IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 5661 - 5680

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Longest running!

Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:18:23 -0500


I had once calculated the distance for CAPE - JAT Himsagar and
for TVC - GHY weekly express, and found that the TVC - GHY
beat the Himsagar by 30 Kms ! This is because of the Jhakal
Dhuri shortcut that the Himsagar takes.
What is this GIM - GHY train ? It is not listed as yet.
Apurva

SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Is it Jamnagar-Gawhati?
>
> Shrinivas

From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>

Subject: Satations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:46:07 -0500


One of the beautiful facades I have seen is that of LUCKNOW railway
station. Of course, the rest of the station is very poorly maintained.

MUMBAI VT has a great architecture.

Any other candidates for the beauty parade of IR stations ?

...partha

--

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Dr. S. Parthasarathy Phone: + 49 -531-3913328
I F R A FAX: + 49 -531-3915197
Tech. Univ. Braunschweig
Langer Kamp 8
38106 Braunschweig - GERMANY

e mail : partha@ifra.email
<A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>

------------------------------------------------------------------------
--

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: High-speed runs on IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:54:54 -0500


Which is the fastest 'non superfast' (lacking the 2xxx number) train on
the IR.
Is it the Pune - Howrah Azad Hind Express which virtually follows the
timings of
the 2859 Geetanjali ?

Apurva

Vijay Balasubramanian wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> Here are the 100 kmph.or more high-speed runs between consecutive
> halts.
>
> Train Section Distance
Average Speed
> (in km) (in
kmph)
>
> 2020 Bokaro Shatabdi Asansol - Durgapur 41 117.14
> 2954 A. K. Rajdhani Mathura - Kota 324 106.81
> 2302 Calcutta Rajdhani Mughalsarai - Gaya 204 103.73
> 2422 Bhubaneswar Raj. Mughalsarai - Gaya 204 103.73
> 2954 A. K. Rajdhani Vadodara - Bharuch 70 102.44
> 2001 Bhopal Shatabdi Gwalior - Agra Cantt 119 102
> 2002 Bhopal Shatabdi N.Delhi - Agra Cantt 195 101.74
>
> Note:
> -------
> 1. It is very easy to maintain 100+ speeds for short sections
> especially if no make-up times have been alloted in that section.
That
> is why the Bokaro Shatabdi is at the top.
> 2. The most impressive run is that of the A.K. Rajdhani from Mathura
to
> Kota.
> 3. The Bhopal Shatabdi's high-speed run is actually between Faridabad
> and Agra Cantt - it has a 130/140 booked/max. speed between these
> stations. So, if one considers its Faridabad-Agra Cantt run, its
> average speed tops the list.

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: food at stations (was Re: Longest Train)

Date: 23 Mar 1999 01:57:08 -0500


I still think about food at Guntakal (ending with the superb filter
coffee)
and drool.

Anne Ogborn wrote:

> > And about the food available at Stations, which all do you find
good.
> > Personally, SBC (Bangalore) and ADI (Ahmedabad) are my favourites, I
> > have seen people from the city come to these stations to "eat out",
even
> > when they had no train business.
> >
>
> I'm often sick when in India, and have found the little cups of
> soft serve ice cream that are commonly sold by hawkers at the
> stations are something I can always get down.
> I once went from Delhi to Kanyakumari virtually existing on these
> and an occasional egg sandwich.

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Re: food at stations

Date: 23 Mar 1999 02:04:10 -0500



> I still think about food at Guntakal (ending with the superb filter
coffee)
> and drool.

My favourite food used to be the evening omelettes at
Malda, after a whole day spent crossing Bihar on
the Tinsukia Mail (mid '80s).

Must also endorse the earlier statement on food
at ADI. Great.

