IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 5021 - 5040

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: [Fwd: Calling on signals

Date: 13 Jan 1999 02:44:48 -0500

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Axle brushes

Date: 13 Jan 1999 02:48:34 -0500




Harsh Vardhan wrote:

> >The mystery of the heavy current returning from the body of the loco
to the
> rails is
> >solved. There is a brushing contact known as an 'axle brush' in the
'axle
> box' which
> >is used to tranfer heavy traction currents to the wheels and
ultimately to
> the rails.
> >Hence the bearings would not be used as a electrical conductors,
however if
> the 'axle
> >brush' fails, the bearings would conduct the return current. This
info was
> found in
> >the glossary section of the railway technical resource page.
> ><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/index.html">http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/index.html</A>
> >I'll check this up on my next visit to the electric loco shed at
Pune.
>
> Apurva,
>
> You can check this with the diesel loco shed guys also.
>

This is only an electric loco problem - where the current has to return
to the
substation via the wheels and the rails. Diesel's electric circuit is
closed
loop with both the ends of the generator and motors on the frame itself.

Apurva

> HARSH

From: Sridhar Shankar <>

Subject: I'm back!

Date: 13 Jan 1999 04:38:46 -0500


Folks,

It's good to be back in business (well, not really). Anyway, here
is the low down (pics to follow).

On the Diesel front it appears as if each shed has been given the
liberty
to paint their locos in any colour they deem fit (and believe me, they
do). This has resulted in, among other things Orange and Blue WDM2s
(from Gooty). More on this later.

The train ride of the trip was the journey from Bangalore to Manmad
(to Shirdi actually) by the KK express. The KK is Diesel hauled all the
way from Bangalore to Itarsi - usually by a pair of Itarsi WDM2s. The KK
must hold the honor for the most tortured route of any superfast express
(Delhi bound or otherwise).

The train departs from SBC late in the evening. It had been a while
since
I made an overnight journey on a Diesel hauled train and it was
wonderful
to have Diesel exhaust waft in to the coach at night, not to mention the
trademark sound of the the locos (which seems to travel quite a distace
at
night - ours was the 9th coach). After a good night sleep, the next
morning I woke up with the train at Hotgi waiting for Hussain Sagar
Express. A superfast express halted for crossing - it must be the Madras
-
Bombay trunk!

Anyway, it was great to watch the train on curves, especially after a
speed restricion /construction, where both the locos would open up
resulting in a scene only Alcos could deliver (our leading loco was
especially capable of laying a smoke screen).

During the return, we spent a few hours at Manmad as the KK was 4 hours
late. Great opprtunity to watch a parade of trains, from Pushpak and
Gitanjali to WAG7 (with tiger strips) hauled freights. BTW, where on
earth
is Ajni?

Finally, For Diesel lovers, Bangalore, with unelectrified single lines
radiating in every direction, is quickly becoming the Diesel capital of
the south (India?) with locos from Erode, KJM, Itarsi, Gooty, Guntakal,
and Golden Rock in abundance.

-Sridhar




****************************************************************

Sridhar Shankar 1616 E. 50th Place, Apt.13A
GSB MBA '99 Chicago, IL 60615
University of Chicago (773) 752 1131
*****************************************************************

From: Sridhar Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Golden Rock Locos and other liveried locos ...

Date: 13 Jan 1999 04:53:53 -0500


Folks,

With out question the Golden Rock WDM2s (mostly WDM2A) are the best
looking diesels around. Golden rock has a great reputation based on the
job they have done with the YDM4s and seem all set to do the same with
the
bigger diesels. With new BG lines abounding, TN will remain a diesel
stronghold for the near future. Anyone know when the WDP2 is likely to
be
pressed into service (as IR would put it)?

