IRFCA Mailing List Archive

Messages 1441 - 1460

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email

Subject: Re: Railway budget

Date: 22 Mar 1995 16:03:00 -0500

Thanks, Dheeraj, for posting the railway budget. I sure would like
to get more information regarding the new trains from the North.
Who knows, Varanasi might be in the picture :-).

>6. 4 new shatabdis. Two from Calcutta (Rourkela and Bokaro), One
> from Madras (to Coimbatore), and one from Bangalore (to Hubli ?)

Calcutta enters the Shatabdi camp in style!!!! I wonder whether the
Rourkela Shatabdi will do better than 100/110 kmph. The Bokaro Shatabdi
should do 130 kmph. max. Incidently, this Shatabdi is the first express
train to connect Bokaro with Howrah. There is a Howrah - Bokaro Steel City
passenger via Adra. There are three possible routes between Bokaro and
Howrah:-

Howrah-Asansol-Dhanbad-Katrasgarh-Chandrapura-Bokaro 309 km.
Howrah-Asansol-Joychandipahar-Rukni-Bhojudih-Chandrapura-Bokaro 313 km.
Howrah-Kharagpur-Midnapore-Adra-Bhojudih-Chandrapura-Bokaro 374 km.

The first one allows maximal use of the high-speed Hwh-Dhanbad section and
allows provides fast daytime service between Dhanbad/Asansol and Calcutta.
I believe, all the above three routes are now completely electrified.
(J'pahar-Rukni acts as the Adra bypass)
(Also, routes 2 and 3 can bypass Chandrapura by using the Talgoria-Tupgadi line)

>10. 4 new express trains without any reserved accomodation.

Glorified passenger trains???

>11. A total of 19 new trains, these seemed to benefit Northern Bihar
> and Eastern UP the most, though I couldn't catch all the names of
> places. There are some trains on the new BG track in Rajasthan.

Names, please?

>13. 5 trains extended, and service of a few trains increased. One
that would help me most: Purushottam Puri has been made daily.
Extensions include couple of trains to North-east.

Which ones?

>14. Once Konkan Railway is open for passenger traffic, hopefully, in
> december, some of the south-bound trains will diverted via that route.
> A new Shatabdi between Bombay and Malegaon (??) will be started,
> and there will be an overnight train between the same two stations.

Another fantasy train about to come true. I hope they don't mess this one up
similar to the Ahmedabad-Shatabdi tragedy!!! Looks like Madgaon is the Konkan
rail head for Goa. Once Londa-Vasco is converted to BG, this Shatabdi should be
extended to Vasco-Da-Gama. Once the 140 kmph. diesel-elec. locos. are placed in
service, one can expect the Bombay V.T. - Madgaon/Vasco Shatabdi Exp. to be
hauled by this loco. doing a cool 140 kmph., thus, sharing the top spot with
the Bhopal Shatabdi. Can't wait for this to happen!!!!

More later,

Vijay

From: glyn_thomas1 <glyn_thomas1@uk.email

Subject: (u) Sierra Leone

Date: 23 Mar 1995 04:56:00 -0500

Julian,
I think that 'Dusty' Durrant's book 'Steam in Africa' has a section
on Sierra Leone, which would probably be a good start for a study of
railways there. Have you got this book? If you haven't, I'll check
whether it mentions the ex.Indian locos.

Regards,
Glyn Thomas. (glyn_thomas1@uk.email

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: (u) Sierra Leone

Date: 23 Mar 1995 17:31:00 -0500

On Thu, 23 Mar 1995 glyn_thomas1@uk.email wrote:

> Julian,
> I think that 'Dusty' Durrant's book 'Steam in Africa' has a section
> on Sierra Leone, which would probably be a good start for a study of
> railways there. Have you got this book? If you haven't, I'll check
> whether it mentions the ex.Indian locos.
>
> Regards,
> Glyn Thomas. (glyn_thomas1@uk.email

Glyn
Thanks for your note, I have got Dusty's book and the other standard
text Day's Railways of North Africa. I have been on this project for about
two years now in between University studies etc. I have a complete loco list
except for withdraw dates, but periods where I lack information are post
independence, before the first printed report in 1908, and the 1912, 1922 and
early 70's consultants reports.

Photos and drawings of some of the locos are a problem. Sierra Leone never
seemed to attract that many visitors, possibly because the railway shut before
the age of cheap travel, and West Africa's poor health reputation. I am
actually in touch with Dusty, but he has never been there and has no photos of
his own.

From: glyn_thomas1 <glyn_thomas1@uk.email

Subject: Re: Sierra Leone

Date: 24 Mar 1995 04:25:00 -0500

Julian,
I found a more obscure reference for Sierra Leone. There is an eight
page article on the railway in 'The Narrow Gauge' issue 74, Winter 76/77,
by G. S. Moore. This includes photos of many of the loco classes used:
there is a photo of No.116 an Cline Town, 1946. Mr. Moore observes
that when the Indian locos were received, the initials on the tender
were changed from SIR to SLR by simply adding a piece of wood to the I.

Glyn Thomas (glyn_thomas1@uk.email

From: AUROPREM KANDASWAMI <auro@ix.email

Subject: Re: Renumbering of trains on the Indian Railways

Date: 24 Mar 1995 15:30:00 -0500

Hi folks,
I am a new (happy) member of IRFCA. I had a doubt about the
numbering of trains on IR, since a very long time. I am glad, I got
a chance to have this clarified by fortunate, senior members of our
club.

All of us know about the renumbering of all Mail/Express and
long distance Passenger trains in 1987-88, in a more structured manner.
We started to use a 4-digit numbering scheme which (in my
interpretation)
is something like this:

The first digit indicates the Railway which operates the train
(or rather, the zonal railway whose rakes are used for the train). I have no
idea about what the second digit stands for (except that, in case of Superfast
trains, it stands for the railway operating the train). It would be nice if
someone could explain this. The last 2 digits are, in case of most of the
trains, their original numbers which were used for years and years.

