IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 521 - 540

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 03 May 1991 12:36:00 -0500


The harbour bifurcates into 2 lines after Wadala station
and before Kings-Circle. It then crosses the Central
Main line in between Sion and matunga and then joins
the Western main line at Mahim-junction.

So vijay, You were in SIES. Me too. I did my 11th and
12th from 81 to 83(Science).

Cheers
Sivaram. H
N D S U
A Rly Buff

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 03 May 1991 12:39:00 -0500


Anybody on the IRFCA from Calcutta. If so,
can he please talk about the Metro and his
experience on it. How I wish I were in Cal
travelling on the Metro.

By the way, according to a relaible source( I fail to recollect) the
Cal Metro was adjudged as one of the best maintained
Metro of the World.
Obviously Calcuttans seem to take pride in it.

Sivaram. H
N D S U
A Rly buff

From: Siva. Hari <sivaram@plains.email

Subject:

Date: 03 May 1991 13:00:00 -0500


In reply to Shankar Subramaniam's msg
The Harbour line after crossing from Bandra over the flyover
joins the Western Rly main line SLOW track from
Khar-Santacruz-Parla-to Andheri. (The Fast track
is used by the Fast-locals and outgoing express
trains. This is true for the Central Main line also).

Ofcourse, the Harbour terminus at Andheri is seperate
and West of the Western Main line.

One has to be very careful when boarding a slow
train from Parla, Khar and Santacruz as the Harbour
and Western slow trains come on the same platform.
One has to closely watch for the announcement,
which in many cases is barely discernible to the ears.
Also the Harbour has CR on it.

Fortunately, the Harbour frequency to Andheri is very
low and most of the Trains from VT terminate at Bandra.

Once, I had the chagrin of boarding a harbour train from
Khar and ended up at VT instead of Churchgate. Lickily
the TC was not around.

Sivaram. H
N D S U
A Rly Buff.

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: More lines, sheds and terminals!

Date: 03 May 1991 16:00:00 -0500


Hi Folks,

I quite agree with Shankar that there is a definite need for a separate metro
system for Bombay in order to relieve congestion on the saturated Central and
Western Rly. routes. Unfortunately, the railways have been getting a raw deal
for the past few years as far as budget allocation is concerned. I am unable
to recall the exact figures right now.

The fact that Bombay is a narrow elongated island complicates matters,
at least for setting up a ring railway similar to the ones in Delhi/Calcutta.
Building up an underground system might result in disruption of traffic with
catastrophic results unless it is executed swiftly.

An alternate approach would be to open up new train terminals with
associated sheds in suburban regions of Bombay, and/or Thane,
and provide fast feeder service to the main city.
Also, existing facilities could be better utilized.
In fact, one of the IR magazines indicated that Kurla stn. is being augmented
with new terminals. Dadar underwent a similar upgrade a few years back.

In addition, there are plans to start suburban services on the new Vasai Rd.
- Bhiwandi Rd. - Kalyan link.

All said and done, I do hope that a new metro/suburban system for Bombay
would show up in the IR budget some years into the future.


Regards,
Vijay

P.S.: Local trains are currently in operation on the Pune-Lonavla section.Was
this started quite a while back?

From: Ajai Banerji <ajax@leland.email

Subject: Diverted routes

Date: 03 May 1991 19:49:00 -0500


DIVERTED ROUTES

Whenever floods or other disasters strike the railways, attempts are made
to divert long-distance trains by alternate routes. Here are a few examples
I experienced.
The stretch between Gudur and Vijayawada (especially between Ongole
and Tenali) is very liable to be hit by cyclones. Twice I had to travel
by the GT express at these times. The standard diversion used to be
While coming from North, divert at Itarsi to the Bombay line. Continue
upto Manmad, then take the branch to Daund. Then continue along the
Bombay-Madras route. This resulted in almost 22 hours extra. Of course,
even a prestigious express like the GT got a low priority when it strayed
off it's normal route. Things were particularly bad in the Bombay-Madras
route which is still mainly single line.
On another occasion there were floods near Gwalior. The northbound GT
diverted via Bina-Kota and then took the Bombay-Delhi line.
My worst experience with diversions was in '86 when there was flood
damage on the Wardha-Kazipet section. I was to travel on the Kerala
Express from NDLS to Ernakulam. As the news reached late, the train was
not diverted from Itarsi but instead left the route at Wardha and proceeded
on the Bombay line upto Manmad. Then down to Daund and the Bombay-Madras
route, followed by the Gooty-Bangalore line (again single line). Mercifully
it took the K.R. Puram bypass and skipped Bangalore and finally reached
it's original route at Jolarpettai. The normal journey of about 48 hours
became 72 hours. And of course, the catering broke down completely and
we got used to getting lunch at 5pm.
These are my personal experiences. I will give a few more examples
tomorrow.
Ajai Banerji

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Archives - and other stuff!!