-Sridhar

****************************************************************

Sridhar Shankar 1616 E. 50th Place, Apt.13A
GSB MBA '99 Chicago, IL 60615
University of Chicago (773) 752 1131
*****************************************************************

On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, Apurva Bahadur wrote:

> While I was drawing into the Mumbai CSTM on the Suburban Section
yesterday, I
> saw an immaculate green and cream Jumbo (low nose) WDM 2 standing
near the
> electric shed. The short hood was facing the Mumbai end and although
the loco
> did not have any shed markings, I am quite sure that this was a Golden
Rock loco
> which must have powered the KR 112 from Madgaon to Mumbai CSTM.
>
> Apurva
>
> Rajan Mathew wrote:
>
> > Folks,
> >
> > I've even spotted golden rock locos in Mumbai drawing the Madgaon
Mumbai
> > express and Ratnagiri Dadar passenger on a few occassions. Its
colours
> > definately stand out ...
> >
> > The Matsyagandha Express is regularly hauled by a ED Erode loco. The
> > Netravati Express is normally hauled by Ernakulam locos. Ernakulam
locos are
> > also painted differently with a dominating yellow and a design in
either
> > bright red or green
>
>
>
>
>
>

From: Krishnan Anand <>

Subject: Re: Query: WAP 5

Date: 13 Jan 1999 05:13:15 -0500


Hi Apurva and gang,

>I cannot wait to tell you gang until I write my Wankaner trip report
>and webpage - I saw a WAG 7 (with the red and white stripes on the
>face)
>hauling a NBOX rake towards Sabarmati yard outside Ahmedabad at
>around 0200 hours on Sunday, when it was moving slowly parallel to
>our 9017 Saurashtra Junta. This loco had two small sealed headlights
>rather than the large single item. I am not sure about the home shed
>(may be BRC - does ADI have an electric shed ?)

I guess the livery u r referring to, matches with that of the Ajni shed
on CR. I have seen quite a number of them at Ennore Thermal power
station branch-line near Chennai, carrying massive coal loads. Iam not
too sure if Sundar's page has a WAG 7 but it sure has WAG 5 from Ajni.
See them under "AC Locos" in his Indian train gallery. We can see that
they are painted half red and half white on the sides with the
characteristic IR way of giving the numbers in BIG BOLD LETTERS. The
front has the red and white stripes.

Kind regards,

Anand.K

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: I'm back!

Date: 13 Jan 1999 05:24:33 -0500




Sridhar Shankar wrote:

> Folks,
>
> It's good to be back in business (well, not really). Anyway, here
> is the low down (pics to follow).
>
> On the Diesel front it appears as if each shed has been given the
liberty
> to paint their locos in any colour they deem fit (and believe me, they
> do). This has resulted in, among other things Orange and Blue WDM2s
> (from Gooty). More on this later.
>
> The train ride of the trip was the journey from Bangalore to Manmad
> (to Shirdi actually) by the KK express. The KK is Diesel hauled all
the
> way from Bangalore to Itarsi - usually by a pair of Itarsi WDM2s. The
KK
> must hold the honor for the most tortured route of any superfast
express
> (Delhi bound or otherwise).
>
> The train departs from SBC late in the evening. It had been a while
since
> I made an overnight journey on a Diesel hauled train and it was
wonderful
> to have Diesel exhaust waft in to the coach at night, not to mention
the
> trademark sound of the the locos (which seems to travel quite a
distace at
> night - ours was the 9th coach). After a good night sleep, the next
> morning I woke up with the train at Hotgi waiting for Hussain Sagar
> Express. A superfast express halted for crossing - it must be the
Madras -
> Bombay trunk!
>
> Anyway, it was great to watch the train on curves, especially after a
> speed restricion /construction, where both the locos would open up
> resulting in a scene only Alcos could deliver (our leading loco was
> especially capable of laying a smoke screen).
>
> During the return, we spent a few hours at Manmad as the KK was 4
hours
> late. Great opprtunity to watch a parade of trains, from Pushpak and
> Gitanjali to WAG7 (with tiger strips) hauled freights. BTW, where on
earth
> is Ajni?