--
Jayant S
--

From: Deepak Sapra <>

Subject: Re: Stations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 02:18:31 -0500


Hello.
From what I have seen, it has been the endeavour of the Rlys to have a
station whose architecture reflects the uniqueness of a place (look, I
have to defend my organisation).
If one has a look at stations in religious places, viz. Kaniyakumari,
Dwarika, Rameshwaram, Puri, Ayodhya), most of them have an architecture
in the form of (mostly, a ) famous temple in that place.
In this regard, Pondicherry, too is a station that comes to mind.
Unfortunately, the Rly signboards strictly follow the three language
formula (Tamil, Hindi and English), unlike the rest of Pondicherry,
where French signboards are commonplace.
The stations on Konkan Rly are new and mostly un-developed, with the
exception of a few , like Vasco , which give the look of a slick, modern

rly station.
Curiously, stations whose architecture strikes you are not necessarily
the big ones- a number of moderate sized stations too have their own
USP.
Hope to hear more on stations from you all,
Best wishes,
Deepak



>From: "Dr. S. Parthasarathy" <partha@ifra.email
>To: Members <irfca@cs.email
>Subject: Satations of IR
>Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 10:46:07 +0100
>
>One of the beautiful facades I have seen is that of LUCKNOW railway
>station. Of course, the rest of the station is very poorly maintained.
>
>MUMBAI VT has a great architecture.
>
>Any other candidates for the beauty parade of IR stations ?
>
>...partha
>
>--
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> Dr. S. Parthasarathy Phone: + 49 -531-3913328
> I F R A FAX: + 49 -531-3915197
> Tech. Univ. Braunschweig
> Langer Kamp 8
> 38106 Braunschweig - GERMANY
>
> e mail : partha@ifra.email
> <A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>

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From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: food at stations

Date: 23 Mar 1999 04:09:37 -0500




Jayant S wrote:

> > I still think about food at Guntakal (ending with the superb filter
coffee)
> > and drool.
>
> My favourite food used to be the evening omelettes at
> Malda, after a whole day spent crossing Bihar on
> the Tinsukia Mail (mid '80s).
>
> Must also endorse the earlier statement on food
> at ADI. Great.

Yes ADI too, we were surprised to see such great food (although
expensive) on the
station. Even better than what we get on regular Pune restaurants at
0200 Hrs !

Apurva

>
>
> --
> Jayant S
> --

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Beautiful stations

Date: 23 Mar 1999 04:35:13 -0500


> Being from Pune himself (I guess) he is being modest about his own
> station. The nice thing I remember about Pune Jn (I have visited there
> many a times) is that it is perhaps the only station I know which has
> ramps and not overbridges with steps.

One side has steps and other side a ramp, this must be quite a
common feature in
many stations is it not ? The ramp has caused many a nasty
falls due to it steep
downgradient, I am sure quite a few wheelchairs must have gone
out of control.

I'll be very keen to know the name of the sweet MG station
that is shown at the end of the film 'Virasat'. The film
itself was pure bullshit but the banyan treed terminus where a
YP is shown moving a train which takes Anil Kapoor to jail is
simply out of this
world.

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: [Fwd: [Fwd: Indian railways]

Date: 23 Mar 1999 04:42:53 -0500

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Stations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 04:52:30 -0500




Deepak Sapra wrote:

> Hello.
> >From what I have seen, it has been the endeavour of the Rlys to have
a
> station whose architecture reflects the uniqueness of a place (look, I
> have to defend my organisation).
> If one has a look at stations in religious places, viz. Kaniyakumari,
> Dwarika, Rameshwaram, Puri, Ayodhya), most of them have an
architecture
> in the form of (mostly, a ) famous temple in that place.
> In this regard, Pondicherry, too is a station that comes to mind.
> Unfortunately, the Rly signboards strictly follow the three language
> formula (Tamil, Hindi and English), unlike the rest of Pondicherry,
> where French signboards are commonplace.

Is there a name that is spelled differently in French and English ?

> The stations on Konkan Rly are new and mostly un-developed, with the
> exception of a few , like Vasco , which give the look of a slick,
modern
> rly station.

I agree with you that all the KR stations seem to be in the middle of
nowhere.
How did you get to Vasco, by road ? I am curious about which BG train
took you
there. Kulem - Vasco passenger ?