Date: 04 May 1991 07:56:00 -0500


Hello guys, I have been going through the archives sent by Dheeraj [thanks
a lot, Dheeraj, and I might be troubling you once again :-(], and my blood
turned yellow :-):-) on reading Vijay's article(s) on his ride from Bombay to
Bhusaval [assuming that Vijay at UIUC was the same as THIS VijayB!!]. Of all
the lucky characters - and here I was, ready to blow my trumpet based on the
approx. 10 km. ride I had had on the loco of the Chandigarh-Ranchi-Hatia
Express somewhere near Barkakana + the itsy-bitsy ride (not many memories on
that one) in the engine of the Mangala Express near NagarahoLe [NOT
pronounced Nagarahole :-) :-)] = "Stream of the Cobra(s)" (in literal
translation!). The archives were pretty good, the part on the Absolute Block
System etc.. What I suggest someone ought to do - someone who has LOTS of
time during the vacations, which includes ME :-) - is trim the whole thing,
AND make up a listing of all the topics previously dealt with. Then, if the
archives are preserved, the topic in discussion can be delicately digested :-).

Now to the diversion of trains business. I have a faaaaaaint memory of some
[at least one :-)] really weird (sp.?) diversion(s). I was in Nagpur at that
time - studying :-(. It was somewhere in the years 1983/84 when there were
floods in the Southeastern India, and I distinctly thought I heard the
announcer say that the Calcutta-Madras Mail was arriving on the platform!!
Now, the Calcutta part had me wondering, 'coz the 1/2 and 3/4 Howrah-Bombay
Mails are referred to as Calcutta-Bombay Mails in most time-tables[which I
looked at, anyway :-)], but the announcer repeated in Hindi AND Marathi, and
it was the wrong time for either of the mails anyway - and moreover, the 3/4
(via Allahabad) Mail, does not - in my recap - pass through Nagpur. Any more
info on this??

One more train I had forgotten to mention in the name-change business was the
175/176 Puri-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express. When it was first flagged off, it was
called Neelachal Express, but I could not dig the name [dig as in "excavate"!]
from my time-table. Delving deep into the time-table helped me find "another
train" which had the same route and timings, but a different name, starting
with an "M" and so I assumed that it was the same as the Neelachal. Of course,
the next edition of the time table had Neelachal in it! Any clues??

The one-rupee ka Janata Khana reminded me of the Guzra Zamana Bachpan Ka... -
talk about the times when the spin quartet was ruling the Cricket scene,
The Hindu cost 45 paise, Chandamama 90 paise, tea was 25 paise, ... uh-oh,
what's the relation? Well... - when I was at Berhampur, when the daily
newspaper - which we used to get the next day :-) - was delayed, the common
excuse would be "train late hai" [or its Oriya equivalent, which I have
forgotten:-)], but when I was at Ranchi, if the same thing occurred, the
blame would lie on the shoulders of Lord Indra and the Indian Airlines - the
flight from Calcutta being the scapegoat!!

Back to bridges once again - I recollect the bridge over the Mahanadi between
either Bhadrak or Cuttack and Jajpur Kheonjhar Rd., which would come in the
dead of night during the 4 Down's Passage to Calcutta :-). And yes, you
Old-ies :-), this WAS the topic of "one of you"'s discussion - but alas, I
haven't completed my cramming of the archives yet :-(!!