Ajni is 4 kms west of Nagpur

>
>
> Finally, For Diesel lovers, Bangalore, with unelectrified single lines
> radiating in every direction, is quickly becoming the Diesel capital
of
> the south (India?) with locos from Erode, KJM, Itarsi, Gooty,
Guntakal,
> and Golden Rock in abundance.

In that case Pune must be the diesel capital of well atleast
Maharashtra. We
get all these sheds too, with an occasional visitor from Ludhiana (!!!)

Apurva

>
>
> -Sridhar
>
> ****************************************************************
> Sridhar Shankar 1616 E. 50th Place, Apt.13A
> GSB MBA '99 Chicago, IL 60615
> University of Chicago (773) 752 1131
> *****************************************************************

From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>

Subject: Re: new Rajdhani.

Date: 13 Jan 1999 07:07:44 -0500


> > Note that Varanasi is one of the few major cities that does
> not have an
> > exclusive superfast train to Delhi (even Allahabad has one -
> Could the Prayagraj Exp have been extended to Varanasi ?

That would have been the most logical approach to providing a superfast
train to Varanasi.
The timings would have been perfect - arr. Varanasi around 9.00 am and
dep.
around 7.00 pm.
Unfortunately, IR decisions are more political than logical :-(


>
> > It is odd that Varanasi now gets its first direct train to
> > Barauni/New Jalpaiguri/Guwahati but people have to pay
> higher fares just
> > because of the Rajdhani stamp.
> Varanasi did have an MG train to Guwahati earlier via Barauni and
> Siliguri...

That's correct. This was the Varanasi-Guwahati Exp. that had earlier
been
the Lucknow-Guwahati Exp. (the latter got rerouted from Varanasi once
Lucknow-Gonda-Gorakhpur-Barauni got converted to BG).

>
> What is the rationale behind the proliferation of Rajdhanis and
> Shatabdis in recent years (aside from political compulsions,
> that is) ?
> Is it that to introduce all-AC trains with a fare premium along
> with inclusive meals and piped music is more renumerative for IR
> in the climate of subsidy cuts, regardless of the fact that
> operationally
> many of them are no faster than normal superfast trains ?

IMHO, it's all political and is diverting precious funds away from more
important areas such as track renewals, doubling, etc.

>
> My worry about the "dilution" of the Rajdhani and Shatabdi banners is
> that the standards of service drop along with the prestige:
> this became
> evident on Sunday last when I travelled NDLS-BCT. Service and
> cleanliness were AWFUL.

Aptly put. Standards have definitely gone down including rake
maintenance


Vijay

From: Vdate <>

Subject: Re: new Rajdhani.

Date: 13 Jan 1999 07:44:11 -0500


I read here that Tiroomal Congress wants the Railway ministry and feels
that
Northeast India is neglected by IR. Would this explain the birth of the
new
Rajdhani?

From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>

Subject: Re: new Rajdhani.

Date: 13 Jan 1999 07:53:20 -0500


> > When they can introduce dozens of Rajdhanis and Shatabdis
> from Delhi to
> > every village in India, what's wrong if Varanasi gets a
> couple of them.
>
> I doubt if any city where existing Rajdhani/Shatabdis stop is as
> small as Balia, but I agree that there has been a proliferation
> of these trains, and many times the trains are hardly faster
> than the existing Superfast trains on the route. For this reason,

How about Madhupur? Why does the Calcutta Rajdhani halt there instead
of,
say, Asansol or Jha Jha? The only reason I can think of is that
Madhupur
seems to in the middle of the Howrah-Patna run. Valsad, Bharuch and
Mathura
(halts for A.K. Raj) should also be included in the list of stations
that
have been undeservingly "blessed" with a Rajdhani-type train.

>
> Surely Varanasi should have a superfast express train. I won't
> mind Varanasi getting a Rajdhani class train either (that
> is the Varanasi being one end-point), if there is enough
> business for that. My contention is only that for Rajdhani
> class trains, one is trying to cater to long distance
> (end-to-end) passengers, and delaying a vast majority of
> passengers and overcharging them because of a couple of
> passengers from an intermediate station is not acceptable.

