[Gansan]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Gansan
Hi
You forgot to mention a fighter jet turning banking and climbing.
A photograph of a horse does not evoke the same awe as the others but when you see in the movies it is great.One of the best Mckenna's Gold.
You must have seen the movie and the scene is when sun starts rising.
Regards

The picture means motion picture, of course!

No! The fighter jet invokes different feelings. Definitely not the pang for the charm and beauty of an age that has gone with the wind. Perhaps footage of the Zeppelins can do that.

[faustus77]

Gansan/Deepak
Hi
Agree it didnt have the old world charm but I still was awed by it specially when it had just taken off.
Since mid 1950s I have been travelling by trains and loved reading your post specially about the Calcutta Mails(very true about the train going via Nagpur).
The bed rolls(also called hold alls) were made from canvas fabric.
You are right the 2nd class had rexine cushion.Incidentally there was an Inter class which was phased out in the late 50s.
The smell of peat!!Heavenly.
Regarding the feeling of awe I still log on to youtube just to listen to the sound and whistle of steam engines.My wife jokes about it.
Regards
PS The Flying Ranee loco pilot was a Parsee gentleman who was later shifted to the Deluxe(Paschim Express) which was introduced in 1957.

[ampere]

Though I did travel in trains hauled by steam locos, but the fondest memories were of diesel locos. Esp the 22 coach south bound trains from Delhi.
TN, GT, AP, Kerala and Karatnaka express were fun to watch.

In Bangalore the best place to spot trains are the the hills of Makali Durga.
Here is an example:

(HD) ALCo Train video of Kachiguda - Yeshwanthpur Express climbs up the Makalidurga Ghats. - YouTube

[faustus77]

Ampere and others
Hi
Next to the steam engine's sound love the Alco's sound.

Everybody has heard 'mere sapnon ki rani' but the following 2 gems did not become as popular.Brilliant music by R.D.Burman with train sound in the background
Enjoy

HOGA TUM SE PYARA KAUN - YouTube

Fans of steam engines whistle enjoy.(RD used the instrument known as flanger for the 1st time in India

dhanno ki ankhon mein - YouTube

Regards

[ADI_77]

Hey Guys, Great snaps with lots of information. Keep them coming

Just remembered the toy train journey I undertook about 3 yrs back from Kalka to Shimla by Shivalik Dlx Exp. It was amazing. The National Railway Museum at Delhi is one must visit place for every railway enthusiast.

[ampere]

I have been on the toy trains of Ooty and Darjeeling but not the Shimla one.
Hope to travel some day.

Here is another snap. The roaring Udhyan express. (Again taken at Makali Durga hills).

I like that place. An amazing location to capture both sunrise and trains.

[zalaps]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Even now, whenever we visit our Iranshah Fire Temple in Udwada (I am a quintessential Parsi Bawaji), if I get the chance, I sneak out without the others knowing (because they think I am crazy), take the car, go to Udwada Station at around 6 in the evening and sit there, getting stung by mosquitoes, to see the Rajdhani Express hurtle by towards Delhi at its full speed of 120 kmph. I like to do it so I do it.

Behram Sir,
I can fully relate to Rajdhani experiance. Looking and Feeling the Rajdhani passing by Udvada was source of story material for us in childhood.

I am from Killa Pardi and to reach my home; Udvada is the station. I do not remember the exact year but it is some 188X when udvada station was built. Same station house is still serving the purpose. Railway experiance in Udvada is still the same, untouched, pure from last 100+ years. Every saturday morning when I get down from Gujarat Express at Udvada I can imagine the scene when first train would have visited very same staion before 6+ generations!

By the way People(Udvada visiting Parsis) are nowdays boards Gujarat Express from BCT at 05:45 and arrives Udvada at 08:50.

Hope I'll pull out some more memories of Udvada on next monday!

[faustus77]

Hi everybody.
Good to see some more pictures.
Incidentally shimla/kalka and metupallayam/ooty are narrow gauge trains(2'6" or 762mm)
The real toy trains are siliguri/darjeeling and matheran/neral(2' or 610mm)
Regards

Zalap hi.Is kila pardi and pardi(between atul and udvada) different?

[arindamray]

Little contribution from my side... taken near Bangalore on Salem line...

[//M]

Couple of pics taken in the Hubli-Vasco stretch and a pic of the railway bridge over the mighty Dudhsagar Falls.

[//M]

Some pics of the Pamban Railway Bridge, Rameswaram.

[selfdrive]

In my childhood, we lived near a rail track for about 10 years. Combined with the annual summer vacations, somehow trains became a way of life. Once in college, the local trains were the lifeline for travel, but due to convenience and reach tehy were somehow replaced by bikes and then cars.

The main grouse I have against the rail infrastructure is the lack of cleanliness. We all know how what state the toilets could be in, and even the berths abound with cockroaches most times. If this were resolved, it would be so much better to travel with family and experience India by rail once again.

I vividly remember two rail bridges. One is on the Godavari river. maybe rajahmundry on Chennai - Vizag route. the other one is near Solapur on the Pune Solapur route, the one th a large expanse of water; is it Bhigwan?

It would be great if someone has any pics of these bridges (hopefully with a train on it) to share.

Another favorite haunt used to be Monkey Hill stop near Khandala. Hope to make a trek there sometime this monsoon and return with lots of pics

[srishiva]

I watch the railway guard turning the wheel used to engage and dis-engage the gates at Carmelram near Bengaluru. The cables run a very long length to the gates on either side of the track. Do they have to use such antiquated mechanisms? Hope the cable cutting off would not bring the gates down but have weights to hold the gates up.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arindamray

Little contribution from my side... taken near Bangalore on Salem line...

Is that the Hosur/Dharmapuri line? Because if it was the Chenai I should have seen electric poles.

Originally Posted by //M

Couple of pics taken in the Hubli-Vasco stretch and a pic of the railway bridge over the mighty Dudhsagar Falls.

Wow! You could actually Duddhsagar. Most Bangalore trains travel in that section during night times.

Originally Posted by //M

Some pics of the Pamban Railway Bridge, Rameswaram.

The nothing seeing the Pamban bridge open and close. During my last drive, I lost my camera and hence could not snap then.
I could only take cell phone snaps. It was at that time when all a cell phone could muster was a VGA camera!

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

Is that the Hosur/Dharmapuri line? Because if it was the Chenai I should have seen electric poles.

Yes, Karmelaram station is on the Hosur line. In fact, it is just next to the railway crossing on the Sarjapur road. Remember the narrow stretch of 100 meters of narrow stretch of road just at the railway crossing on otherwise wide stretch of Sarjapur road from the ORR junction onwards?