Back to matters of the materialistic world - I have got a take-home which is
due on Monday, and so, MY activity is going to be at a bare minimum:-(.
However, so that I might not lose myself - or forget stuff:-( - I am making
a schedule of my memorable(??) train trips, on which I'll be writing in the
near future.
1) Lonavla to Bombay, 1972
2) Lonavla to Berhampur, 1972
3) Berhampur to Gwalior, 1974-75
4) Berhampur to Mangalore, 1975 [ooh, I'm positively drooling over this one,
it's sooo juicy :-) :-)]
5) Berhampur to Srikakulam, 1976/77
6) Berhampur to Rumbha (or was it Humma, or Chilka Road??), 1976/77
7) Berhampur to Ranchi, 1977
8) Hatia to Dehradun, 1978
9) Hatia to Howrah, 1978
10) Hatia to Berhampur, 1979
11) Hatia to Bombay, 1980
12) Hatia - Patna, 1982
13) Hatia - Jammu Tawi, 1983
14) Hatia - Gaya, 1983 [DON'T take the transliteration from Hindi :-)]
15) Hatia - Aurangabad, 1983
16) Nagpur - Aurangabad, one of N [N=<10]

Still more to come, but later. Bye.

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: More diversions

Date: 04 May 1991 20:30:00 -0500


MORE DIVERSIONS

Veteran North-South travelers would be aware of other variations caused
by disruptions in Andhra. On a few occasions when the Gudur-Vijayawada
section is affected the GT and Kerala expresses were diverted via Kazipet,
Secunderabad and Wadi.
I remember once when there were floods in the Vijayawada-Waltair section the
Madras-Howrah mail was diverted via Nagpur (as someone recalled).
I dread to think what would happen if there is a disturbance both north and
south of Vijayawada. What would happen to the Madras-Howrah trains then? They
could first start towards Bombay, turn east at Wadi, north from Kazipet to
Nagpur and then east-sounds like a fit topic for another newsgroup called
alt.masochism :-)
There was a time when the Yamuna was flooded and the water almost reached
the rails of the big bridge between Delhi Jn and Shahdara. The bypass bridge
must also have been affected. Some of the eastbound trains from Delhi were
diverted via Agra-Tundla (like the Toofan Exp), and some others went up to
Ambala and turned east.
In the early 70s there used to be frequent agitations in Andhra in connection
with the demands for a separate Telengana. It used to happen that all trains
towards Madras and points south have to pass through Andhra at some point, so
for a few days the South was truly cut off. Once the Konkan railway comes through, there will be a b.g.route to the South without passing through Andhra.\
During one of these agitations, an acquaintance had to urgently go from Kerala
to Bombay for an interview. He was able to travel by a series of buses from
Mangalore via Goa. In those days there probably weren't direct Bombay-Mangalore
buses. It is rumoured that there now is a private bus which runs from Bombay
to Trichur (Kerala) which would certainly be the longest scheduled bus trip in
India today.
A less painful alternative might have been to go to Bangalore and take a
m.g. train to Miraj and thence to Bombay.
-------

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Archives!

Date: 05 May 1991 13:42:00 -0500


In the archives, once upon a time, SOMEbody had put up a query for films in
which trains had a stellar role. In reply, someone else had taken a list
from talk.railroad and posted THAT. I have not gone through the list in
detail, but I feel there are a couple of Hindi films which I did not find
after first glancing through it. Maybe, you guys might find these
interesting :
Sholay : Yes, I feel that trains DO have SOME role in this (not stealing the
show from Dharmendar, Hema Malini, Amitabh or Amjad though),
the "tangevali" song with the train in the background.
Dost : How can I ever forget this film with one of my favourite songs, sung
by Kishoreda? "Gaadee Bulaa Rahee Hai ..."
Especially these lines might as well be the "Anthem" for the IRFCA:-)

"Chalnaa Hi Zingagee Hai,
Chaltee Hi Jaa Rahee Hai"

"Aage Toofan, Peechhe Barsaat,
Oopar Gagan Men Bijli,
Soche Na Baat, Din Ho Ki Raat,
Signal Hua Ki Niklee,
Dekho Vo Aa Rahee Hai,
Dekho Vo Jaa Rahee Hai"

"Aate Hain Log, Jaate Hain Log,
Paani(?) Ke Jaise Railen(?),
Jaane Ke Baad, Aate Hain Yaad,
Guzre Hue Vo Mele,
Yaaden Banaa Rahee Hai,
Jaago Jagaa Rahee Hai"

In the same film, there is another song - "Aa Bataa De, Ye Tujhe Kaise
Jiyaa Jaataa Hai...", but I don't remember the presence of a train in that one,
though I *think* that there was one in that too!

