IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 5941 - 5960
From: Rajesh Agrawal <>
Subject: IATM '99 - Registration begins
Date: 29 Apr 1999 05:31:14 -0500
Dear Sir,
I am attaching the text of the IATM Brochure. Printed copy follows
by post. We are making arrangements for single page issues in English &
other languages shortly.
Please circulate to all those who may be interested.
In case of any clarifications or information, please let me know.
With best wishes
Rajesh Agrawal
Director
Rajesh Agrawal
Mr
National Rail Museum, New Delhi,
India
<director@railmuseum.email
National Rail Museum,
Chanakyapuri
New Delhi
Delhi
110021
INDIA
Work: 91-11-3304137
Fax: 91-11-6880804 (Tel/Ans/Fax)
Home: 91-11-4364628
Netscape Conference Address
Netscape Conference DLS Server
Additional Information:
Last Name
Agrawal
First Name
Rajesh
Version
2.1
From: Jayant S <>
Subject: Re: DMRC Gauge.
Date: 29 Apr 1999 20:40:34 -0500
>....standard Gauge on techno-economical basis.
I wonder what that means. Sounds like a
perfectly incomprehensible piece of jargon.
Who are these consultants to the DMRC that
they can actually seek to override Railway
Board recommendations ?
It is just amazing that rail enthusiasts
(mostly layfolk) such as us could see the
hole in the argument immediatly, while
so-called "experts" claim to see an advantage
in a disparity of track gauge.
--
JS
--
From: Harsh Vardhan <>
Subject: Re: What is in a name ?
Date: 29 Apr 1999 22:30:08 -0500
>Then there is the confusion caused by the same name given to more than
>one city (where is Rampur ?).
>
Rampur is between Moradabad and Bareilly on the Howrah-Jammu Tawi main
line
some 250 Km from Lucknow. Famous for its `Rampuri Chakus'.
Harsh
From: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>
Subject: Now & Again?
Date: 29 Apr 1999 22:56:05 -0500
On Thu, 29 Apr 1999, Dheeraj Sanghi wrote:
> There was a lot of coverage of this accident in the Kanpur local
> newspapers. ^^^^^
That's what surprised me, is it that it has no national importance?
Infact such incidents are very common these days. When are the
authorities
going to take initative , so that no. of such accidents is brought
down.
Can't railways (zones)look towards ,something like achieving zero
accidents
in a span of quarter year or so.
>It appears that this was an unmanned railway crossing.
^^^^^^^^
In a country , where there is no shortage of manpower, why on the earth
are such crossings. Railways can recruit & post personnel on these
crossings.
The expenses for this will be less than to pay the huge amounts to the
families of the deceased.No high level official of IR takes these
accidents as
eye openers?
> The marriage party consisted of a car, a jeep, and a bus. They
> could hear Avadh Assam Express coming, it seems, but the car
> and the jeep crossed the tracks, and the bus driver thought
> he could make it too, but just at that time, the clutch had a
> problem, and he found the bus stuck right on the track. Within
> a few seconds the train hit the bus, killing some 28 persons
> instantly. Several more died later. Latest count is close to 45.
If something more was to happen, like major damage to the train.It
overturning
after hitting a massive object like bus, or the fuel of bus catching
fire
& spreading it on the train,then the death toll would have been more.
Shrinivas
From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>
Subject: Reporting on accidents
Date: 29 Apr 1999 23:35:37 -0500
Hello fans of IR,
The last two messages concerning non-reporting of railway accidents need
to be taken seriously. It is a well-known fact that in India, railway
accidents are either not reported at all or reported as unobtrusivley as
possible. This was one of the major observations I had made in a report
I had sent to the IR Committee for improving safety in IR.
I quote a portion of the report:
***QUOTE
To be able to discuss an accident more freely, analyse its causes, and
come up with suggestions to avoid recurrence of a similar accident, it
is necessary to investigate rapidly and publish the findings without any
fear of legal backlash. A purely technical and independent
investigation agency should be set up which enjoys immunity from being
legally challenged. The findings of such an agency should be published
and made accessible without any constraints. This agency or team should
be allowed do its work concurrently with other legal or regulatory
bodies, and publish its findings independently. We therefore suggest two
concurrent streams of investigation: purely technical, purely judicial.