The first digit in all the train numbers are assigned as follows :

1 - Central 2 - SUPERFAST 3 - Eastern 4 - Northern
5 - Northeast / Northeast Frontier 6 - Southern 7 - South Central
8 - South Eastern 9 - Western

Here are some examples as per this numbering scheme:

TRAIN NUMBER OPERATING RLY. TRAIN NAME
PRESENT OLD

1057/1058 57/58 Central Dadar - Amritsar Expresses

2001/2002 -- Central (??) New Delhi - Bhopal
Shatabdi Expresses
2615/2616 15/16 Southern New Delhi - Madras Central
G.T. Expresses
2859/2860 59/60 Eastern Bombay - Howrah
Gitanjali Expresses
2927/2928 27/28 Western Bombay - Vadodara Expresses

3003/3004 3/4 Eastern Bombay - Howrah Mails (via
ALD)

4041/4042 41/42 Northern Delhi - Dehradun Mussorie
Express

5007/5008 7/8 NorthEast Gorakhpur - Lucknow Expresses

6511/6512 11/12 Southern Dadar - Madras Expresses

7085/7086 85/86 SouthCentral Hyderabad - Bangalore
Expresses

8001 / 8002 1/2 SouthEastern Bombay - Howrah Mails (via
NGP)

9021 / 9022 21/22 Western Bombay - Surat Flying Ranee

Please Note:

1. For trains which run across more than one railway zone, the first
digit happens to be that of the zonal railway whose rakes are used
for the train (the zonal railway which operates the train)

2(a) All Superfast trains, start with digit "2", no matter which zonal
railway(s) operates the train.
(b) In the case of Superfast trains, the second digit happens to be the
railway zone which operates the train.That's why I listed three
trains
for this. Another exception here is that for Shatabdi Expresses,
second digit = "0", irrespective of the zonal railway where the
train
runs.

3. Trains starting with the number 5 are shared both by NorthEast and
Northeast Frontier railway. Probably, this may be due to the
relatively
less number of trains in each of these railways (being relatively
small
in size, in terms of Track KMS. covered) when compared to the other
railway zones.

I don't know to what extent my interpretation of the re-numbering of
trains is correct. Please correct me wherever wrong. Assuming that
whatever I have told is right, I have the following question, since
a
very long time. Hope I get an answer at least now !

************************************************************************
******************************

Why is Dadar - Nagpur Sewagram Express numbered as 7339 / 7340 ?

This train runs throughout only on the Central Railway from Dadar to
Nagpur
It just cuts the Purna - Akola Metre Gauge line of the South Central
Railway. Maybe, this number is given to the train because it uses rakes
of
South-Central Railway (SCR). But then, why should it use SCR rakes on a
totally CR route ?

************************************************************************
******************************

Another question. I am really excited and thrilled to know about the
introduction of a new Bombay V.T. - Nagercoil (via Madurai) Weekly
Express.
This train will be a great, long-awaited boon for people travelling from
Bombay to South Tamil Nadu (Madurai & beyond), who have to travel to
Madras
now and change stations (Central to Egmore) and then catch another
Metre-guage train. Has anyone got more details about this train, such as
its running time from Bombay - Madurai, the route it will take
(through Anantapur - Dharmavaram or Arakkonam - Jolarpet)

Thanks a lot,
Auroprem Kandaswami
(Auro)

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: Sierra Leone

Date: 26 Mar 1995 22:45:00 -0500

On Fri, 24 Mar 1995 glyn_thomas1@uk.email wrote:

> *** Resending note of 24/03/95 09:22
> Julian,
> I found a more obscure reference for Sierra Leone. There is an eight
> page article on the railway in 'The Narrow Gauge' issue 74, Winter 76/77,
> by G. S. Moore. This includes photos of many of the loco classes used:
> there is a photo of No.116 an Cline Town, 1946. Mr. Moore observes
> that when the Indian locos were received, the initials on the tender
> were changed from SIR to SLR by simply adding a piece of wood to the I.
>
> Glyn Thomas (glyn_thomas1@uk.email
>
I forgot to say the other day when I replied to your earlier messages,
that the ex SIR locos are listed in Tourrets WD Locomtives and Hugh
Hughes' Indian locomtive books, but neither have pictures nor do they
give scrapping dates. All Tourret says is that they were withdrawn after
the end of the war, although Best ( the last English CME) in his
unpublished history of the line, says that at least one survived until
1948. It is interesting that they never appeared in the stock lists in
the Annual Report.

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@iitk.email

Subject: Another Shatabdi.

Date: 28 Mar 1995 04:24:00 -0500

I read in today's newspaper that there will be a "Shatabdi-like"
train between New Delhi and Kathgodam only for summer months.
It will cover the distance non-stop in five and a half hours.

I think they have 8 Shatabdi rakes stationed at New Delhi, to
run 7 Shatabdi services. The two Shatabdis that run 6 days a
week, their rakes are serviced on the off day. For the other
5 Shatabdis, they use the additional rake when the specified
rake is to serviced. I suspect this since the lockers-on-wheel
scheme on Shatabdis is available only on 6 days a week, even
on Shatabdis that are daily. (If I am right about this, then
they can have 6 Shatabdis run daily.)

I suspect that for the summer months, they will not have weekly
servicing of the rakes, and this additional rake will be used
for "summer special."

-dheeraj

PS: In order to promote tourism, IR is joining hands with state
tourist depts and providing bus connections to popular tourist
attractions with Shatabdi trains. So there will be a bus from
Chandigarh to Shimla, from Dehradun to Mussorie, from Kathgodam
to Nainital.

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@iitk.email

Subject: Railway Enquiry System.

Date: 31 Mar 1995 02:20:00 -0500

I had mentioned in one of the emails some time ago that Railways
have developed a General Enquiry System that a passenger can use
to get all kinds of information. I would like to have such a
system installed on my workstation.

I have convinced a B.Tech. student to do his final-year project
in this area. He is going to develop a system which should be
reply to queries like "how to get from place A to place B,
possibly with 1 change of train, with at least 3 hours gap
at the junction, and I want to go on Wednesday evening, only
with AC-2T class." Information on fares, stations (i.e., retiring
rooms, etc.), rules, circular tickets, etc., will not be done
in this phase.

Is there a public-domain software that we can use to start
with. Anything that has already been done, makes our life
simpler, and we can add more facilities to our system.

Any help in this regard will be much appreciated.

-dheeraj

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: Railway Enquiry System.