Rafoochakkar : And how about the wierdo song in this one, the one in which the
actors Rishi Kapoor (?) + somebody dress up as girls and sing
"... Bambai Se Baroda Tak ...".

I don't recollect Agatha Christie's novel "4:15 (or is it 4:50?) from
Paddington, aka "What Ms. McGillicuddy (NOT Lucy!!) Saw?", figuring in that
list either. I bet it also WAS made into a movie.

Would it be possible for you to post a complete list of the members of the
IRFCA, Dheeraj, and also "person-profiles", if you happen to possess them?
Thanks a lot. Ciao, everybody.

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>

Subject: Re:Re: More diversions

Date: 06 May 1991 13:14:00 -0500


>There was a time when the Yamuna was flooded and the water almost
>reached the rails of the big bridge between Delhi Jn and Shahdara.

Actually, that is a double decker bridge, with lower deck used for
vehicular traffic, and the upper level used for railway traffic.
The river water was almost touching the lower deck. Actually, Delhi
Administration had a plan of blowing off the bridge if water had reached
a certain level (I don't remember the details now, but it seems that
freer flow of water would have caused less destruction or something like
that). Water reached just a few centi-meters below that level.

I remember the first day, when the flood water came, people had got
enough warning, and many people went to the bridge for "picknicking"
to see Yamuna scores of feet higher than the normal levels from the
bridge. Next day they posted police near the flooded areas to stop
people from enjoying on the misery of others. That was the worst flood
in more than 70 years.

The train traffic remained cut off for about 2 weeks during which they
tested for any structural damage that the flood water may have caused.
There were many groups calling for destruction of the bridge since in
their opinion it was no longer safe. Finally, I think they just reduced
the maxm speed on the bridge to something like 10-15 KMPH (for trains)
and they still use it. They have built a road bridge next to the old
bridge which is 8 lane, slightly higher. it will be open for traffic
soon. I don't think they have any plans to replace the rail bridge there.

It is about 100 year old bridge, and starting tarins bvetween Delhi and
Calcutta was held up because of delays in its construction. It was the
last link on the Delhi-Calcutta rail route.

-dheeraj

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>

Subject: Person-profiles.

Date: 06 May 1991 13:24:00 -0500


I am afraid I don't have the profiles of various members of the
group. In the "pre-historical" ages, before the dawn of IRFCA,
we used to communicate by sending mail to everyone individually.
It was simple since we were only three, myself, Vijay and Kumar.
We exchanged profiles at that times. When we started irfca in
August 1989 (since by now, we were about 10, and there was no
way, I was going to type 10 names everytime I send an e-mail.
Also, maintaining a consistent .mailrc was a problem) we still
had some people posting their personal profiles, but as the
group became larger and larger, it has become more impersonal.
I know people are from Bombay only when they write a lot about
Bombay suburban system, and even then I am not sure. But I
have no complaints.

This matter of personal profiles has been discussed on other
mailing lists I maintain, and often the consensus is that if
someone is willing to post one's profile, well and good, we
should not make it necessary for including her / him in
the list. Also, I have been advised not to even post the whole
mailing list, since many people do not like to advertise that
they are on the list, and are just content with being passive
listeners.

What do others feel about the issue??

-dheeraj

From: Aayush Asthana <aa@iti.email

Subject: Re: More diversions

Date: 06 May 1991 13:53:00 -0500


Diverting to dams and barrages, besides Farrukah Barrage are there
more such dams that have railway tracks on 'em?

BTW, saloon travel on broad gauge can be really a lavish
experience.. I remember 5 such trips to Bangalore, Madras,
Kanyakumari etc.. besides the usual jaunts to Calcutta and Bombay
from Delhi.

One particular experience that stands out is when while returning
from one excursion, the saloon was dis-engaged from the train at
Vizag. and having gotten just a little too much of seclusion, we
decided to take a passenger train to Puri.. the train we got into
was practically empty.. we got into a IIIrd class bogie and on that
particular occasion really enjoyed the short trip..
.. the temples were another story.. more saloon stories if others
on the net do not object ansd also write about a few such
experiences..

The longest time spent travelling is another thing to mention.. far
as I can remember, one trip from Gorakhpur to Cape Comorin,
Rameshwaram and back via some diversions here and there in the same
saloon took about 2.5 months! The longest non-stop journey would be
from Simla to Guwahati.. whew, some transfers father used to have!
All this, in the 70s..