>
> Rajdhani type trains should cater to end-to-end passengers primarily.
> Superfast trains should cater to important intermediate stations.
> Express trains should cater to smaller intermediate cities.
> Passenger trains should cater to every small station.

I agree with you totally. This is the gradation that I have always
wanted
in every major trunk route. My major gripe is that this has not been
followed in the trunk routes connecting Mumbai, Howrah and Chennai - as
a
result, superfast trains have been slowed down to accommodate small
intermediate halts.


>
> > Frankly, a Delhi-Guwahati train via
> Moradabad-Lucknow-Varanasi-Ballia
> > is a good idea but a Rajdhani-type train is a waste. Since there
> > is no high-speed section in this route a regular superfast train
> > would have done the job. It is odd that Varanasi now gets its
> > first direct train to Barauni/New Jalpaiguri/Guwahati but people
> > have to pay higher fares just because of the Rajdhani stamp.
>
> I still don't understand why one would be happy about Rajdhani
> if one wants to go from Varanasi to NJP or any other city in
> that direction. In Rajdhani, you can only buy ticket to Guwahati.
> So the train is useless if you want to go to NJP from Varanasi.

Is it true that you cannot travel between intermediate stations for ALL
Rajdhani trains? Or are
e there are specific station pairs where this is allowed? Why else
would
they give fares for
Barauni-NJP, MGS-NJP, Ajmer-Jaipur in the TAAG?


> (Unless you have loads of money and you don't mind paying fare
> upto Guwahati and getting down in between.) Second, the chances
> are that the Rajdhani will have a quota of 2 AC-1st class, 4
> AC-2T, and 6 AC-3T berths from Varanasi, or some such number.
> That means about 25 persons per week can go to Guwahati (and
> nowhere else) in Rajdhani. Is it something to be very happy about.

Something is better than nothing :-)

>
> If I were in Varanasi I would rather come to MGS and
> catch North East Express at a more decent time
> (8 PM or so) than catch Rajdhani past 1:00 AM.

Not necessarily. Going to MGS can be a much more painful/expensive
affair
than to Varanasi
depending on where one is staying. The NE leaves MGS around 6.30 pm
and
reaches Guwahati 24 hrs. later. This new Rajdhani would leaves Varanasi
around 1.20 am and reach Guwhati around 8.30 pm the next day. Catching
the
NE Exp. from MGS would imply that one would have to leave by 5.00 pm.
If
one wants to utilize the entire day and avoid an ardous journey to MGS
station, traveling by the Raj. is a better option.


>
>
> > Adding halts to Rajdhani trains is "ok" if the station is
> big enough to
> > warrant a Rajdhani train. The Allahabad halt makes sense;
> > the Mathura halt doesn't.
>
> Well, if you really want to cater to a station, you should have a
> decent quota from that station. Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani has a quota
> of 2 AC-2T berths and 0 AC-1st class berths from Kanpur. Does it
> really help people in Kanpur. The train does not exist for me.

To repeat a cliche, something is better than nothing.

>
> I feel that most of the stops on Rajdhani are political stops,
> and that is what I want to express my anger at. The new Rajdhani
> seems to have the maximum number of political stops, and even
> the route seems to be decided by political considerations rather
> than by commercial considerations or keeping the interest of
> passengers in mind.

There's no question about that. In fact, Kota was introduced as a halt
for
the Mumbai Raj. only because the Rajasthan government wanted a Rajdhani
halt
in its state.

Are Moradabad and Bareilly political stops? If not, then a better route
for
this Rajdhani would have been
N.Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi-Ballia-Hajipur-Barauni-.....Guwahati.
This would have given it a running time of about 29 hrs. (just 1 1/2
hrs.
more than the present Raj) and included the (politically important)
Ballia
and Hajipur. Note that Lucknow already has a biweekly Rajdhani and a
daily
Shatabdi from Delhi.


