[ampere]

Article today in Hindu Supplement.
The line immortalized by David Lean in the movie: "Bridge on the river Kwai"


The Hindu : Life & Style / Travel : Tracks of destiny

[navan49]

Good photos of Thenmala Station,Wellington and also the unpopular Saravanambatti. Thenmala was a great scenic beauty in the past. So sad to know that it has lost the trains in its station. I am traveling by train to New delhi. I will see what I can capture and post. Plan is to stay one night in Ambala Cantonment and one night in New delhi in the station retiring rooms or in Yatriniwas. If some one has some idea please update.

[gajadonga]

Sampark Kranthi express from New Delhi to Yeswanthpur.
Picture taken near Mahbubnagar

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
A train song from my childhood(I am nearly 68 now) selected by Times of India(15/4/2012)as the most patriotic.

Jagriti - Aao Bachchon Tumhen Dikhayen Jhanki Hindustan Ki - YouTube

Enjoy
Regards
PS Moderators If providing such a link is not allowed please delete.Sorry for the inconvenience

[wilful]

For sheer majesty there's nothing to beat those grand old WP steam locomotives! As a child I have travelled on so many trips with my parents on the Howrah/Madras/Cochin stretch. Bullet shaped gigantic, mysterious black beasts (with a huge star around the headlight) hissing like king cobras, cloaked in steam - that's how they appeared to a child's mind.
A trip from Howrah to Madras took around 36 hours and there was an engine change at Waltair Jn (lunch station) which was a great ritual with a lot of spectators (passengers and bystanders) watching the show.
The WP loco was used to haul all the major express/mail trains in the 60s - and part of the 70s I think - till diesel replaced steam. And they could clock decent speeds too. Sadly I do not have pics taken by me/family (I don't think we had a camera then) but I am uploading a couple of pics taken from the web.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Wilful - thanks for evoking nostalgia in me. As kids, in the 1960s and upto the mid 1970s, my sister and I used to travel with our parents from Bombay Central (as it was known then) to Navsari, our home town in South Gujarat by the Baroda Passenger Train which was hauled by this gigantic steam engine with the big star in front. I still remember that the Baroda Passenger would come in on platform number 3 in Udwada (into siding) and the Paschim Express (or "Deluxe" as it was known then) would pass ahead at full speed, also hauled by a steam engine with the long connecting rods moving up and down. There were no bars on bogie windows at that time, we kids were taken in and out of windows along with luggage. From the station, we used to reach our house in Navsari by horse drawn "tanga", completely covered in coal dust and then take a well needed bath. Those were the days.

Although today, it is frequent flyer miles as a reality of life, my heart yearns to once again live the simple pleasures of life that seem so lost today, train travel being one of them. I think Baroda Passenger still runs but now it starts from Bandra Terminus instead of Mumbai Central (as it is known now) at 8 in the morning. Maybe I should take the trip again.

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.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[wilful]

Dear Behram Dhabhar,
My pleasure! I am delighted to meet a kindred soul. Your reminiscences transport me back to my childhood when my dad used to take me to the Howrah Station on Sunday mornings (before wending our way to the Alipore Zoo) to take a look at those magnificent machines pull in and out of that busy terminus. Yes one does long for those long lost simple pleasures.
And yes - those long train journeys did cover us with coal dust and the bogies had that peculiar (kind of metallic) smell of the dust. At night when the train hurtled away, one could occasionally see fiery orange sparks flying by.
Sai

[faustus77]

Behram/wilful and others
Hi
A diesel or electric loco pulling a train does not evoke the same awe that a steam engine does.The feelingthat I have is that the WP strains to pull a train whereas a diesel or electic loco makes it look so easy.
Whenever I stay near a station do make it a point to go the station after dinner and sit on a bench and see the trains go by (in spite of the mosquitos).My favourite would be Dahanu at night,not crowded,but ample of trains passing.
Baroda passenger still runs but am surprised that you did not catch the Saurashtra express to Navsari.That would have been faster.
Wilful you did mention the smell.Heavenly.
Deluxe was introduced in 1957 and the AC chair car fare was a princely sum of rs 27 for a Bombay New Delhi ticket.Used to run on wednesdays and sundays.It used to be hauled by WP Asoka which had a distinct whistle compared to the other WPs.The chief was a Parsee engine driver who had a bad leg.He was considered to be the best on western railway.
Sympathise with your sneaking to the station as most of people do not understad the joy of seeing a train pass by.
Regards

[navan49]

I feel jealous of seeing the pictures of the I AC Duranto by ranjitp1. I too travelled in a train, which is one of the few longest trains of Indian Railways. That one was 12510 Guwahati Bangalore express which crosses Assam,W Bengal,Bihar,Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and finally to Karnataka. The toilet conditions of 2 AC is posted here with the photos. One wash basin with water filled dirty one was in the Indian Toilet. The other broken wash basin was in Western Toilet. The condition was like that through out till Chennai.

[faustus77]

Navan
Hi.
It is sad to see such pictures that too of a long distance super fast train.
If this is the case what would be the condition of sleepers be?
It is not that the railways are understaffed but the work culture.They dont want to do a full days work for a full days salary.
Incidentally the train must have halted for more than 15 minutes at a few stations.Wasn't the coach attendant helpful?
Regards

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by faustus77

A diesel or electric loco pulling a train does not evoke the same awe that a steam engine does.