Date: 31 Mar 1995 18:51:00 -0500

On Thu, 30 Mar 1995, Dheeraj Sanghi wrote:

> Is there a public-domain software that we can use to start
> with. Anything that has already been done, makes our life
> simpler, and we can add more facilities to our system.
>
> Any help in this regard will be much appreciated.

There is somewhere on the Internet a simliar service that deals with
German Railways. I think that I found it through the Elinet search
Directory, and it is under transportation/railways. I will try this
weekend to give more details. Julian

From: R. Anand <anand@watson.email

Subject: Trip report

Date: 03 Apr 1995 07:29:00 -0500

Hi everyone. As promised, here is a trip report of my trip to Paris. I
wish that I had time to do the Eurostar but Jishnu will tell us about
that. There is not much about India except the last paragraph so I
apologize in advance (I have also posted this on rec.railroad).

Trip Report Nice to Paris and return by TGV.
R. Anand

I spent the most of last weekend traveling up and down France by TGV. I
am sure that many readers have already experienced this and have may
find this report old news but It's my first time.

The itinerary was
April 1 TGV 844 Depart Nice Ville 9:48, Arrive Paris Gare de Lyon 16:20.
April 2 TGV 8?? Depart Paris Gare de Lyon 11:07, arrive Nice Ville 17:37

In both directions, the train stops in Antibes, Cannes and St Raphael
which are all towns along the Mediterranean coast near Nice. There is no
scheduled passenger stop till Paris. This is I believe one of the
longest TGV rides currently in France (except perhaps the ones to Pau).

I arrived in Nice 30 minutes before departure but the track was still
empty. Within 10 minutes the train (in standard Sud Est orange, black,
white and grey livery) showed up from the East. The builders plate on
the side said Alsthom and had a date of 1983. By the way, I was surprised
to see the blue and grey TGV Atlantiques being used on the Sud Est.
Are these for connecting services or is there a shortage of rakes?

As I expected, there were two rakes connected together although the
pantograph was raised only on the leading rake. I believe that
Marseilles-Ventimiglia is 25kv AC. Incidentally, when we arrived in
Gare de Lyon, which I know to be completely 1.5 Kv DC, all 4 pantographs
were raised. DC catenary looks much heavier duty than the 25 KV AC.

There appears to be very little space for rake (consist(US) or
rame(FR)) storage in Nice station itself. I noticed that rakes are
stored at various points near Cannes and Antibes as well as to the east
(I suppose).

My seat was in Voiture (Coach) 18, (non-smoking second class) the very
last one I had reserved a window seat so and no one was sitting next to
me, which for me is the best way to travel. The seats don't recline!
But they are comfortable. The interior is already looking a bit dated
and the paint had chipped in a few places. The lack of seat reclining
is probably due to it's origins as a short haul train (Paris-Lyon). The
Paris-Nice run is about 7 hours which is about as long as I was able to
put up with. The legroom also seemed to be on the limited side.
Rail fans also be warned, some of the inter-window pillars are very
tick and can block most of your view. This misfortune happened
to me on the way back.

The train started imperceptibly. No slack in this articulated train!
The section from Nice to Marseilles is very scenic and mostly along the
Mediterranean coast. Near Cannes, the line goes on a viaduct over the
sea itself. There are numerous sharp curves and grades on this line so
high speeds can not be expected. The "Le Bar" on the train sells only
a few snacks and prepackaged sandwiches. Reminded me strongly of the
service on metroliners in the North East Corridor.

The train avoided Marseilles station. There appears to be a delta
junction here. The timetable shows a separate set of TGVs to
Marseilles. North of Marseilles on the PLM main, the train really starts
to put on some speed. Since we were comfortably passing cars on a
parallel Autoroute, I assume that the train was doing maybe 160 Km/h? I
would welcome a better figure from a more knowledgeable person.

The train zipped through Arles and Avignon and made a short halt for a
couple of minutes in Valence. Since this happened in both directions, I
wonder if there is a crew change here?

Just north of Valence is where the fun begins. The train sharply leaves
the PLM main and swings east. The LGV (Ligne Grand Vitesse) or
high-speed line begins here. I assume that the train changes from 1.5kv
DC to 25 KV AC here but there was no flicker of lights to indicate
this. Then all of a sudden, the motors take on a different tone and
start a continuous winding up. At the same time you feel a gentle push
pack in your seat. Soon the scenery is whipping past at an amazing speed.
The ride is comfortable but not completely free of vibration. I did
not try it but I am sure that I would not be able to balance a coin
on its edge.

There are no stops on the remainder of the journey to Paris but we did
have a signaled slowdown just north of Lyon. The slow down was brief
and had no impact on the timing. Two things amazed me in the LGV section:

1. The speed at which the train takes leading switches is
breathtaking. You scarcely feel a nudge. Since the LGV is roughly
parallel to the PLM main, there a numerous spurs to allow trains to
leave the LGV (in case of disruption of any sort I assume). There are
also a few stations (Macon was one).

2. The civil engineering is spectacular. There are some amazingly
high viaducts over valleys near Lyon. The train climbs and coasts
up these hills effortlessly. There is substantial super-elevation
on curves. Since the TGV is not pressurized like the ICE, my
ears blocked in tunnels.

Then all too soon (3 hrs), after passing a flying junction for the TGV
line to Roissy and connection with TGV Nord, the train starts to slow
down for the approach to Paris. In what reminded me of India, the
passengers started to collect their belongings and started to head for
the door a good 15 minutes before the train arrived in Gare de Lyon.
I have no idea why they were in such a hurry. In any case, it just
took a couple of minutes for everyone to disembark. Ah well.
Then it was time to hit the streets of Paris.

From: R. Anand <anand@watson.email

Subject: Trip report

Date: 03 Apr 1995 07:29:00 -0500

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: Railway Enquiry System.

Date: 03 Apr 1995 19:26:00 -0500

On Thu, 30 Mar 1995, Dheeraj Sanghi wrote:

> I had mentioned in one of the emails some time ago that Railways
> have developed a General Enquiry System that a passenger can use
> to get all kinds of information. I would like to have such a
> system installed on my workstation.

> Is there a public-domain software that we can use to start
> with. Anything that has already been done, makes our life
> simpler, and we can add more facilities to our system.