A successful case of such an approach is the TASK Group (TETSUDOU ANZEN
SUISHIN KAIGI) of Japan. Victims of railroad accidents, Japanese Diet
Members, journalists, scholars and lawyers who sympathised with the
victims, formed TASK in August 1993. When a major railroad accident
occurs, TASK members immediately go to the accident site and conduct
independent investigation as a civil group. The results of these
investigations are then made public. The TASK Group has a www homepage
at: <A HREF="http://www.tasksafety.org/index.htm">http://www.tasksafety.org/index.htm</A> . Since a beginning has been
made, this model seems to be feasible and can be adopted by other
nations as well.
***UNQUOTE
What is surprising is that in this age of Internet and global access to
information, all the efforts by IR (or the powers that be) to hide these
accidents become meaningless. In fact, you can read about accidents in
IR through many foreign web sites. So what are we achieving ? Nothing.
Just more complacence and more accidents in the bargain.
Here is where a body like IRFCA can help. We can form a kind of pressure
group on the lines TASK and share whatever "inside" information we get
about an accident. We can study not just the conditions which lead to
the accident (to take precautionary steps) as well as the procedures
which are taken after the accident (investigation, action taken,
compensations etc.). After all, if we cannot prevent accidents, we
should at least be more concerned about the way we treat the victims
families.
I know this subject is not a very pleasant or enjoyable topic like
watching locos (no offense meant), but we should be able to do
something.
I look forward to suggestions from all of you.
Let us remove the shameful image which IR have got because of its
endless list of accidents.
...partha
BTW: What ever happened to the report I sent to this safety review
committee ? I do not know. Does anyone among you know ?
--
From: Harsh Vardhan <>
Subject: Re: DMRC Gauge.
Date: 30 Apr 1999 00:06:50 -0500
Iam quite certain that with the railways putting a major stake in the
project, finally their say will prevail.
But apart from DMRC officials, there could be people from Delhi State
Govt.
also with vested interests who might try to delay/derail the project on
this issue.
Every day of delay costs in several crores and already the project cost
has
doubled because of the delay so far.
While on one hand we sink money on project uni-gauge, on the other we
are
going to have a fifth gauge. Are there any more example of so many
gauges on
the same network?
Harsh
-----Original Message-----
From: Jayant S <sank@telco.email
To: Harsh Vardhan <hvc@vsnl.email IR List <irfca@cs.email
Date: Friday, April 30, 1999 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: DMRC Gauge.
>>....standard Gauge on techno-economical basis.
>I wonder what that means. Sounds like a
>perfectly incomprehensible piece of jargon.
>Who are these consultants to the DMRC that
>they can actually seek to override Railway
>Board recommendations ?
>
>It is just amazing that rail enthusiasts
>(mostly layfolk) such as us could see the
>hole in the argument immediatly, while
>so-called "experts" claim to see an advantage
>in a disparity of track gauge.
>
>--
>JS
>--
>
From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>
Subject: Re: What is in a name ?
Date: 30 Apr 1999 00:11:18 -0500
> >Then there is the confusion caused by the same name given to more
than
> >one city (where is Rampur ?).
> >
>
> Rampur is between Moradabad and Bareilly on the Howrah-Jammu Tawi main
line
> some 250 Km from Lucknow. Famous for its `Rampuri Chakus'.
>
> Harsh
Gotcha ! There are 26 Rampurs in India ! (Found this in an old
publication of Indian Postal dept. )..... partha
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Birthday of IR
Date: 30 Apr 1999 00:29:01 -0500
Thanks to Luther for celebrating the birthday our dear IR in such a spectacular fashion. I am taking the liberty to forward this mail to the IRFCA for other members to read and react to. I will forward your request to unsubscribe to Anurag. We hope to have you back on the IRFCA later when you are freer. By that time we will have a FAQ on the all the stuff we discuss.
You could send us some (text ?) details on the features of the Talgo train. I always thought that Talgo was a technology specific only to Spain.