Apurva

From: Deepak Sapra <>

Subject: Re: Stations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 06:03:09 -0500


Two things-
1) By signboards, I did not mean only the board showing the name of the
station (ref- Pondicherry), but the myriad other signboards at a Rly
stn. And yes, even names are spelt differently in different languages-
why, our India is Inde'.
2)Amongst other developed Konkan Rly stations which I have seen are
Madgaon, Karnali(that's near Panjim,Mangalore and Ratnagiri.
Deepak


>> Hello.
>> >From what I have seen, it has been the endeavour of the Rlys to have

a
>> station whose architecture reflects the uniqueness of a place (look,
I
>> have to defend my organisation).
>> If one has a look at stations in religious places, viz. Kaniyakumari,
>> Dwarika, Rameshwaram, Puri, Ayodhya), most of them have an
architecture
>> in the form of (mostly, a ) famous temple in that place.
>> In this regard, Pondicherry, too is a station that comes to mind.
>> Unfortunately, the Rly signboards strictly follow the three language
>> formula (Tamil, Hindi and English), unlike the rest of Pondicherry,
>> where French signboards are commonplace.
>
>Is there a name that is spelled differently in French and English ?
>
>> The stations on Konkan Rly are new and mostly un-developed, with the
>> exception of a few , like Vasco , which give the look of a slick,
modern
>> rly station.
>
>I agree with you that all the KR stations seem to be in the middle of
nowhere.
>How did you get to Vasco, by road ? I am curious about which BG train
took you
>there. Kulem - Vasco passenger ?
>
>Apurva
>
>
>
>

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From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Train with highest number of halts

Date: 23 Mar 1999 09:06:26 -0500


Hi Folks,

Here is some interesting info. from the Bradshaw timetable:

Howrah - Amritsar Exp. 115
Delhi - Howrah Janata Exp. 109
Jammu Tawi - Sealdah Exp. 107
Udyan Abha Toofan Exp. 96
Sabarmati Exp. 95
(Ahmedabad - Muzaffarpur)
Mumbai - Dehra Dun Exp. 93
Mumbai - Firozpur Janata Exp. 87
Howrah - Tirupati Exp. 85
Bokaro - Alleppey Exp. 82
Dadar - Amritsar Exp. 79
Kurla - Howrah Exp. 77


Vijay

From: Anne Ogborn <>

Subject: [Fwd: food

Date: 23 Mar 1999 15:58:27 -0500


From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>

Subject: Re: DB class 181 and B.G. modelling

Date: 23 Mar 1999 16:59:41 -0500


Dear Nikolaus Sbarounis,
A couple of commetns on your E-mail to Anne Ogborn. Firstly, my
advocacy of TT3, 3mm scale, 1:101.6 in earlier postings was motivated by
the
same reasoning you set out in your posting. Components for TT3 are
manufactured in Britain, and there is a thriving specialist modelling
society. TT3 was manufatured for a time by Triang (now called Hornby)
and
there is a largish second-hand market. Also, "standard gauge" track is
available: TT3 ran on 12mm gauge, which scales out to 4ft, but some
enthusiasts do use the near-correct 14.2mm gauge (it ought to be
14.125mm)
and components are available for this gauge. Argentinian railways (or
Calcutta trams) ARE possible!
Secondly, the problem which arises using mechanisms to an existing
gauge
for a smaller scale is that frequently they won't fit into the loading
gauge; this will be particularly acute when using HO mechanisms designed
for
US-outline models (large loading gauge) for 1:100 Indian models (small
loading gauge). In this case, you may be better off using mechanisms
desgned
for your chosen SCALE and fitting longer axles (where feasible). The
engineering involved isn't dramatic (for diseasels, at least) but may be
more effective.
Thirdly (and I hope Annie won't mind my appearing to speak for her
here) I understand that the problem Annie ran into was that the HO wheel
spacing of an off-the-shelf mechanism fell right for an Indian Alco
(WDM2),
meaning that only the body had to be changed, and the tricky task of
finding
other matching mechanisms and cooking up sideframes could be skipped. By
comparison, extending axles is rather easier.
As it is probable that several scales will eventually be adopted
for
Indian modelling, an early priority is not so much to settle on a scale
for
everybody, but to try to ensure that for all scales, correct track
gauges
are adopted, and practical standards incorporating an easy upgrade
route
from coarse scale to the finest are adopted. That really means that we
should all go with the NMRA standards, as they are by far the most
universal
and practical. Fine-scale modellers in S3, P87, and P4 would have an
easy
upgrade route as long as the track gauge adopted is correct to begin
with.
It like screw threads -- standardise early, and everyone is OK.
Fail
to think it through, and you get a shambles!
Happy modelling
Ken Walker