I said I would try this weekend to find where in the WWW I found the
German raiways enquiry system. Unfortunately Netscape have changed their
home pages in the last few days and I cannot find my way around it at the
moment. Try accessing the Railroad-related Internet Resources page or
Virtual Railroads homepage. I think I found it on the first of these two,
but today had some trouble with linking. I will try again and let you
know if I do find it. Julian

From: Mohan Ramakrishna <mohan@alantec.email

Subject: Info on European Travel ...

Date: 03 Apr 1995 10:13:00 -0500

Hi,

One of my friends (not an IRFCA member) is planning a trip to Europe this
summer. He is interested in knowing about and getting more information
regarding TGVs and European trains. Specifically, he is planning to travel
London --> Brussels --> Amsterdam --> Cologne --> Munich --> Salzburg -->
Zurich --> Lausanne. I would appreciate any information on trains/routes
along the above planned (in the process ?) itinerary.

Thanks a lot.

- Mohan.

From: Sridhar_Shankarnarayan <Sridhar_Shankarnarayan@fcbbs.email

Subject: India trip ...

Date: 03 Apr 1995 15:11:00 -0500

Hi folks,

Some observations after my recent trip home ...

Quite a few trains are air-braked now including Kovai, Brindavan, Shatabdi in
SR. Curiously, Lalbagh is not. There are more variants of the locos such as
WAG 5A, WAG5HA, WAG5HB, WAM4P and so on. WAG5A is used extensively for
passenger haulage in SR. They have apparently been regeared for 100 kmph max
for passenger haulage. WAM4P - a passenger version of a mixed loco? The fact
that SR has many spanking new WAG5 series locos makes me wonder if some thing
is wrong with them.

The Madras-Mysore Shatabdi is run at a max of 105 kmph, perhaps the slowest
(in terms of max speed) of its breed. The railway budget includes a Shatabdi
between Madras and CBE, and one between B'lore and Hubli. The initial plan was
to have one between Madras and CBE, which was hijacked and made the BLR -Hubli
one. After a spate of letters from Jayalalitha and Co., it was decided to have
one for MAS-CBE and one for BLR-Hubli.

After attemps at shifting SR HQ to Bangalore failed, there are now plans to
"reorganize the zonal structure, keeping in mind the changes in traffic
pattern since the last reorganization". I will not be surprised if they create
a South-Western Railway for Bangalore to head. I for one will be glad when
Jhaffer Sharief's term ends. I do appreciate the work he did for project
Uniguage, though.

The Nilgiris railways have come in for some changes too. The Coonoor-Ooty
section is now hauled by a MG diesel (YDM4) instead of the X class steam loco.
This move due to the difficulty in getting coal, is resulting in lower
operating cost as the diesel consumes only 125 liters for the trip. The driver
and the visiting diesel inspector were nice enough to give me a complete run
down of the loco and allowing me to ride the same. The loco does light work of
the 5 coach (90 ton) train. Run 7 gets the train started and moving, with run
6 sufficient to keep it moving up at 25kmph. The section allows 30 kmph, but
the local staff have decided to stick to 25 kmph, as they fear that any
accident will be used as an excude to shut down the system. Interestingly,
this loco is the same (no 6279) one which derailed a few years ago when a bomb
blew up the bridge near Ariyalur. The loco has been completely rebuilt at
Golden Rock. During decents the train is kept in control with the dynamic
breaks with the vaccum system being used for bring it to a complete stop.
There are plans to get a diesel loco for the MTP-Coonoor section also. The
Swiss apparently have diesel locos which can do the job, but cost
considerations have put things on hold. The visiting Swiss team, to the
amusement of the local staff, spent much time photographing the X class
steam locos.

Travelling by IR is still loads of fun, with the open doors and windows
bringing in all the dust, diesel exhaust (where applicable) and allowing you
to hear the railroad sound to the fullest extent.

-----------------------
Sridhar Shankar

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: Info on European Travel ...

Date: 04 Apr 1995 17:23:00 -0500

There are two possible routes London to Brussels, one through the Channel
Tunnel, the other via Dover and Oostende, which you take depends on what
you want to see. Cologne (Koln) Munich (Munchen) the route is down the
valley of the Rhine and is very specatular. Make sure you get an IC
train, you have to pay a 5DM supplement, but they are much quicker.
There is a good book on railway holidays in Europe "Europe by Train" by
George & Katie Woods which gives basic details of all the major cities in
Europe and has a section on each of the Railway administrations. I'll
check the title for you. It is also possible to get a Eurail pass if you
are under 26 which allows you unlimited travel for a month or longer.
However in the summer, especially from July onwards advance reservation
is essential.
I take it that you are in America, the various countries embassies ought
to have a tourist office to help you plan where to go, and should be able
to provide info on their railways.
I did mention to someone that on the Web there is a page that allows you
to enter a leaving town and destination and time for German railways and
it sends back timings and train connections. However as they have
reorganised the web search pages I cannot find it anymore. The other
place to search is the Railroad-Related Internet Resources page.
Julian

On Mon, 3 Apr 1995, Mohan Ramakrishna wrote:

> One of my friends (not an IRFCA member) is planning a trip to Europe this
> summer. He is interested in knowing about and getting more information
> regarding TGVs and European trains. Specifically, he is planning to travel
> London --> Brussels --> Amsterdam --> Cologne --> Munich --> Salzburg -->
> Zurich --> Lausanne. I would appreciate any information on trains/routes
> along the above planned (in the process ?) itinerary.

From: glyn_thomas1 <glyn_thomas1@uk.email

Subject: (u) Re: Railway Enquiry System

Date: 04 Apr 1995 07:53:00 -0500

A WWW page with German timetable info is:
<A HREF="http://rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/?ule3?rail/info-trn.html">http://rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/?ule3?rail/info-trn.html</A>
or
<A HREF="http://rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/?rail">http://rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/?rail</A>
I assume this is the page that Julian mentioned. I got this on the first
address last night. The program works by responding to enquiries sent to
rail@rz.email . You should probably read the Web page to see
the format of the enquiries. The author gives his own mail address as
ule3@rz.email .