Apurva
Luther S. Wilsonl wrote:
Dear Mr Bahadur:I celebrated the birthday of the IR by taking the new Talgo Train from Seattle, Washington to Olympia Washington. It passes through Tacoma, a big seaport.I want to "unscribe" to the list. I will probably resubscribe in November 1999. I plan to take a long trip (from Washington State to Wisconsin). I will be away from home for the Month of May. When I return I will be very busy (7 days a week) in the cherry and potato harvest season. I will have no time to read.I will try to take some photographs of railroads on my trip. I may visit the world's largest RR yard. It is the Union Pacific yard at North Platte, Nebraska.I need to find some material on IR locomotives and rolling stock. Then I will be able to understand the IR mailing list better.If you send me your "snail mail" address. I will try (but do not promise) to send you some pictures of US Rails.Thank youLuther Wilson
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: No info?
Date: 30 Apr 1999 00:57:07 -0500
Gang !
This reminds me of the 7304 Up / School bus crash we had in Pune a
couple of
years back. The toll was similar only these were innocent school
children on
a picnic. This incident is very raw for us at Pune as we knew some of
the
children and their parents and I as a rail nut knew the train driver/
assistant as well. The loco was from the Pune shed and many Pune
citizens
that I know were on the train.
The 7304 Up Sahayadri Express was running 4 hours late having started 4
hours
late out of Kolhapur. 7304 Up shares the rake with the 7384 Maharashtra
Express. Thus the late arrival of 84 caused the late start of the 304.
As the train approached Pune (the accident spot is 23 Kms from Pune) it
was
being driven at top booked speed to make up the lost time. The WDM 2 in
charge was long hood leading. The spot is immediately after a ghat and
the
unmanned (and unofficial - going to Fursungi baba's or some such
godman's
abode) level crossing is ahead of a deep cutting in a small hill. The
road
(cart track ?) descends at right angle across the Pune - Miraj tracks
and
then again climbs away. This is a feature common in level crossing
accident
sites. The road descends onto the rail track from both sides. The bus /
tractor descends the slope at idling speed, brakes to cross the track,
the
engine stalls in gear as the wheel snag the rails, the poorly maintained
(and
hot) engine cannot be restarted and a train comes along. This is exactly
what
happened in the Pune accident. The loco drivers noticed the school bus
even
before the train had left the end of the ghat and were continuously
honking
the horn from that spot. I guess the bus driver panicked and did nothing
as
the train bore on him. Even as the train was braking heavily it slammed
into
the bus and dragged it for atleast 300 meters before stopping. I need
not
spell out the rest of the gory details of the tragedy.
The net result this accident was creation of a manned level crossing at
that
point and a statement that the unmanned level crossings would be
replaced by
manned crossings in due course of time and that this exercise would cost
the
railways (I think) 18 lakhs per manned crossing. The route was also
cleared
of trees and vegetation on all possible spots were a level crossing
existed
ahead as a knee jerk reaction. There was lot of talk of the railways
compensating the victims in the local papers but that was overruled.
These were skilled loco drivers with long history of safe driving but
they
had to be hidden from the public eye for awhile lest they face a mob of
angry
public. The bus driver was also hurt in the incident was found guilty of
negligible driving. Curiously he was never perceived as a target of
(threatened) public lynching as the loco drivers were.
I think painting the noses of the locomotives with bright contrasting
colours
(rather than the iron oxide that the Pune locos bear) and keeping the
headlight on in the day could have saved a number of the accidents. How
about a rotating beacon ?
Just a fortnight after this accident, I was footplating the Goa Express
towards Pune and a moped driver pushed his vehicle across the track with
meters to spare at the very same spot. How do these guys get such
confidence
? And what urgent work could he have which prompts such desperate moves
?
There were two close calls in Pune recently when a bus crossing a manned
level crossing suddenly found a train bearing on them. This is a clear
case
of signal / communications failure. The terrified passengers in the bus
watched the train flash by on the next track. In another incident a
minibus
was trapped by a closed gate, how the gateman did not notice a vehicle
on the
tracks I cannot understand. I guess this was a case of the the minibus
forcing through the closing gate in the hope that he would clear the
tracks
before the other end closed. It may be also the irritated gate keepers
method
of teaching the bus driver a lesson. But that lesson would have been
very
costly as once the gate closes, it cannot be opened until the train
passes
the spot. How the action was reversed is not clear to me. But these sort
of
reports (with lots of holes) come often in the (sensationalizing) press
of
Pune.