-----Original Message-----
From: Dipl.-Ing. Nikolaus Sbarounis <sbaros@excite.email
To: anniepoo@netmagic.email <anniepoo@netmagic.email
Cc: irfca@cs.email <irfca@cs.email
Date: Tuesday, 23 March 1999 2:33
Subject: DB class 181 and B.G. modelling


>Dear Annie,
>following the relevant discussion on the Indian Railfan newsgroup, I'm
>sending you as an aid a side view drawing of DB class 181 (ex E310), so
that
>you can readily compare it with similar Indian or other locos.
>On the scale/gauge question, the following thoughts occured to me:
> -To run models of broad gauge trains on standard gauge track is
especially
>grotesque. Gauge must match scale.
> -Beside India, the same BG is used in the Iberian peninsula and
Argentina
>(and BART as well!),which broadens the market for BG models. At least
one
>loco class, the ALCO "World" diesel is found in all these places.
> -I consider it particularly important to use an existing track gauge,
>instead of introducing a new one to match an established scale. Firstly
>because it won't be always easy to buy off-the-shelf track for this new
>gauge; secondly because kitbashers will want to use running gears of a
>different scale (but of the same track gauge) to create a wider variety
of
>models, than the one provided by the R-T-R commercial range (as for
example
>HO narrow-gaugers utilize standard-gauge N chassis). This is especially
>important, since the industry isn't likely to offer an extensive range
of
BG
>models.
>Given the above, 2 possible scales for modelling BG come to mind:
> 1. 1/100 scale utilizing HO standard gauge track
>At the same scale we can also employ HOn3 track to represent metre
gauge
and
>Z track to represent 2' gauge (couldn't an 1/100 "YG" utilize a HOn3
East
>Broad Top Mikado chassis?). It is also a A drawback is the shortage of
1/100
>accessories. Another one is the unavailability of commercial track to
>represent standard gauge in 1/100, but, with the exception of Argentina
and
>the Spanish AVE, the countries with 5'6" gauge don't use standard
gauge, so
>there is very limited scope for their coexistence in model form.
> 2. 1/76 (OO) scale utilizing S standard gauge track
>At the same scale we can also employ HOn3 track to represent 2'6" gauge
and
>HOm track for metre gauge. Since it's a popular scale for railway and
>military models in the UK, it offers a wide range of commercial
accessories.
>However, it has the disadvantage of requiring 73.13% more space than
1/100.
>
>I think some market research, especially in the countries most likely
to be
>interested in BG modelling is necessary to choose among these 2 scales.
>That's all for the moment
>
>
>
>
>________________________________________________
>Visit my rail website:
><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7209">http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7209</A>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________
>Get your free, private email at <A HREF="http://mail.excite.com/">http://mail.excite.com/</A>
>
>

From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>

Subject: Re: Satations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 18:03:52 -0500


>
> MUMBAI VT has a great architecture.
>
> Any other candidates for the beauty parade of IR stations ?

Morbi Jn has a beautiful architecture.

Viraf
==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrej.email
==========================

From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>

Subject: Re: food at stations

Date: 23 Mar 1999 18:10:59 -0500


> >
> > Must also endorse the earlier statement on food
> > at ADI. Great.
>
> Yes ADI too, we were surprised to see such great food (although
expensive) on the
> station. Even better than what we get on regular Pune restaurants at
0200 Hrs !


Areed Appu, but what we saw was on the station platform. There is a
railway managed canteen on the first floor of the station bldg., which
is
equally good, clean and CHEAP.

Viraf



==========================
Viraf Mulla
C-20/14, Jeevan Bima Nagar,
Borivali (West)
Mumbai 400103
Tel: +91-22-8954510
E-mail: sncf@godrej.email
==========================

From: Mike Brooker <>

Subject: Re: Satations of IR

Date: 23 Mar 1999 19:09:51 -0500


My vote for India's most beautiful station also goes to Bombay VT.

I also liked Varanasi station, for its Hindu and Art Deco mixture.

Other than the self-serve counter at Bombay Central, I don't have a vote
for
the best railway station restaruant. What I most remember was the low
price
(15 rs. for a veg thali) not the quality of the food.