On the travel in Europe thread, I would recommend buying the Thomas Cook
European Rail Timetable. This is available from Thomas Cook travel
agents in the UK. You may be able to get this through a US travel agent,
otherwise I'll try and find a snail mail address for them. It gets
updated a few times a year to account for changes in the various rail
timetables, and isn't very expensive.

Regards,
Glyn Thomas.

From: S Pai <Pai>>

Subject: Railway Project Rules, 1893

Date: 04 Apr 1995 11:25:00 -0500

This is the article Julian sent me earlier, massaged into shape and now
viewable as plain text. Any typos and missing bits are probably my fault.

-Satish

---------------------------Start of included matter---------------------------

Rules for the Preparation of
Railway Projects 1893

Introduction

This article has been abstracted from the Government of India Rules published
in 1893, and is intended to give an idea of the responsibilities of the
engineer-in-charge, and of the great number of factors governing the
construction of a railway. Much of the information contained in the rules has
been left out to enable a reasonably concise article to be prepared. All the
headings are those contained within the rule book, with the exception of
"Other".

Preliminary Rules

The book states that the rules contained within it were to be strictly
observed in all respects including the layout, and although only meant for
projects submitted to obtain government approval of the immediate construction
of a line, suggested that projects submitted for a proposed line should also
follow the same layout. It further stated that provisional approval only could
be given to a proposed line and that a full report following the correct
layout was to be made as soon as possible on completion of the detailed survey
to enable full approval to be granted.

Responsibilities

The Engineer was entirely responsible for the correctness of the estimates and
of the arrangements for the construction and equipping of the line to a
standard suitable for the purposed traffic. The government inserted a let out
clause to say that the engineering details had not been examined and approved
unless definite orders had been given, and that it was to be understood that
responsibility in such matters lay entirely with the engineer in charge of the
administration of the project.

Classification of Surveys

Reconnaissance Surveys

The engineer was to examine the proposed routes using only barometers,
prismatic compass and similar instruments, having gathered such information
the report submitted was to contain a rough estimate of the probable cost per
mile.

Detailed Survey

The detailed survey was to consist of a theodolite traverse, closely
approximating to the final centre line, and permanent marks where to be left
to enable the line to be surveyed within the succeeding 5 or 6 years. The
engineer was responsible for the amount of detail, but that depended on the
country being traversed. however it was empathised that cuttings, river
courses and their foundations required a lot of detail. Although this was an
approximate estimate it was to be made with sufficient care so as not to
greatly differ from the detailed estimates made on final sanction of the work.
Particular care was to be taken with important river crossings so the design
of the bridge and the extent of the work could be determined. The results of
the survey were all that was required by the Govt of India to obtain it's
sanction of the project.

Final Location

When the sanction of the Govt of India had been obtained, the line was to
finally located, and a working section prepared.

Detailed Survey

Field Work

The Centre Line

The unit of measurement was the chain of 100 feet in length, with the centre
line being marked by pegs every thousand feet. These pegs were to have their
number branded on them, and the number was to indicate their distance in
thousands of feet from the zero of the chainage, thus the figure 57 would
indicate 57,000 feet from the zero of the chainage. Square masonry pillars
were to be erected on the centre line at intervals of not less than half a
mile.

Curves

The springing points of the curve were to be marked by a large peg, to be
distinguished from the 1,000 feet peg, and round masonry pillars were to be
built at the beginning and end of every curve. The maximum degree of
curvature was laid out and was not to be departed from without special
sanction of the Govt of India, and these absolute maxima were only to be used
in cases where it was impracticable to adopt easier curves, or where it would
involve considerable extra expense.

Maximum Permissible Degree of
Curvature

5'6" Metre
Gauge Gauge

In ordinary Country 3o 0' 5o 0' ["o" = degree symbol]
In difficult country 6o 0' 10o 0'

Gradients

Gradients are defined as the distance in which a rise of one foot occurs, and
by their rise in feet per standard chain of 100 feet.

Compensation for Curvature on Curves

Compensation should be calculated for the standard wheel base of goods stock,
as a rule such compensation should only be necessary for curves greater than
2o on 5' 6" gauge and 3o on metre gauge.

Bench-marks

Bench marks were to be left at a distances of not less than half a mile along
the line and on the sites of important bridges. The site chosen for bench
marks was to be easily accessible, nor should it interfere with the work in
progress. It was also to be constructed in such a manner to prevent it being
moved or damaged by mischief or accident. It was to be easily identifiable
and it's location was to be recorded.

Datum for Levels

All levels were to be referred to a common datum, this being the mean sea
level adopted for the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. During the
survey every opportunity was to be taken to connect the level with the Survey
of India level stations, and check any difference.

Scope of Survey Operations

General

Normally a strip of land 300 ft either side of the railway was to be surveyed
in sufficient detail to allow it to be plotted at a scale of 400 ft to 1 inch.
Additionally the following were to be included if within 1,000 ft of the
centre line, rivers over 40 ft wide, important roads, canals and large tanks,
the outlines of all towns and villages, if the line ran through a large town
then the more important streets and thoroughfares were to be included, the
boundaries of provinces, local administrations or Native States, hill peaks
and Great Trigonometrical Survey stations.

Important Rivers

For every river that would require provision of a waterway greater than 1,200
sq. ft considerable field work was required. This included a complete survey
of the river out to a distance of 1 mile from the centre line, three cross
sections at mile intervals, one at the crossing point, the other two were to
above and below the crossing point respectively, the position of each cross
section was to be shown on the survey and was to include the highest known
flood, ordinary flood and ordinary low water.

The average slope of the river was to be determined between the two outer
cross sections, giving the slope over a distance of two miles.

Diversion of Rivers

If it was considered necessary to divert a river, then the work required and
the diversion was to be shown on the plan.

Station Sites

Sites were to be carefully selected on the ground, and for important stations
to be surveyed at a scale of 100 ft to 1 inch, and was to include everything
within the proposed yard. It was made clear that the area chosen should not
only be sufficient for immediate requirements, but should also have sufficient
space for future development.1 It further stated that where practicable, the
line through the yard should be level and straight. In any case a station
must not be on a steeper grade than 1 in 500 without special permission from
the Govt of India, and if possible, should not be near a curve.