One more type of accident which is common is people ducking under a
waiting
freight train to get onto the other side. I wonder if anyone has heard
of
people surviving this type of accident by lying down until the train
passes
over them - just curious.
Apurva
Dheeraj Sanghi wrote:
> There was a lot of coverage of this accident in the Kanpur local
> newspapers. It appears that this was an unmanned railway crossing.
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: What is in a name ?
Date: 30 Apr 1999 01:09:07 -0500
Dr. S. Parthasarathy wrote:
> > >Then there is the confusion caused by the same name given to more
than
> > >one city (where is Rampur ?).
> > >
> >
> > Rampur is between Moradabad and Bareilly on the Howrah-Jammu Tawi
main line
> > some 250 Km from Lucknow. Famous for its `Rampuri Chakus'.
> >
> > Harsh
>
> Gotcha ! There are 26 Rampurs in India ! (Found this in an old
> publication of Indian Postal dept. )..... partha
I was just discussing with a (more) learned collegue who claims that
there are
over 50 Vadgaon in Maharashtra (I know of atleast 4 near Pune). However
there is
only one of the railtracks (near Dehu Road) on the Pune - Mumbai route.
There a
number of Khandala's as well !Okay does the gang know of two railways
stations
with the same name ? I guess that is not possible but just wondering if
there are
more than one Rampurs on the railways ?
Apurva
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Electric traction upto Ernakulam Jn.(ERS) by January 2000
Date: 30 Apr 1999 01:29:03 -0500
> regulated and cancelled some trains. The 1081
Mumbai-
> Kanyakumari Express will be regulated at
> Kollam till 3 p.m. on its arrival from Mumbai.
I just love this term 'regulated'. It says so much with such elegance. I
think this
a pure IR term not used by any other govt. department. I always thought
'regulated'
meant 'will not run any further due to unforeseen circumstances', but
apparently it
could also mean 'may run when the conditions improve'. During the
monsoons we have a
number of 'regulations' on the PA - CSTM track. Sometime the train
returns to
Pune, sometimes the train is just 'regulated' and will not go further
and a refund
is granted on the spot.
Apurva
From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>
Subject: Train accidents
Date: 30 Apr 1999 01:36:29 -0500
Apurva's observation makes interesting reading. When a tresspassing
vehicle (bus, moped, bullock cart...) enters a level crossing (manned or
umanned) and gets bashed up, it is called a "railway accident" --- and
never a roadway accident !
***Q
These were skilled loco drivers with long history of safe driving but
they
had to be hidden from the public eye for awhile lest they face a mob of
angry
public. The bus driver was also hurt in the incident was found guilty of
negligible driving. Curiously he was never perceived as a target of
(threatened) public lynching as the loco drivers were.
***UQ
We have never thought about the effect accidents can have on our
railwaymen, particularly the loco drivers. This can be very very
traumatising for the person concerned. And, to add to his misery there
will be a long and painful phase of investigation and the admin-legal
procedures. Not to speak of the threats to their lives and the endless
tauntings they will receive from the community.
Is there some kind of professional-indemnity insurance for our loco
drivers ?
...partha
From: Dipl.-Ing. Nikolaus Sbarounis <>
Subject: bad news
Date: 30 Apr 1999 01:57:47 -0500
From India Express of today:
<A HREF="http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/19990427-0.html">http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/19990427-0.html</A>
3 killed in train accident near Siliguri
27th Apr 1999
At least 3 passengers, including two women were killed
and 12 others injured when the 5657 UP Kanchenjunga
Express met with an accident between Dhulabari
halt-Magurjan railway station in Bihar's Katihar division,
about 50 km from Siliguri on Monday night, railway
officials said.
The New Jalpaiguri-bound train from Sealdah met with the
accident when a check-rail at the entrance of a bridge
penetrated through the floor of a general compartment
killing the victims on the spot, superintendent of railway
police S Biswas said.
________________________________________________
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: SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI <>
Subject: Double role!!
Date: 30 Apr 1999 02:57:45 -0500
Hi!
Belapur is the name for 2 stations on our IR.
1) On Mumbai Suburban network
2) On Dound- Manmad section
Bye,
Shrinivas
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Double role!!
Date: 30 Apr 1999 05:26:57 -0500
SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Belapur is the name for 2 stations on our IR.