Keep this train of thought moving..
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aayush Asthana
----------------------------------------------------------------------
aa@iti.email | 2901 Hubbard Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 -usa-
aa@mms.email | (313)-769-4000
-------------------------- Jargon ------------------------------------
On Toffler's terms - surrealistic hyperbole: Info-warrior, Eco-spasm!
------------------------- Disclaimer ---------------------------------
Opinions and Net-Speak are mine alone, not of/for ITI.

From: Shankar Subramanian <ssubrama@weber.email

Subject: Shatabdi Express

Date: 06 May 1991 08:55:00 -0500


Have other members of IRFCA had a chance to travel by this train?
It runs between Delhi and Jhansi and seems to have superseded the Taj
Express between Delhi and Agra. (If I remember right the Taj, being a tourist
train, had a steam engine, don't know how fast it went in the days before
the shatabdi, Ithink it may have slowed down since then). The Shatabdi is
certainly fast, but it's all airconditioned and it's quite expensive.

Speaking of steam, trains from London to Scotland in the late 19th century
used to run at well over 70 mph. There were several rail companies on this
route and they used to compete for customers by competing on speed. When we
look at this it really is a shame that our express trains travel at an average
speed of 40 or 50 kmph.

I'm sure some of you remember the old days on the GT, when it was a
vestibuled train with chair cars and a dining car. The dining car
had tables for 4 on each side of the central aisle. Excellent food
and even a dessert, a far cry from railway food today. Speaking of
food, have you tried the station canteen at Bharatpur? I've eaten
there twice in the past, and the food was excellent.

shankar subramanian

From: Aayush Asthana <aa@iti.email

Subject: Re:Re: Person-profiles.

Date: 06 May 1991 14:02:00 -0500


In-Reply-To: <9105061724.AA14849@nile.email from "Dheeraj Sanghi" at May 6, 91 1:24 pm
X-Reply-To: aa@iti.email
X-Phone: (313)-769-4652
X-Fax: (313)-769-4650
X-Organization: Industrial_Technology_Institute,_Ann_Arbor
X-Operating-System: Ultrix-DEC_(v4.1)
X-Network: Internet

IMO, profile distribution should be voluntary; since this is not
public domain (is sci public-domain?), it would be intirely
appropriate for individual netters to include/exclude themselves
from listings/profiles.. though I cannot think of substantial
reasons for someone not being listed as an IRFCA subscriber (can see
that in case of sci), although that may be privileged information..

..knowing that the list is probably private a profile may be helpful
in making communication easier etc.. let's see what the others
say..
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aayush Asthana
----------------------------------------------------------------------
aa@iti.email | 2901 Hubbard Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 -usa-
aa@mms.email | (313)-769-4000
-------------------------- Jargon ------------------------------------
On Toffler's terms - surrealistic hyperbole: Info-warrior, Eco-spasm!
------------------------- Disclaimer ---------------------------------
Opinions and Net-Speak are mine alone, not of/for ITI.

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@cs.email

Subject: Re: Shatabdi Express

Date: 06 May 1991 14:59:00 -0500


> Have other members of IRFCA had a chance to travel by this train?
> It runs between Delhi and Jhansi and seems to have superseded the
> Taj Express between Delhi and Agra. (If I remember right the Taj,
> being a tourist train, had a steam engine, don't know how fast it
> went in the days before the shatabdi, I think it may have slowed
> down since then). The Shatabdi is certainly fast, but it's all
> airconditioned and it's quite expensive.

Well, actually there are three Shatabdis. One that you mention,
between Delhi and Jhansi, one between Delhi and Lucknow, and the
third between Delhi and Shimla (??). I have travelled on the first
two. Yes, they are AC and thus expensive.

The Delhi - Jhansi Shatabdi has not superseded Taj. In fact, I went
to Agra on a day trip by Shatabdi, and I think I made a mistake.
The UP Tourism department has no arrangement of a tourist bus that
is linked to Shatabdi times. In fact, the office at the Railway
Station is closed at the time Shatabdi reaches there. (The information
I got at the UP tourism office in Delhi was quite different.)
They have two buses that take you from the station after Taj arrives
and leave you at the station in the evening before Taj leaves.
If you go by Shatabdi, as I did, you end up wasting 3 hours at
the station, have to get up early in the morning, spend lot more
money for train fare.