Junctions with other lines

Where it was intended to effect a junction with another railway, the following
work was required in addition, a complete survey and section of the existing
railway was to be made, extending to a distance of one mile either side of the
proposed junction, and was to be 1,000 ft in width and sufficiently detailed
to allow it to be plotted at a scale of 100 ft to 1 inch.

Notes to be made in the Field

The engineer was to take careful notes during the survey regarding any
information likely to be useful in working out details of the project, and in
determining it's success as a commercial operation. Some of the things to be
noted are included below.

General

The nature of soils for banks and cuttings, protection works, and precautions
against river scour, the waterway provided for small rivers, probable depth
and character of bridge foundations, selection of sites for temporary staff
quarters, including nearness to the work site and having due regard for their
health, and the correct spelling both in English and the vernacular of all
towns and villages included in the survey.

Accommodation Works

To incorporate level crossings and bridges, width of roadways for crossings
and approach gradients, special facilities for villages owning large amounts
of land on the far side of the line, diversion of roads, and provision of
water supply.

Facilities for Construction

Availability of building material, ballast and sleepers. Labour, skilled or
unskilled available in the district, any special difficulties regarding supply
of food and water, prevailing rates and wages, means of transport of building
materials either by land and water and any improvement necessary, the use of
temporary lines and tramways and a final catch-all any local conditions likely
to affect rates or methods of construction.

Important Rivers

Detailed information was required on such rivers, including rainfall in the
rivers drainage area, especially any exceptionally heavy fall, the highest
flood level, geological and botanical conditions, evidence of scour or the
river changing course, any protection works required.

Stations

The engineer was to examine the extent of likely traffic and the accommodation
required and the possibility of growth in traffic, the site was to be
investigated with reference to the nature of the soil, depth of foundations,
water supply and ease of access to local towns. The possibility of crossing
stations being introduced should traffic increase was to be taken into account
on grading the section.

Trade and Statistics

Population of large towns in the area and average population per sq. mile was
to be recorded, existing means of transport by land or water and the amount of
use, nature and trade of the population, local produce, special sources of
traffic, either existing or might be developed such as coal, minerals or
pilgrims.

Relations with the Public

Notification in the Local Gazette

Before any survey operations were commenced, a notice in accordance with the
Land Acquisition Act was to be published in the local Govt Gazette.

Damage to property and trespass

The general sanction of the Govt of India for a railway survey did not
authorise any interference with the rights or property of public bodies or of
private individuals. The permission of the Officer Commanding any military
post or cantonment was to be obtained before the entry of any survey party,
and his wishes must receive due regard, and his permission obtained before any
trees were cut or other damage done to station property.

Compensation for damage

Compensation for unavoidable damage was to be paid directly to the owner
before the damage was done, in case of dispute the matter was to be referred
to the local civil authorities and the resulting claim paid as speedily as
possible. Should the owner be willing to clear the line himself, he was to be
allowed to do so, and was to be paid for labour in addition to compensation
for the damage done.

Religious Edifices

Every effort was to be made to avoid religious edifices.

Military positions and Cantonments

Where the line lay close to a military cantonment, the location was to be
decided in conjunction with the military authorities, should however their
requirements involve considerable extra expense in construction, great
inconvenience to traffic, or would be open to serious engineering objections,
the matter was to be referred to the Govt of India for orders. Special
attention was drawn to Govt of India Circular No XI Railway of 1892 regarding
the acquisition of land under the control of the Military Department.

Assistance from Civil Authorities

The local civil authorities were to be freely consulted during the progress of
the survey, and due weight given to their opinions, they were also to be
consulted in the collection of data on trade and population. Lastly they were
to be asked to exercise their influence to protect bench-marks, pegs and other
railway property from damage and removal.

Plans, Sections and Designs for Work

Plans and Sections

General

The set of plans for a project was to consist of the Index Plan and Section,
Detailed Plan and Section, Plans and Cross sections of Rivers and plans of
Station yards. The Plans and Sections were to be drawn on tracing cloth each
48" by 36" and not paper. Each set of plans was to have the mileage reckoned
from the same fixed point which was to be the end of the line in the direction
of the nearest seaport, in which the line was in through communication by
rail. This was to be clearly defined on the index plan and at least on the
first and last sheets of the detailed plans. Each sheet was to be plotted in
the direction of the through mileage so that it could be read from left to
right. Every sheet was to be marked with a reference number, the name of the
railway, the gauge and scale of the plan.

Index Plan and Section

This was to be drawn at a scale of 1" to 1 mile for the horizontal , and 100
ft to 1" for the vertical, it was to show the centre line of the railway in a
red line 1/32" wide

Detailed Plans and Sections

The detailed plans were to be at a scale of 1" to 400 ft for the horizontal
and 1" to 40 ft for the vertical with three miles of line to be illustrated on
each sheet

Plans of Station Yards

Stations were divided into three classes and the plan was to be at a scale of
1" to 100 ft.

Estimates

Preliminary Remarks

Rough Estimates

A rough estimate was to be made under sub headings of earthworks, Permanent
Way and it's probable cost estimated from the ascertained cost per mile of
railways already built across similar country under similar conditions.3

Approximate Estimates

Approximate estimates using the same headings as the detailed estimates were
to be forwarded to the Govt of India for sanction of the project.

Detailed Estimates

As a rule work would have commenced before the detailed estimates could be
prepared, and the detailed estimates were not required to be sent to the Govt
of India unless the value of the work would exceed 50,000 rupees.

Classification to be Adopted

The classification to be adopted was set out and was to be strictly adhered
to, the detailed estimates below show what was to be charged to each heading.
Estimates were to show separately the English and Indian expenditure on all
imported articles, English expenditure was to include Cost f.o.b. in England
and 4/5ths sea freight, Indian expenditure included 1/5th sea freight,
Insurance at 1% on f.o.b. cost plus full sea freight, landing charges and
Indian carriage charges.

Preliminary Expenses

This heading dealt with all expenses before the construction had commenced or
been sanctioned, and had three sub headings,

Survey expenses,
Plant and Establishment.
Land

This dealt with the compensation of land owners whose land was either
temporary or permanently occupied.

Formation

All expenses concerned with the construction of earthworks less those already
mentioned in land. Tunnels were to have separate estimates.