>
> 1) On Mumbai Suburban network
>
> 2) On Dound- Manmad section
It will be interesting to see how the station codes of the two
stations match. I have the working time tables of both Mumbai
division and Solapur division. But I think the mainline Mumbai
division tt will not list Belapur (although stations upto Rohe
Rd on the KR listed.) So it is upto Mumbaikars such as you to
provide us with the station code of Belapur (may be BCBD -
Belapur Central Business District - all the references to
Belapur in New Mumbai seem to carry this additional title -
Belapur CBD).
Apurva
From: Shankar <>
Subject: Re: Double role!!
Date: 30 Apr 1999 07:10:38 -0500
Hello,
Another interesting fact about the Belapur on the Daund Manmad line:
On one side of the track is the town Belapur, on the other side is the
town Shrirampur. Most of the locals use both Shrirampur as well as
Belapur as the name, though the official IR name is Belapur.
Imagine having a station where the up platform is in one town and the
down platform is in another!
Best regards.
Shankar
SHRINIVAS V. JOSHI wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
> Belapur is the name for 2 stations on our IR.
>
> 1) On Mumbai Suburban network
>
> 2) On Dound- Manmad section
>
> Bye,
>
> Shrinivas
From: Jaidev Prabhu <>
Subject: unsubscribe
Date: 30 Apr 1999 10:56:04 -0500
Please unsubscribe me from this mailing list <jprabhu@cs.email
--
-Jaidev
From: S Pai <>
Subject: loco headlights, and a puzzling loco
Date: 30 Apr 1999 22:37:12 -0500
An old book I recently acquired ("World's railways and how they work",
Odhams Press, circa 1940?) has a description of headlight codes for
British locos. Apparently the number and placement of lamps (top
centre, lower left, lower right, etc.) used to indicate the kind of
train (passenger express, slow train, perishable vs. non-perishable
freight, etc.). I was wondering whether there were ever any such lamp
indications for trains in India. (Are such indications used in the UK
or anywhere else today?) It's an interesting concept -- I guess the
motivation was to allow signalmen or others to recognize a distant
train at night? Modern communication mechanisms probably make this
completely unnecessary.
This book has some good, if somewhat grainy, black-and-white
photographs of a train on the figure-eight loop of the Darjeeling
Himalayan Railway, a track repair train on a bridge somewhere in the
Khyber Pass, a train on a four-tier arch bridge on the Kalka-Simla
route, the "Vice-Regal Train" near Lahore, and the Deccan Queen
(hauled by what looks like an EA/1 DC electric loco of the GIPR (see
below for puzzle)). About the Deccan Queen, the book says it has an
average speed of 44 mph (= 70 km/h). Not bad. What is the average
speed today? "It carries first- and second-class passengers only, and
is one of the very few corridor trains in the country", says the book,
and continues with some remarks on how slowly India has taken to
air-conditioning, and saying that air-conditioned coaches were
a great improvement over the earlier system of carrying slabs of ice
on the floors of first-class coaches.
This is the puzzle: The serial number of the loco hauling the Deccan
Queen in the photograph is 4000, and on the side it has the initials
"G. I. P.". From comparisons with photographs in Jal Daboo's book,
I'm pretty sure it is an EA/1 (later WCP1). Yet, Hugh Hughes' book
("Indian Locomotives", vol. 4) indicates that the EA/1 series
numbering began at 4003 and went up to 4024. Number 4001 was the
single EB/1 loco acquired by the GIPR, and number 4002 was the single
EC/1 loco also of GIPR. These anyway do not look like the EA/1
models. The only other model that would look like EA/1 is the EA/2,
but that came several years after the EA/1 series and had a number
4025.
So what's this mystery loco 4000 of GIPR that hauled the Deccan Queen
some time in the '30s or '40s?? (Unfortunately the book does not have
a publication date on it, but from maps and other indications it appears
to date to no later than 1945 or so.)
--Satish
From: S Pai <>
Subject: Re: No info?
Date: 30 Apr 1999 22:53:24 -0500
> One more type of accident which is common is people ducking under a
waiting
> freight train to get onto the other side. I wonder if anyone has heard
of
> people surviving this type of accident by lying down until the train
passes
> over them - just curious.