A train hauled by a steam engine bowling around a curve; a sail ship (or the picture of one) with all the sails blown taut by the wind; a man riding a horse in full gallop - these sights evoke a special feeling in us like nothing else can!

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Wilful - thanks for evoking nostalgia in me. As kids, in the 1960s and upto the mid 1970s, my sister and I used to travel with our parents from Bombay Central (as it was known then) to Navsari, our home town in South Gujarat by the Baroda Passenger Train which was hauled by this gigantic steam engine with the big star in front. I still remember that the Baroda Passenger would come in on platform number 3 in Udwada (into siding) and the Paschim Express (or "Deluxe" as it was known then) would pass ahead at full speed, also hauled by a steam engine with the long connecting rods moving up and down. There were no bars on bogie windows at that time, we kids were taken in and out of windows along with luggage. From the station, we used to reach our house in Navsari by horse drawn "tanga", completely covered in coal dust and then take a well needed bath. Those were the days.

Although today, it is frequent flyer miles as a reality of life, my heart yearns to once again live the simple pleasures of life that seem so lost today, train travel being one of them. I think Baroda Passenger still runs but now it starts from Bandra Terminus instead of Mumbai Central (as it is known now) at 8 in the morning. Maybe I should take the trip again.

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.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

There is/was one Poorva express too - ALSO called "Deluxe" - Delhi to Howrah!

[faustus77]

Originally Posted by Gansan

A train hauled by a steam engine bowling around a curve; a sail ship (or the picture of one) with all the sails blown taut by the wind; a man riding a horse in full gallop - these sights evoke a special feeling in us like nothing else can!

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

[navan49]

The train with the horrible toilet stopped in number of stations for more than 20 minutes. The coach attendant and the TTEs came and went and told that they would call the people in the next station. But nothing happened. There were some occasions we did not have water in the toilet. Any how we were bearing all the inconvenience and reached Chennai. That too was late arrival due to a free tour towards Renigunta Arakonam and Chennai Central from Gudur, due to a derailment of goods train near Chennai. Poor Bangalore passengers, they were un necessarily taken to Chennai and came back in the same way with further delay of another 3 hours. Instead they could have arranged a EMU for Chennai passengers and could have gone direct.

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Gansan
Hi
You forgot to mention a fighter jet turning banking and climbing.

Regards

I have to resptfully and strongly disagree with the statement. Nothing can bring the same emotion as that of a steam locomotive pumelling into a station with puffs of white steam from the wheels and the smoke from the chimney which could be anything from black to white but mostly shades in between. The only vehicle which has the same class particularly with respect to the sound of the engine is that of a Royal Enfield Bullet
I got into this thread by accident and it has got me real nostalgic. I am not that ancient but have had the train travelling experience of a few decades back which would be unknown in todays world.
Our regular beat in the early 70's, when I was a child was the 1 Down 2 Up Howrah-Bombay-Howrah mail (via Nagpur) which left Bombay as it was then called at 22:00 or so from Bombay and reached the small town of Jharsuguda approx 30 hours later. This train was one up on the snobery scale compared to the HwH-Bom-Hwh Mail via Allahabad and many notches above the HwH-Bom-Hwh express.
It was obviously pulled by a steam locomotive and the whistle of the loco as it approached most stations is still imprinted in my brain. A sight I had seen once or twice was a kindly loco driver giving hot water from the loco to the inhabitants of the railway colonies near the station. There is an unsubstantiated family story of one of the domestic help at an uncles place who used to get the daily needs of coal by making faces and teasing the loco drivers who reacted by throwing chunks of coal at him which he then carefully piled up till the days need was met.
If you put your hand outside when the train was moving you could collect soot/coal dust on your palms.Travelling involved carrying bedding rolls for the wooden planks in the 3rd class while the 2nd class had cushions if I remember correctly. I dont recall what the material of the roll was, but you could put a couple of bedsheets, pillows etc
There was a lot of camaredie among passengers then as it is now. Most discussions were around trains and question if a passing train was the 23 UP passenger or maybe the 40 down or some prediction on "when we would get the signal". A bit later, during the emergency days, discussion was on the emergency and how it had benefited everyone :-). Our travelling was in summer and the train reached Nagpur around 13:00 or 14:00 when the temperature was around 45 - 47 in the shae and the compartment would have been like the inside of a tandoor. The trap most people made was to close the glass window. If one shut the steel ventilator and kept the glass panes open, there would be sufficient cross ventilation to cool down the oven. Another essential component of travel was the matka which was standard issue for all travellers. Mineral water had not been invented and the matka was filled by able bodies males (young kids like myself fell into that category) in every station. Invariably someones or mores matka brokle enroute flooding the compartment with water which was met by understanding looks from co passengers. Our family developed a superior strategy on the advise of an uncle and we purchased a plastic bucket to hold the matka. This ensured easy handling and also guarded against breakage.
Sorry for this long and winding reminiscneces but as I mentioned, this thread has kindled some nostalgia.
Another sight old timers from Bombay might remember is the "Flying Rani". This left Bombay central and whizzed past all the suburban stations in Bombai. The driver had to keep the whistle continiously on as it thundered through each station wailing like a Banshee and throwing up a cloud of dust on all passengers on the platform.
Cameras were a rarity and it would be great to get photos of those bygone eras if anyone in this group have them.