Bridgework

Bridges were divided into two: Major bridges were those having a total
waterway of 60 lineal feet or upwards, or having a clear opening of 40 lineal
feet or upwards in any one span. All other bridges were regarded as minor
bridges. Major bridges were to have a separate estimate supplied for each
together with a brief report showing the mileage, size and number of spans,
description of foundations and soil. Minor bridges were to form one estimate
but each one was to be shown separately.

Fencing

This was to include the cost of all demarcation fences, walls, ditches, hedges
etc., as well as the cost of road crossings and mile and gradient posts.

Electric Telegraph

Any telegraph instrument not obtained through the Govt telegraph Department
was to be accounted for, although the telegraph Dept was responsible for the
cost of the erection of the telegraph line, the railway company only paying
rent and maintenance charges.

Ballast and Permanent Way

Ballast included the cost of provision and laying the ballast and was to be
costed as by units of one mile of single line. Permanent Way included the
cost of provision and laying of the permanent way complete for both main line
and sidings. A detailed abstract was to be prepared showing both the weight
and cost of rails, fish-plates, fish-bolts and nuts, bearing plates, sleepers,
spikes or other fastenings, the average cost of carriage to site, and the cost
of laying and maintaining until the line was opened.

Stations and Buildings

These could be divided into four groups, firstly Stations and Offices and were
to include all buildings connected with the passenger and goods traffic of the
railway, excepting those classified under Workshops, Staff Quarters or Station
Machinery. Workshops and stores buildings were all buildings intended for the
construction, erection and repair of rolling stock and included all permanent
foundations in such buildings and all associated offices. Staff Quarters
included accommodation and welfare buildings. Station Machinery dealt with
all the buildings necessary for watering, fuelling, and turning of engines,
and therefore included Engine sheds, wells, water tanks and weigh bridges.

Plant

This also came under four headings, Engineering:-Tools, machinery,
Instruments, Livestock and appliances of all kinds required for the
Engineering Dept Locomotive:- all tools and machinery required for the
Locomotive Workshops, Carriage and Wagon:- the same rules as for Locomotive
works, station and Office furniture:- all furniture required for the stations
and permanent offices on the line.

Ferries

All ferries intended to convey the public, this included pontoon bridges, each
ferry or pontoon bridge was to be the subject of a separate estimate. Ferries
that were intended only for the general purpose of the railway and not for
public conveyance were to classed as Plant.

Rolling Stock

This took in all Locomotives, Coaching and Goods Stock required for revenue
bearing traffic, as well as rolling stock for the engineering and Locomotive
departments on the open line, such as Ballast wagons, Rail-carriers,
break-down trains and travelling cranes.

General Charges

General charges were those incidental to the construction of the line as a
whole as distinguished from expenses incurred in connection with particular
works. They were to be classed under the following sub heads, according to
department or purpose for which the expenditure is required:-

1. Direction or General
2. Engineering
3. Stores
4. Audit and Account
5. Medical and Sanitation
6. Locomotive
7. Traffic

It was further required that for each of these sub-heads that expenditure be
allocated according to subject as follows:-

Salaries & Allowances
Quarters
Office Accommodation
Instruments
Office Expenses

If any of these was specially required for a particular piece of work, then it
was chargeable to the work concerned.

Abstracts only Required

The Estimates were to submitted in abstract only, although the details must
have been properly worked out and available if needed. They were to be in
print and 36 copies were to be supplied. The estimates for each branch line
or section of main line were to be separate, and arranged so that the cost of
each part could easily be ascertained, and any modification of that part would
not affecting the estimates for other sections.

Note on Estimates

The notes were to explain briefly how the rates had been arrived at, the class
of masonry used in different structures, the type of permanent way and reason
for adoption.

Indirect Charges

Direct charges were to be submitted only, the indirect charges:-
Capitalisation of abatement of Land Revenues and leave and Pension allowances
would be entered by the Govt of India when necessary.

General Instructions

It clearly stated that the estimates for the construction of the railway must
provide for the proper making and equipment of the line before it could be
opened to the public.

Material from England

Where material had to be imported from England the estimate was required to
show separately the cost under English and Indian expenditure, and required
the cost in Sterling, Rupees and the Exchange Rate.

Quantities and Rates

The rules specified the quantities and rates that were to be taken as
standard, the rates being in Rupees and decimals.

Land-In acres and decimals. Rate per acre
Earthwork, Excavation or Filling-In cubic Feet. Rate per 1,000 cubic feet.
Masonry, brickwork, concrete and materials for the same-In cubic feet. Rate
per 100 cubic feet.
Pitching, Turfing- in square feet. Rate per 100 square feet.
Flooring, roofing- In square feet. Rate per 100 square feet
Plastering, painting- In square feet. rate per 100 square feet.
Doors and windows- In square feet and decimals. Rate per square foot.
Timber- In cubic feet and decimals. Rate per cubic foot.
Ironwork- In tons and decimals. Rate per ton.
Transport by land- Weight in tons, distance in miles. Rate per ton-mile.

Units of Measurement

The rules also specified the units of measurement to be adopted, and were in
all cases Imperial Measure for the main unit and decimals, e.g. miles and
decimals, tons and decimals, feet and decimals for the velocity of rivers and
either feet and decimals or feet and inches for linear measurement.

Provision was made for commercially sensitive information to be left out of
the abstracts that would be used in the Govt offices, but this information had
to be forwarded separately in a sealed cover marked "Confidential".

Report and Statistics

The Report

The report was to clearly and concisely state the gauge of the line, the main
characteristics, the main advantages both administrative and commercial, the
principal engineering difficulties and the methods of overcoming these,
drawing attention to any points thought to be of particular interest. The
report was to be preceded by an Index, with a list of plans and table of
distances, also an Index Map to a scale of 32 miles to 1 inch, taken from the
Survey of India Map showing the location of the railway, the report was to be
in print and of foolscap size, sixty copies were required of the report.

Preliminary

This section was to include references to Govt orders and previous
correspondence, with a brief statement of the special object of the railway or
reasons for it's construction. Reference was also to be made to previous
reports or other sources of information, giving where practicable the
substance of such documents, so that the report could be read as a complete
document. This section was also to include a general description of the
country, with it's leading physical, geological and botanical features, in so
far as these would affect the construction and operation of the railway. The
gauge and reason for adopting it, the definition of the fixed point, and the
total length of the line in each Province, Local Administration or Native
State.