Regards,
Vijay

From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>

Subject: Railway Technical Pages - good stuff

Date: 13 Jan 1999 09:24:33 -0500


Hi Folks,

I was looking at the "wheels and bogies" page on the Railway Technical
Pages website -
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/whlbog.html">http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/whlbog.html</A>. This
has
some excellent stuff and info. that I was not aware of. For example, I
did
not realize that the wheel tyres are coned and the flanges are not
supposed
to touch the rails during normal operation. It was interesting to note
that
on curved sections, the larger diameter of the cone rides on the outer
rail
and the smaller diameter rides on the inner rail - since the outer wheel
would have to travel a greater distance.

A question with regard to the type of bogies - are the ones used on
IR,
rigid bogies or do they have radially steering wheelsets?

Vijay

From: Vdate <>

Subject: Mumbai Raiway and Road project

Date: 13 Jan 1999 17:17:33 -0500


Attached from the Hindu of Jan 14th
The spokesperson said the Government also cleared the setting up of the
Mumbai
Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) with equity participation of the
Railways and
the Maharashtra Government on a 51:49 basis for the implementation of
the
Bombay Urban Transport Project II. The project is an integrated World
Bank
assisted rail-cum-road development scheme estimated to cost Rs. 6000
crores.
The corporation will execute the rail projects and will be involved in
planning and developing the Mumbai Suburban Rail Services

From: S.B.Mehta <>

Subject: Re: One eyed WDM 2

Date: 13 Jan 1999 19:07:15 -0500


Correct me if I am wrong but does this particular WDM2 have a sloping
low nose? If that's correct then I saw this loco bearing the Golden
Rock livery pulling the Dadar-Ratnagiri (KR) rake at Dadar roundabout
4pm.

Sarosh

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: One eyed WDM 2

Date: 13 Jan 1999 23:05:31 -0500




S.B.Mehta wrote:

> Correct me if I am wrong but does this particular WDM2 have a sloping
> low nose? If that's correct then I saw this loco bearing the Golden
> Rock livery pulling the Dadar-Ratnagiri (KR) rake at Dadar roundabout
> 4pm.

Yes that is correct - Now that most of you have identified the variant
of
the loco, what I saw in Pune was a Jumbo with the left hand glass
windscreen missing. Instead of the glass there was a sheet of metal
welded in that slot and a 'normal' rectangular 'lookout glass' from a
standard WDM 2 grafted in the metal sheet. The sheet was painted with
the
normal red oxide paint of the rest of loco. This led to a very strange
looking loco with one glass windscreen and one sheet metal windscreen
with a small glass panel - this led to the one eyed look which is the
title of this email and this thread.
There seems to be a pattern in the fact that a GOC (Golden Rock to you
peasants) loco is being used on a purely KR route, the normal power I
would expect on this train is a Kalyan or even Pune power. The Mumbai
region has more WDM 2 hauled freight trains than ever before, and I feel
that the KYN shed now specialises in freight power rather than mail
express locos.

Apurva

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Railway Technical Pages - good stuff

Date: 14 Jan 1999 00:22:14 -0500




Balasubramanian, Vijay wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I was looking at the "wheels and bogies" page on the Railway
Technical
> Pages website -
> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/whlbog.html">http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8788/whlbog.html</A>. This
has
> some excellent stuff and info. that I was not aware of. For example,
I did
> not realize that the wheel tyres are coned and the flanges are not
supposed
> to touch the rails during normal operation. It was interesting to
note that
> on curved sections, the larger diameter of the cone rides on the outer
rail
> and the smaller diameter rides on the inner rail - since the outer
wheel
> would have to travel a greater distance.

There is only a point contact between the wheel and the rail. This can
be
verified by the shiniest part of the rail - it is only a thin line. As
the wheel
profile and the rails form a conical surface, there is a self centering
action
for the bogie. Also like you mentioned this allows some amount of
'differential'
action over a curve. I suppose the sharp screeching sounds you hear when
the
train is leaving a loop line or in the ghats is the wheel flange
touching the
rail.

