[Sutripta]

Some information here.

Sutripta

[sandeepmohan]

Some pictures from the Open Day at Steam Incorporated, Paekakariki, New Zealand.

JA1271 was built in 1956 and is a British design Steam locomotive. Wheel arrangement 4-8-2


AB608 dates back to 1915 and is a New Zealand design. Wheel arrangement 4-6-2.


DA1431 is an GM EMD design built by Clyde Engineering, Australia. Dates back to 1957.


The red TR160 shunter locomotive was built in 1958 by A&G Price, New Zealand. The original prime mover was a Mclaren M6. Now uses a Gardner 6LX engine. The yellow ORB2 Shunter was built by Mitsubishi in 1963.


All locomotives visible (Other than those two diesels being rebuilt) are certified fit to operate on New Zealand's rail network.

[unk9ja]

Karwar railway station in Monsoon glory

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by unk9ja

Karwar railway station in Monsoon glory

No electrification work going on in Karwar? Or was the picture taken earlier?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

No electrification work going on in Karwar? Or was the picture taken earlier?

As far I am aware, the line is currently undergoing electrification in phases and Karwar to Ratnagiri is still getting there while section between Mangalore to Kundapura is already electrified and there were trial runs last year too.

Overall, the entire Mangaluru Mumbai section has a target of Dec 2020 for complete electrification.

[landcruiser123]

Thanks for sharing @sandeepmohan. Thelocomotives, especially the DA1431, seem very well maintained. Keep sharing more pictures whenever you can.

I see all these tracks seem to be close to meter gauge. Is that the national gauge of NZ?

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Some pictures from the Open Day at Steam Incorporated, Paekakariki, New Zealand.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Is that the national gauge of NZ?

Yes. Took me by surprise when I moved to New Zealand. That said, it seems most suitable due to difficult terrain. Easier to negotiate tight turns. Trains are nowhere as heavy compared to India (or some other parts of the world) so this gauge works well.

[MadiMaama]

Taken on December 15 2019, at New Jalpaiguri. The board shows a grim picture. All trains cancelled except the train that I was taking. 19602 New Jalpaiguri Udaipur Express. This was an epic journey that ended at Mavli in Rajasthan, on the 17th of December.



The beautiful Ratlam WDM 3D that hauled our train all the way from New Jalpaiguri to Chittaurgarh. Stellar performance from the Alco, to haul a 24 coach ICF rake with 8 AC coaches. I don't think we can ever do a cross country trip by a single Alco again. At Chittaurgarh, a Bhagat Ki Kothi EMD took charge for the final leg to Udaipur

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by MadiMaama

The beautiful Ratlam WDM 3D that hauled our train all the way from New Jalpaiguri to Chittaurgarh.

Wow. ~1800 km behind a diesel is unheard off these days, with rapid electrification that has taken place. I imagine a good part of the line the train travels is under electric traction. Will be surprised if it isn't. Ideally; for such loads, it should be twin locomotives or a single EMD. I can't understand the change of locomotive for the last leg of the run.

[MadiMaama]

The reason why this train gets an end to end D run is it's a weekly and is a NWR based train, so arranging for an optimal E loco link cycle may not be possible. When we travelled, the CRS inspection for Malda NJP was scheduled for the 16th December, but subsequently postponed and now E locos run till NJP. This train has an electrified route from NJP to Rewari. Once train services resume, I think this train may get a E loco till Jaipur.

[MadiMaama]

When the train is halted for an overtake, what do railfans do?
Head out to the loco for a chat with the LP. The Mysore Mayiladuthurai Express is halted at Maddur for an overtake by the Chennai bound Shatabdi which was terribly late that day. The Mysore line was having back to back trains towards Bangalore. Platform 5 was a very valuable resource that day at Bangalore

[MadiMaama]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Wow. ~1800 km behind a diesel is unheard off these days, with rapid electrification that has taken place. I imagine a good part of the line the train travels is under electric traction. Will be surprised if it isn't. Ideally; for such loads, it should be twin locomotives or a single EMD. I can't understand the change of locomotive for the last leg of the run.

The change of loco happens as the train has a reversal at Chittaurgarh. Since we got an offlink that day from Ratlam, it may have made sense to detach the loco at Chittaurgarh and send it to Ratlam for inspection from Chittaurgarh. It's generally practice in IR to give a fresh locomotive when there is a reversal involved. This can be seen at Vizag ( usually SR/SCR based E loco to SER/SR or ECoR based E loco) , Vijayawada (BZA/LGD link to BZA/LGD fresh loco) for example