Location

A general description of the location adopted for the railway, with any
important points noted.

Alternative Routes

The leading features of alternative routes, with the advantages and
disadvantages of each, and the reason for preferring the final route.

Gradients and Curves

The ruling gradient, any adjustment for engine power, maximum curvature and
compensation applied.

Construction and Engineering

This was to include a general description of the work, an account of the
waterways, the Permanent Way to be adopted including the weight of rail to be
used, a description of the water supply and any difficulties expected and how
they might be overcome.

Labour and Materials

The report was to include whether contractors where to be used, or Military
units, or convict labour. There was also to be a report on the availability
of material and transport to the site, as well as local wages and if the
construction of the railway would affect them.

Arrangement of Staff

This was to report on the administrative arrangements for the construction of
the line, and was to include the availability of quarters.

Relations with Public and Government Departments

Where the railway would interfere with existing military installations, this
was to be reported and what the military authorities objections where, and how
bridges could be adopted for military traffic, also any interference with
religious edifices, what compensation had been paid and what the civil
authorities opinion was.6

Land

A report on the cost of the land to be purchased, including any special
circumstances that would either increase or decrease the cost.

Traffic and Statistics

The report was to note the existing trade patterns in the area and alteration
to be expected once the railway was opened and any new traffic that might be
developed.

Tabulated Details

A number of tabulated details were to be included:-

Curve Abstract
Gradient Abstract
Bridge Abstract
Important Bridges
List of Stations, station Buildings
Station Machinery

Sixty copies of these details were to be supplied.

Appendix

The appendix was to include tables of statistics, copies of correspondence and
in general any document or information that would be an essential part of the
report but would not be convenient to place in the main body of the report.

Other

Also included in the rules were a number of examples from the building of the
Gonda - Azimgarh Railway, a diagram allowing easy calculation of compensation
for curvature, orders for the notification of survey, special points requiring
attention in the construction of a railway for public traffic, rules relating
to the acquisition of land

1. For ordinary third class stations it was recommended that the plot of
ground for the station yard should not be less than 2,500 ft for 5' 6"
gauge, or 2,000 ft for metre gauge. Such stations should be about 300 ft
wide, of which about two thirds should be on the side of the line on which
the station building was to be situated.

2. Stations were roughly classed 'First' 'Second' or 'Third' according to size
and extend of accommodation provided, thus:-third class are ordinary
roadside stations at which arrangements were generally limited to the means
for crossing trains, and the provision of limited accommodation for local
third class passengers, Second class stations are on a larger scale with
more siding accommodation, provision for goods traffic, and engine sheds if
required. First class stations are those of considerable size and
importance for which special designs are necessary, as for example in Delhi
and Lahore.

3. Statements showing the costs of railways already built could be obtained
from the Consulting Engineer for State Railways.

4. The exchange rate given in the examples was 1s 23/4d = 16.712 Rupees.

5. The report specifically stated that local rates and measures were not to be
used in the report, and that the cubic foot was to be used as a measure of
capacity for water storage rather than gallons. A possible explanation of
the differing amounts of copies demanded is that 60 has been written in by
hand and whoever did the amendments missed one or more of the entries.

6. It is interesting to note the amount of influence the military authorities
could bring to bear on the location of a railway, this was a result of the
Indian Mutiny and of the constant campaigning on the North West Frontier
where troop reinforcements were often needed at short notice.

From: R. Anand <anand@watson.email

Subject: Re: Railway Project Rules, 1893

Date: 05 Apr 1995 03:37:00 -0500

> Rules for the Preparation of
> Railway Projects 1893

Thanks to Satish Julian and Satish for posting this wonderful document.
I have always wondered why the railway lines that we are so familar
with were laid out the way they were. The subsidies paid by the then
Indain goverment must have been enormous. I wonder if the railway line
proposals have been stored safely somewhere (I note with amusement the
36 copies requirement). Perhaps in the Central scretariat library in
Delhi or the National Archives? I would dearly love to spend a few
days going over them.

R. Anand
anand@watson.email

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@iitk.email

Subject: Re: Railway Enquiry System.

Date: 07 Apr 1995 04:45:00 -0500

> I said I would try this weekend to find where in the WWW I found the
> German raiways enquiry system. Unfortunately Netscape have changed their
> home pages in the last few days and I cannot find my way around it at the
> moment. Try accessing the Railroad-related Internet Resources page or
> Virtual Railroads homepage. I think I found it on the first of these two,
> but today had some trouble with linking. I will try again and let you
> know if I do find it. Julian

I have sent mail to the author of this system. Hope he replies.

I am not on the Internet, so cannot check the web pages.
If anyone can find any additional info, I will appreciate.

Thanks for your efforts,

-dheeraj

--------------
Dheeraj Sanghi +91 (512) 25-7077 (Off)
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering +91 (512) 25-8627 (Res)
Indian Institute of Technology +91 (512) 25-0260 (Fax)
Kanpur - 208 016 (UP), INDIA. dheeraj@iitk.email

From: J.J. Rainbow <J.J.Rainbow@newcastle.email

Subject: Re: Railway Project Rules, 1893

Date: 06 Apr 1995 18:51:00 -0500

Somewhere at home I have a list of sources on Indian railways and where
the various Annual Reports, inspection reports etc., are held. I am going
home over Easter and will try to find this list, and forward it towards
the ned of the month. Quite a lot of information will be in England
either in the Public Records Office at Kew or in the Indian Office Library.

On Wed, 5 Apr 1995, R. Anand wrote:

>
>
>
> > Rules for the Preparation of
> > Railway Projects 1893
>
> Thanks to Satish Julian and Satish for posting this wonderful document.
> I have always wondered why the railway lines that we are so familar
> with were laid out the way they were. The subsidies paid by the then
> Indain goverment must have been enormous. I wonder if the railway line
> proposals have been stored safely somewhere (I note with amusement the
> 36 copies requirement). Perhaps in the Central scretariat library in
> Delhi or the National Archives? I would dearly love to spend a few
> days going over them.
>
> R. Anand
> anand@watson.email

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