Mike


>One of the beautiful facades I have seen is that of LUCKNOW railway
>station. Of course, the rest of the station is very poorly maintained.
>
>MUMBAI VT has a great architecture.
>
>Any other candidates for the beauty parade of IR stations ?
>
>...partha
>
>--
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> Dr. S. Parthasarathy Phone: + 49 -531-3913328
> I F R A FAX: + 49 -531-3915197
> Tech. Univ. Braunschweig
> Langer Kamp 8
> 38106 Braunschweig - GERMANY
>
> e mail : partha@ifra.email
> <A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: [Fwd: food]

Date: 24 Mar 1999 00:25:49 -0500


Just repeating something already discussed before for the
newer members.

The worst food on IR !

I think the first prize will be shared between the cold
glutinous curry ( I am not sure
of what that was) at Miraj and the dry rice with the hard
(very hard) boiled egg
(without salt) wrapped in a newspaper at Solapur / Wadi which
is the standard 'non veg' meal there.

Apurva

Anne Ogborn wrote:

>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: food
> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 10:36:11 +0100
> From: "Dr. S. Parthasarathy" <partha@ifra.email
> Organization: <A HREF="http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html">http://www.ifra.ing.tu-bs.de/~m05/partha/partha.en.html</A>
> To: Anne Ogborn <anniepoo@netmagic.email
> References: <19990323071138.2100.qmail@hotmail.email
<36F75A04.C016D127@netmagic.email
>
> I remember once coming back from Coonor, the train stopped at
COIMBATORE
> Junction...we could have a full south Indian meal at the canteen as
the
> train waited.... and the meal was superb...wonder if it is so even
> now.....

From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Remaming of Sahar airport

Date: 24 Mar 1999 00:44:54 -0500


Gang !

Guess what the new name of the Sahar & Santa Cruz airport in
Mumbai is ?
It is Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Mumbai must be only city in the world whose airport and the
major railway station has the same name. This is in no way
undermining Shivaji the great warrior from Maharashtra. But if
people had their way, the whole of Mumbai would be named after
Shivaji and his family members and a few Thakareys too !
I suppose renaming is an easy and cost effective 'task' that
politicians routinely perform. Solving the real problems
(Mumbai is fast becoming the organised crime capital of India,
Maharashtra is posting record defecit and losses in the annual
budget etc ) take longer to solve.
Is Mumbai the only place in India whose station has been
renamed ?
Lately I am seeing a different spelling of Howrah - "Haora" in
the Calcutta map.
Apurva

From: Shanku Niyogi <>

Subject: Re: Remaming of Sahar airport

Date: 24 Mar 1999 09:54:14 -0500


<semi-political statement>

I guess it's supposed to be a reminder to incoming flights from Lahore
that
Shivaji is guarding the city/state/country... :) And I'm surprised there
isn't a train called Shivaji Express yet - perhaps they will rename the
Mumbai-Chennai Mail (which, not long ago, was the Bombay-Madras Mail) to
Shivaji Mail - kind of like the messenger of Shivaji to south India.

If I could, I would start up a big VT Name Restoration coalition. As one
author I read quoted someone, "what are we supposed to teach the next
generation? That the British were never here?"

Look on the bright side; everything in Delhi will soon be named after
Rajiv
(or Indira, or both). Then you can have planes, trains, and buses named
"Rajiv-Shivaji"....

</semi-political statement>

-----Original Message-----
From: Apurva Bahadur [mailto:iti@vsnl.email
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 1999 12:45 AM
To: IRFCA
Subject: Remaming of Sahar airport


Gang !

Guess what the new name of the Sahar & Santa Cruz airport in
Mumbai is ?
It is Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Mumbai must be only city in the world whose airport and the
major railway station has the same name. This is in no way
undermining Shivaji the great warrior from Maharashtra. But if
people had their way, the whole of Mumbai would be named after
Shivaji and his family members and a few Thakareys too !
I suppose renaming is an easy and cost effective 'task' that
politicians routinely perform. Solving the real problems
(Mumbai is fast becoming the organised crime capital of India,
Maharashtra is posting record defecit and losses in the annual
budget etc ) take longer to solve.
Is Mumbai the only place in India whose station has been
renamed ?
Lately I am seeing a different spelling of Howrah - "Haora" in
the Calcutta map.
Apurva