Both Taj and Shatabdi are hauled by electric engines. I don't
remmeber Taj being hauled by Steam engine. I think it was diesel
before Agra - Gwalior electrification was complete, but Vijay
can give us authentic info on that.

Vijay, I finally got the slide of engine of Shatabdi Exp. I was
wrong and you were right. It is indeed a WAP-3. The engines of both
Calcutta and Bombay Rajdhani were WAP-1.

-dheeraj

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Grave mistake !!!!!!!!

Date: 06 May 1991 14:12:00 -0500


Dheeraj, that was a grave mistake you committed. The Taj used to be hauled by
a steam engine in the days of yore, and still then, I believe, used to maintain
an average speed of >= 60kmph on the Delhi-Mathura (Cantt.??)-Agra run. But, I
*think* that it has now been extended to Gwalior, or am I mistaken?

Has *any* of you guys ever stayed in a compartment in lieu of hotel
accomodation? Well, when we had gone to Puri from Berhampur in the mid-70s,
we had stayed at a railway 'dabba' permanently fixed to a siding just at the
outskirts of the station. Boy, was it fun!!?!! It was exciting to wake up
early in the morning - ~ 5-6am - to the whistles of the steam engines of
the Jagannath, the Utkal and other such trains!! It was a neat compartment
too. I don't think they have anything like that anywhere now-a-days. It
was termed "Camping Coach" and as a kid, I frequently used to say "caoching
camp" instead :-). It was an experience as esoteric as staying in a houseboat
on the Dal Lake.

More later. Ciao. Confession: Have NEVER travelled by the Taj. Only seen
its pictures *with* the steam locomotive!

From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email

Subject: Taj Exp

Date: 06 May 1991 16:26:00 -0500


Way back in 1973, on one of my two trips to the land of the
Mughals, I traveled on the WP-hauled Taj.. Since the load
was fairly light and the terrain flat, the train maintained a
speed of ~80kmph much of the way ... and 'twas a furious steam loco
doing the job ...

aravind

From: Vicraj T. Thomas <vic@cs.email

Subject: Person-profiles + a puzzle

Date: 06 May 1991 13:17:00 -0500


I entirely agree with everyone who posted about the submissions of profiles
being voluntary. Personally I don't see the need for these profiles. Aayush
mentioned that "a profile may be helpful in making communication easier" but as
I see it, the people on this mailing list are interested in Indian Railways and
that's all I need to know when writing to the list. I don't see how knowing
where each person is from or what they do would make any difference to what I
post or how I respond to a posting.

I heartily second the idea of maintaining some kind of archive that one can
browse through. Something that has messages classified by subject would be
really nice but I realize that would be a lot of work to start and maintain.
Didn't I hear somebody (Sudarshana) volunteer to do just that the other day?
These archives should ideally be at some site we could ftp them from.

If we do decide to do profiles, I'd be glad to send one in. It's just that I
don't understand the need for them. After reading Dheeraj's history of the
group, I am now curious about its present size. Dheeraj, could you please mail
me the count (or post it to the group -- others might be curious too). Thanks.

Going back to IR talk, I remember a train I was in that was diverted.
Unfortunately, I don't remember the details of the diversion and so will put it
out as a puzzle and see if any of you can figure out what might have happened.
I was travelling from Delhi to Bombay on the WR route. When we got to Vadodara
we were told that due to some accident/derailment the train could not go any
further and was being diverted. The train went back towards Delhi a few
stations and then joined some other line going towards Bombay. I think it was
the Delhi-Bombay CR line but I also think we ended up at Bombay Central and not
Bombay VT. Besides, I'm pretty sure we didn't pass through Pune which we would
have if we were on the CR line. It was so long ago that I don't remember the
details of the diversion but I do remember being excited about the unexpected
24 hr addition to the journey. The fact that this was towards the start of the
monsoon season made the journey even more pleasurable. Can any of you suggest
what route our train might have taken?

