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Guys
Thank you for taking such gorgeous pics! It's the reason I keep getting pulled to this thread again and again.

:thumbs up

Looked like this when I first made the trip to these parts. These photos date back to 2004 - 2005. Was a beautiful little village station.





Picture Credit : Naren Damodaran

Even the practical looks beautiful when there is an ingenious mind behind it. The works of such a mind will continue to impress humans even after they fall into disuse or destroyed beyond reconstruction. I recently stumbled upon an abandoned British era railway viaduct of such quality in the Nallamala forests in Andhra Pradesh. The train buffs and the locals must be aware of this vestige, but it was a discovery to me.

The Dorabaavi (Dora = British; Baavi = Well) bridge was part of the Goa-Machilipatnam railway line, connecting the Arabian seacoast with the Bay of Bengal coast, laid by the British late in the 19th century. The British did not bother to give it a name also and the locals gave it its name from the drinking water well that the rulers dug for the needs of hundreds of men who were stationed at the construction site deep inside the forest.

The bridge can be seen on the road from Nandyala to Giddalur in Andhra Pradesh.

What remains after we have destroyed a piece of art:



With my Ford in the front to show the scale of the piers. They stand almost 250 feet tall from the bottom.



Looks more like a monument than a bridge pillar. The British engineers knew how to make the stone speak, even under the crushing weight of a freight train.



Standing right in the middle of the tracks. Imagining a puffing steam loco appearing on the horizon of the bridge can give goose bumps to any railfan.



The modern contraption to continue the business can be seen on the left.



Then and Now:




Then and Now:

Thanks for the old pics, @trkauditya. Been a few years since I passed by this one near Giddalur, but had not checked further on it.

You have quoted two examples there. I had posted pics of this one here in my old thread ..here is one

https://youtu.be/W1gEfBNvfsQ

Don't know when our government will wake up to preserving our rich heritage. This is one example of a lost heritage and it pains everytime I see this video.

Video copyright to original poster, just using the link.

Read this interesting book on the history of the Indian Railways. Covers till almost present day, but a large part focussed till 1947. A good trace of the history, how the British initially set it up purely for commercial and military interests and how it transformed into the lifeline of the nation.

Railways and The Raj: How the Age of Steam Transformed India https://www.amazon.in/dp/B073QCJX9C/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

From my recent trip to Rajasthan and clicked by my friend, Abhilash. TKD WDP 4B 40072 Rani Lakshmibai waits in the siding at Jaisalmer with the Jaisalmer Jammu Express as the Sonar Kella stands tall in the background

How good / detailed is the writing and content on the post-independence phase? I’m looking at that part more specifically.

Not too great. Most of it is focused on the pre independence era. Some references are there Like the Konkan Railway Project, the guage standardization program and a few others. But still heavily skewed towards the pre independence era.

Indian Railways introduces AI based locomotive inspection pits. Its impressive. Inspection time for a locomotive can be done in 20minutes versus 3 hours. I am sure we will combine AI with a human. Even if those 3 hours come down to half, it means more up time for the locomotive.

Link

Saw the WAG 12B, Indian Railways’ most powerful loco hauling coal as the Suryanagari Express departed Ahmedabad towards Jodhpur.

Couple of terrible snaps:





Steve would be turning in his grave right now! Snapped it with the iPhone 11. 😷

Some Pics from my side


Freight train in Philadelphia, PA,USA.
Note Three Engines in Tandem






Graffiti - Lifestyle of Americans

Oh wow, the facade of Hosapete Junction is being redone based on Hampi. Looks amazing!





Before:


(From Indian Rail Info - Link)

Source - Ministry of Railways Twitter

My first sighting of a WAG12 Loco set from Alstom.
These were introduced for the Dedicated Freight Corridor but goes all over the country.

I had visited this station(Baiyappanahalli)after a long time for some trainspotting and as luck would have it, this turned up. These Locos regularly come into SCR region but I guess is still a rare south down south.
Looks like the AC is always on since the cab windows are sealed and tinted. :thumbs up

This one has a high rise panto to run on sections where the overhead wire is higher than normal for double stack container running. It can be made out from the acute angle of the panto.

https://youtu.be/ofmT57yNpME

Random pics taken by my son during his travel to Chennai and back to Bengaluru over the weekend.