOME
TO VISIT US !!
MY NEW ADDRESS SHALL BE:
AR. SAMIR MORESHWAR DAMLE
AR. PALLAVI SAMIR DAMLE
3, VIDYASAGAR,
PLOT 17/2, IDEAL COLONY,
PAUD ROAD, KOTHRUD,
PUNE
WISH US GOODLUCK !!
SAMIR (IDC-PD-BATCH 95-97)
PALLAVI (IDC-PD-BATCH 95-97)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^
LET RIGHT KNOWLEDGE FLOW INTO US FROM ALL DIRECTIONS -
"RUGVEDA"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
SAMIR M. DAMLE PH : 022 - 577 35 35
EXT.3438
OPOS DESIGN E-MAIL :
damle@godrej.email
PLANT 04,
GODREJ & BOYCE MFG. CO. LTD.
VIKHROLI, MUMBAI-79
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvv
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Chennai Express derailment pic
Date: 18 Oct 1999 05:56:48 -0500
Gang !
The 1063 rake's derailment pics on my IR pics in the papers and bags
section.
Go to: <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/">http://members.tripod.com/ApuB/</A> and click on the last link.
Apurva
From: Praveen R. Richard <>
Subject: (No Subject)
Date: 18 Oct 1999 08:16:22 -0500
Please remove my email from your mailing list.
Thank you,
Praveen Richard.
__________________________________________________________________
Get your own free England E-mail address at <A HREF="http://www.england.com">http://www.england.com</A>
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: WDP2 Photos
Date: 18 Oct 1999 10:55:51 -0500
Wait for a few days more and you will see IS Anand's rest of the pics.
These include WDM 2s
with an end cab, high adhesion bogie, left hand driving position, wheel
type throttle, 3100
HP high cam, high output 251 engine. The pics include cab details !
And these are rebuilds of WDM 2 badly bashed in collisions by the Golden
Rock workshops.
Anand also mentioned that the GOC workshop converted a YDM 4 to BG !
Anand has a pic to
prove that ! I am VERY curious to see how that is done.
Apurva
Tim & Anita Wakeman wrote:
> Thank you, Apurva for the info and the link. Its hard to believe we
are
> going into the year 2000 and the 251 is still being manufactured!
>
> Tim
>
> Apurva Bahadur wrote:
> >
> > Please check out WDP 2 specs in the DLW website.
> > <A HREF="http://www.dlwindia.com/">http://www.dlwindia.com/</A>
> >
> > AFAIK this is a new loco with twin cab, uprated Alco 251 engines
(new camshaft, steel
> > capped pistons, new turbocharger, improved (electronic) governor,
fuel efficient kit
> > (no more Alco smoke screens). I believe only 15 have been built to
date.
> >