> A question with regard to the type of bogies - are the ones used on
IR,
> rigid bogies or do they have radially steering wheelsets?

Rigid, I am sure - the radial technology is relatively new and just
coming into
force in the last few years. But then maybe the new locos have this type
of
bogie. Another question that springs to my mind - is the radial bogie
only
required for the loco or is it required for the coaches as well ?

Apurva

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Locos with twin headlamps

Date: 14 Jan 1999 00:30:56 -0500


> I guess the livery u r referring to, matches with that of the Ajni
shed
> on CR. I have seen quite a number of them at Ennore Thermal power
> station branch-line near Chennai, carrying massive coal loads. Iam not
> too sure if Sundar's page has a WAG 7 but it sure has WAG 5 from Ajni.
> See them under "AC Locos" in his Indian train gallery. We can see that
> they are painted half red and half white on the sides with the
> characteristic IR way of giving the numbers in BIG BOLD LETTERS. The
> front has the red and white stripes.

The point was not regarding the type of loco or its livery but the
retrofitting of twin sealed headlamps in place of the large single item.
Have you seen any more locos with such twin headlights ? I was wondering
if
there was a move to replace the inefficient single headlamps with twin
sealed beam assemblies during overhauls or do the new locos out of
ICF/DLW
now regularly sport the twin lamps ?

Apurva

From: S.B.Mehta <>

Subject: Re: One eyed WDM 2

Date: 14 Jan 1999 00:53:03 -0500


> Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:35:31 +0530
> From: Apurva Bahadur <iti@vsnl.email
> To: "S.B.Mehta" <sarosh@godrej.email
> Cc: KRISHNA T S <krishaxe@hotmail.email irfca@cs.email
> Subject: Re: One eyed WDM 2

>
>
> S.B.Mehta wrote:
>
> > Correct me if I am wrong but does this particular WDM2 have a
sloping
> > low nose? If that's correct then I saw this loco bearing the Golden
> > Rock livery pulling the Dadar-Ratnagiri (KR) rake at Dadar
roundabout
> > 4pm.
>
> Yes that is correct - Now that most of you have identified the variant
of
> the loco, what I saw in Pune was a Jumbo with the left hand glass
> windscreen missing. Instead of the glass there was a sheet of metal
> welded in that slot and a 'normal' rectangular 'lookout glass' from a
> standard WDM 2 grafted in the metal sheet. The sheet was painted with
the
> normal red oxide paint of the rest of loco. This led to a very strange
> looking loco with one glass windscreen and one sheet metal windscreen
> with a small glass panel - this led to the one eyed look which is the
> title of this email and this thread.
> There seems to be a pattern in the fact that a GOC (Golden Rock to you
> peasants) loco is being used on a purely KR route, the normal power I
> would expect on this train is a Kalyan or even Pune power. The Mumbai
> region has more WDM 2 hauled freight trains than ever before, and I
feel
> that the KYN shed now specialises in freight power rather than mail
> express locos.
>
> Apurva
>
hmmm.... more like a buccaneer with a patch on one eye. Lets name
that loco of yours, Apurva, The Buccaneer Jumbo!
Sarosh

PS I have already seen Shri's photos, mine are expected today
evening. I can barely contain myself.
======================
Sarosh Bakhtyar Mehta
M/s. Godrej & Boyce Mfg.Co.Ltd.
Machine Tool Division
Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli,
MUMBAI 400 079
INDIA
Tel:(Office) 577 3535 / 577 3636 Extn: 3917/3907/3909
Tel:(Residence) 389 3150
Fax:(Office) 91 22 517 2229 / 91 22 518 2289
Email sarosh@godrej.email
=======================
Wisdom dawns only after knowledge is gained

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: One eyed WDM 2

Date: 14 Jan 1999 01:14:58 -0500


> I saw a pair (that is a rare sight) of low nose WDGs heading a big
> container formation at Aluva station in Kerala last month.