< Vic

--------
vic@cs.email Dept. of Computer Science
..!{uunet|noao}!arizona!vic University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

From: Aayush Asthana <aa@iti.email

Subject: Re: Person-profiles + a puzzle

Date: 07 May 1991 08:48:00 -0500


An important factor to consider in `person-profiles' is that
perhaps, the persona of the net would become less impersonal. It
might also be helpful in letting all of us know whether any one on
the IR list has worked in the railways etc. On the other hand,
one's persona expresses itself via the medium of words, especially
when couched in terms of one's experiences. A felt need could arise
if the group of folks wanted to set up an exclusive club of sorts
which in fact is not the case.. the common denominator is an
interest in IR and related matters.. the matter rests on the
pivotal notion that socialized discussion groups can make some, if
not a whole lot of, difference to the discussion with one of the norms
being that a participant introduce (for lack of a better word)
him/herself to others - it would remain to be seen if that adds
anything to the quality of the discussion.

If there are a LOT of folks on the list then it may actually be a
redundant thing if the list is a representative sample.. which, I
am almost sure may not be the case; on the other hand it might tell
us what the composition of the group is.

I wrote this as it might help others to see what a `person-profile'
might be for.. of course, it has to be voluntary entirely .. it is
after all not an Elk's club.-)

Vic writes ( and I might add that what you say is correct, but just
taking this thread a step further):

* where each person is from or what they do would make any difference to what I
* post or how I respond to a posting.

It might or it might not.. I don't know that.. a friendly network is
appealing to me; sometimes I like knowing who I am talking to; on
the other hand there is abundant merit in trying to be objective-
although I might miss something of note that another says because of
my interpretation.. of course, that can always be clarified..

*
* I heartily second the idea of maintaining some kind of archive that one can
* browse through. Something that has messages classified by subject would be
* These archives should ideally be at some site we could ftp them from.

You get my yea on this..

* group, I am now curious about its present size. Dheeraj, could you please mail
* me the count (or post it to the group -- others might be curious too). Thanks.
*

If there are less than 100 list folks a profile might make eminent
sense.. otherwise it would be too much information..

Vic, I don't have an answer to your puzzle.. it reminds me of
another incident that occured when I was very young .. on a
particular trip, after a halt at a station, the train proceeds and
then comes to a halt around Delhi outskirts (~memory in RAM mode!)
then proceeds to reverse on the tracks back to the station .. caused
quite a stir in the train.. has this happened to anyone else..?

Have a nice day, folks.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Aayush Asthana
----------------------------------------------------------------------
aa@iti.email | 2901 Hubbard Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 -usa-
aa@mms.email | (313)-769-4000
-------------------------- Jargon ------------------------------------
On Toffler's terms - surrealistic hyperbole: Info-warrior, Eco-spasm!
------------------------- Disclaimer ---------------------------------
Opinions and Net-Speak are mine alone, not of/for ITI.

From: rachna <rachna@hound.email

Subject: THE TAJ express

Date: 07 May 1991 09:27:00 -0500


Being a new IRFCA member - I hope I don't commit a faux pas - but
here are my 2 paisa. I LOVED traveling on the TAJ express - have
no idea what the speed was but the ride was wonderful.
The best part was the mixed culture of the people traveling on the
train - they weren't all indians - there were Bangladeshis, Pakistanis,
Americans, British, and even some Japanese.
And the novelty of it all was the BIG STEAM ENGINE - which kept on
blowing black air back to us.
Rachna

From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL

Subject: Train-reversal!

Date: 07 May 1991 07:30:00 -0500


The topic of the train reversal reversed my train of thought to the time
when I first travelled by the Gitanjali from Bombay to Tata. Enroute, the
train (I guess) missed a red or, (definitely) an amber! On encountering
the next red, or the first red (though this might've been silly!), the train
applied the 'reverse gear'(!!) and travelled backwards at least a km., before
stopping by some wayside station [which did not have a platform of course :-)].
Could some.boss explain what might have happened, which caused this
phenomenon? (i.e., the track was two-lane anyway, and so, crossing of two
trains was out of question, and so the Gitanjali could at least have stopped
in its tracks :-), instead of reversing, couldn't it???)

I guess, we have digressed enough as to 'person-profiles'. Believe me, I did
NOT mean that to happen. It was just that I read a what I felt was a nice
self-description posted by "I've-forgotten-his-name" and though it would be a
good idea to do the same again for everybody, especially because - as I feel -
there are less than 50 persons on the net. Just so that what I've said is not
misunderstood, I'll type out that description and post it by tonight. How
about that, eh???? Ciao.