I think this has happened, although it's obviously a matter of great
luck, as it would take just one low-hanging or dragging projection
from the coach body or axles to finish you. One occasionally hears of
teenagers or drunken people trying to do this on a dare and getting
killed. And there are of course the movie scenes where someone
travels some distance by hanging on to the bottom of a rail car; I
always thought this was really implausible.
There's another kind of accident that's not unusual here in the US.
People get killed in the winter riding snowmobiles on the tracks.
After a good snowfall, the tracks form a nice clear path (no trees or
obstructions) for these people; unfortunately trains bearing on them
at great speed are often not noticed at all because they're relatively
silent (or can't be heard over the din of the snowmobile anyway).
Sometimes people walk along the tracks with hats and earmuffs and
don't hear trains bearing down on them. (It doesn't help that many
areas in the US forbid the use of train horns as a routine procedure;
although of course they're allowed for emergency situations.) Some of
the
most stupid things one could do. :-(
--Satish
From: Harsh Vardhan <>
Subject: Re: No info?
Date: 01 May 1999 00:35:28 -0500
>One more type of accident which is common is people ducking under a
waiting
>freight train to get onto the other side. I wonder if anyone has heard
of
>people surviving this type of accident by lying down until the train
passes
>over them - just curious.
>
Funny thing that you ask Apurva - but Iam one such crazy fool myself -
and
alive to tell you my story!
Almost ten years back, when we used to stay at Lodi Colony, our house
was
just besides the very busy Northern Rly. Goods avoiding line, also a
part of Delhi ring railway. To catch a bus we had to reach the bus stop
by
crossing the track on foot. The Footover Bridge was at the platform on
the
station a good 200 Mtr.
away with no easy approach so I have never ever seen anyone using that.
Till that fateful day I used to look down amusingly upon people jumping
tracks when
the train was approaching or walking beneath when it had stopped at a
signal.
This is an automated signal territory so normally the trains would just
whiz past. On that particular day it was raining through the day and the
signals had conked off. When I arrived at the crossing, I could see at
least
three trains in tow waiting to proceed one behind other as the line
cleared.
In front was good 50+
tank wagon haul. The many people waiting there said that it was
there for more than 30 minutes and it has been going on through the day.
Another 5-10 minutes passed and I began to grow impatient. Meanwhile as
usual a lot of people (including ladies) had crossed the tracks, some
walking below the couplings
and the others climbing onto and jumping over while others including me
watched
amazed. I watched them for a while and then decided to follow them for
the
first (and definitely last) time in my life.
The train was presumably carrying some petroleum oil and it appeared to
be
messy
and slippery to climb over and after weighing the options, I decided to
walk
beneath. The signals were not working so there was no way of finding out
if
it was about
to move and as I recall I wasn't nervous. Just as I had crossed one
rail,
another fool insisted on coming from the other side. Never mind him
there
was still a lot of space so I carried on by keeping to the left!
Meanwhile
I found that my T-shirt was caught in something (perhaps a wire/clip for
securing the hose) on by back round the neck. Still easy, I tried to
untangle
it but before I could, there was a loud thud and everything shaked.
Sounded
like an explosion but it was just the release of brakes. By now
frightened,
and knowing that the train was going to move any time, I tried to
release
myself
by pulling away but instead I slipped on the concrete sleeper. As I fell
on
my face it tore through my shirt releasing me in the process, the train
had
started to move by then. It was very slow initially but I can never
recall
now
whether I planned to lie there intentionally, by instinct or just that I
couldnt get up. Two or three wagons must have passed over me and every
single seemed like several hundred meters long. Also ghoulish was the
shades
of light and darkness that came over and went away. I raised my head a
bit
to see how many more to come. I seemed endless and just then there was
crack on my head and I passed out. I don't know what happened next but
when
I came to, there were people over me. I suppose they initially took me
for dead and there were loud cheers when I moved and got up with some
help.
Some lineside vendors who
knew me helped me reach home. I had survived the ordeal without a
scratch
on my body.
I have preserved the T-shirt with the tear and some oil drippings on it.
It was quite a shock initially but I could cope with it and have learnt
my
lesson well for the rest of my life.
Moral of the Story Well, train watching is definitely better from
besides
the line than beneath the train.
Harsh