[manishalive]

Originally Posted by vinay kamath

Bangalore's MG road & St Mark's road circa 1960

One more picture that appeared in times of India, 6th Feb edition on same subject.

[vinay kamath]

Period pictures of Chandni Chowk(Delhi), M G Road (Bangalore), Marina(Madras), Howrah Bridge(Calcutta), Azad Maidan(Delhi), Gateway of India(Bombay), Charminar(Hyderabad)

[anjan_c2007]

Delhi taxi strike of 1954 - the taxis lined up on Rajpath near the power centre:



(found on FB)

[faustus77]

Hi everybody.
Scenes from Bombay of the 50s and a 1950s song playing in the background.
In those days the tram drivers used to wear a turban with a tail.
A couple of days had posted on FB about the joy of travelling in a double decker tram sitting right in the front. That too on a cold wintry night. Graet experience.
Regards

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=624181434376149

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Hi everybody. Scenes from Bombay of the 50s and a 1950s song playing in the background. I had posted on FB about the joy of travelling in a double decker tram sitting right in the front. Great experience. Regards

Dear faustus77 - the FB video is absolutely priceless, thank you so much!

Memories of trams: I distinctly remember travelling as a small child in trams from Dadar TT ("TT" was Tram Terminus) / King's Circle with my grandparents and parents. King's circle was where the trams used to turn around. There used to be a brass handle which the tram driver used to turn this way and that way to make the tram run. The upper level had a curved front with seats arranged all through the curve, I used to love sitting there. I also used to stand besides the driver sometimes. If I remember correctly, the fare was 5 paisa!

Memories of Trolley Bus: This thingy used to run from somewhere upto Gowalia Tank. It used to draw power from an overhead pantograph. It used to run very quietly!

Memories of Chevrolet "Mill Ni Bus" BMZ9863: As my father used to work for Tata Textiles (Swadeshi Mills Kurla), as children, we used to travel by BMZ9863, a Chevrolet Bus operated by the company. This was a light blue colored 6 cylinder petrol bus with the long protruding bonnet and all side facing seats. I saw some similar trucks and buses in the video and the memories of BMZ9863 came flooding back. The drivers who used to operate BMZ9863 were Keki Mama (we never knew his surname, he was always "mama"), Narayan and a thin guy we called Pankhau (because he used to chew Pan), we never knew his name also, he was always called Pankhau. I don't remember BMZ9863 having ever broken down on the road. It used to go via the Chunabhatti level crossing to Dadar and then when the "highway" was built, it used to go via what is now Priyadarshini Circle. It's last trip used to be at 7.30PM when it used to stop below the convent school next to Sion station (we used to call it "sara saat ni bus" in Gujarati). The last time I saw BMZ9863 was inside the mills compound in 1977, not used for a very long time. There used to be a "Vehicle Maintenance" department inside Swadeshi Mills, a guy called "Charlie" was the incharge!

Memories of other Swadeshi Mills vehicles: There used to be a blue Jeep station wagon with the 6 cylinder Tornado engine and the steering wheel with the fancy "W" monogram (it was fast!) and a light brown Hanseat Tempo 3 wheeler, commonly referred to as the "Cockroach". I have gone to school in all of these. Then there was BML4144 or 4414, a lovely black Dodge Kingsway or Plymouth or some such thing, which my father used (it came with a white uniform and white cap wearing chauffeur) when he became overall incharge of the mills. I remember to have sat in it only once, it just used to "glide", it was pure nirvana!

Those were the days! .

What I am trying to say is this: looking at the video of all "today's classic cars and trucks" merrily running on the roads in 1958, I wonder, in those days there were no computers, so there was no CAD / CAE, still cars and trucks were designed, manufactured and merrily used. Today? I leave it to you to draw your own conclusion! . I hope some of today's industry guys read this post and start some sort of a thought process!

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[the mole]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Hi everybody.
Scenes from Bombay of the 50s and a 1950s song playing in the background.
In those days the tram drivers used to wear a turban with a tail.
A couple of days had posted on FB about the joy of travelling in a double decker tram sitting right in the front. That too on a cold wintry night. Graet experience.
Regards

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=624181434376149

Lovely video! for once I was more excited to see the diversity of humanity that Mumbai was and still is rather than the transportation. I also realised that contrary to what people older than me claim Mumbai was never a slick city! It was always a congregation of Humanity from all parts of India. And it still is today! That is what makes it unique and probably what is to be really celebrated about this great city!

[faustus77]

Dhabhar. Behram/ The Mole
Great posts. Thanks.
The tram fare used be 1 anna and after the introduction of paise,1st April 1957, it was 6 paise. Incidentally 1st April was a holiday in the then state of Bombay,maybe Gudi Padwa.
I have travelled a lot on the trolley buses, Gowalia Tank to Null Bazaar and beyond. They were imported in 1960s from Czhecoslovakia. They were faster than the trams and eco friendly. Stops used to be near the kerb unlike the trams which used to have stops in the middle of the road.(Delhi used to have tram stops near the kerb)
Great to read about the Svadeshi(it was spelt with a v). I used to buy Helen poplin from them in the late 1970s.
Regards

[KartikeyaL]

Here is a picture of Strand cinema, Bombay



Source: FB

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by faustus77

Great posts. Thanks.

These trolley buses were imported from Czechoslovakia. They were made by- Skoda. Hopefully they never faced any service horror stories.
MRT 1232- A typical example of a Skoda trolley bus. The Skoda emblem, along with the characteristic 'arrow' is seen.



Bombay used to be such a great city- back in the day. 'Wonder where we lost the plot in between.

Pic credits: Respective owners.

[vinay kamath]

M G road Bangalore in the past

[vinay kamath]

Jayanagar's landmark Ashoka Pillar in 1948

[vinay kamath]

Bangalore's Subedar Chatram road circa 1965 outside Annamma temple !

[vinay kamath]

Chennai Central Station

[vinay kamath]

Shivajinagar Bus Stand , Bangalore circa 1950.

[vinay kamath]

ITO junction in New Delhi