Low nosed WDGs did you say ? Surely you do not mean WDM 2? If not
please
describe the loco you saw.
Apurva

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: I'm back!

Date: 14 Jan 1999 01:32:39 -0500


> The KK must hold the honor for the most tortured route of any
superfast
> express
> (Delhi bound or otherwise).

A close second would be the 2779/2780 NZM-UBL Goa Express. It goes
like
this: Hubli - Pune (reverse) - Daund (reverse) - Manmad - (change of
power) -
then follow the same tracks as the KK towards Delhi. The Pune - Miraj
single
line section is the most primitive near us with kerosene powered lamps
for
upper quadrant semaphore signals and Nieles ball token which is
collected by
the loco at every station on the route. Still the 'Super' (as the train
is
called) maintains a high average of 100 Kms on many sections.

Apurva

From: Sridhar Shankar <>

Subject: Re: Jumbo WDM 2s

Date: 14 Jan 1999 05:35:01 -0500


Apurva,

I think I might have seen one of this 'comfort cab' diesels (in Erode
livery). I was late in the evening and getting dark, but I distinctly
remember seeing a loco with a flat front end heading a freight at
Palghat
Jn. yard, as our Quilon-Bangalore special was pulling out of the
platform.
I would love to hear more about this beast.

-Sridhar



****************************************************************

Sridhar Shankar 1616 E. 50th Place, Apt.13A
GSB MBA '99 Chicago, IL 60615
University of Chicago (773) 752 1131
*****************************************************************

On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, Apurva Bahadur wrote:

>
>
> > Hello,
> > We've been through this before, but I think the Jumbos are a very
cruel
> > joke played on the diesel drivers on the IR. I sometimes wonder how
the
> > design engineers of a massive organization like the DLW can goof
like
> > that. (Most awfully sorry, Larry).
>
> What Larry was talking about was yet ANOTHER variant which is not the
Low nosed
> Jumbo - it is a WDM 2 with a proper comfort cab and a door in the
nose. I have
> never seen this loco and never heard of this variant from anyone else.
Had this
> info come from anyone else but a senior loco spotter like Larry, I
would have
> had doubts about the sighting. But if Larry has seen it at Ahmedabad,
one needs
> to make a trip to the Vatwa shed near ADI and maybe they have news on
this
> loco.
>
> > Driving was like
> > peeping out of a ventilator, with a massive nose cavity at knee
level.
> > Its a wonder no jumbos crashed because the driver couldn't see well
> > enough!
> > Aesthetically though, they weren't bad.
>
> I agree with you on that. I too have a soft corner for the Jumbo's
short hood.
> All the DLW had to do was to redesign the cab layout (major changes)
and we
> could have had a great loco. I have on three occasions footplated the
Jumbo
> variant from Kurduwadi - Solapur (LH leading) and Solapur Pune with
the short
> hood leading and this is a footplater's loco with its superb view (for
the
> standing footplater of course). I realise that even when I doodle the
WDM 2,
> the loco drawn is often the Jumbo variant. Of course driving this loco
is hell
> for the drivers, either short hood or long hood leading.
>
> Apurva
>
>
>
>
>

From: Shell Prosser <>

Subject: Rail tracks at Kalyan

Date: 14 Jan 1999 06:56:31 -0500


Hi!

I've been a member of this list for the past two days and have learnt
lots abt trains (for which I have great interest). I apologise if the
following is out of scope of this list.

I have been a frequent traveler on the Bombay Pune route on the
Indrayani Exp. I somehow have the feeling that the track layout around
Kalyan station is not efficient enough.

Please refer to the figure and notes I have made in the URL
<A HREF="http:\\www.geocities.com\CapeCanaveral\Galaxy\3335">http:\\www.geocities.com\CapeCanaveral\Galaxy\3335</A>
which I suppose is close to what is happening out there.

Am I right in thinking that this is not very efficient? Or is there some

explanation for this?

I would be glad if someone could clarify.

Thanks,
Jai

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>