Indian Railways Thread

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 13 Apr 2010 00:07

Raja Bose wrote:A question slightly OT: Do any jingos here indulge in railroad modeling?

What is railroad modeling?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Apr 2010 07:51

For Chennaiites, St. Thomas Mount will be an integrated station

The proposed elevated St Thomas Mount Metro Rail station, which is to come up on a 10-acre site, will be designed as a ‘signature station' and will integrate five modes of public transport – suburban railway, Southern Railway, Metro Rail, MRTS and public buses – at various levels.

It will accommodate 18,000 to 20,000 foot falls per hour and have 1,200 equivalent car space for parking

An artist's impression of the proposed Metro Rail station at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 13 Apr 2010 12:09

jambudvipa wrote:Boseji ,

I do indulge in model railroading in HO scale.are you a model railroader as well?

Nope currently only into plastic scale modeling (static models, ships, aircraft, dioramas onlee, usually 1/72, occasionally 1/48) but it is something I find of increasing interest. I heard that IR has a small but dedicated modeling community.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 13 Apr 2010 12:12

Katare wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:A question slightly OT: Do any jingos here indulge in railroad modeling?
What is railroad modeling?

zis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_railroad

jambudvipa · Post by **jambudvipa** » 13 Apr 2010 14:39

Model railway is a very fulfilling hobby.I used to have a fully functional layout, i built many years ago,destroyed by rats.will build a proper one again in an years time .
I enjoy building scenary.and the best thing is the hobby has different aspects which can intrest you.some people like to go towards the electricals/electronics of the hobby.Quite a few people in India tend to go towards the more technical aspects,like building a fully fledged caternary system from scratch or controlling locos via computers (DCC ie digital command control) rather than the scenery.
I have been to Joshis model railway museum in Pune.Excellent collection of Marklin locos and rolling stock. Has a good layout mostly built from Faller kits (platic kits of mostly eurpoean style houses, buildings etc).Innovative electrical arrangments,worth visitng if you are in Pune.Not really my taste as I like rollnig hills,waterfalls etc and mininum of electricals:)
Boseji if you are in US get a cheap starter set availaible from Bachmann,Atlas etc and have a tinker around to see if that floats your boat.

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 16 Apr 2010 17:40

Some news on anti-collision device:

January 2010 - Railways dithers over anti-collision device

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Ra ... id-23.html

Sunday, 17 January 2010, 18:49 IST

New Delhi: ... the railway ministry drags its feet over the commissioning of an indigenously developed anti-collision device (ACD) that could have averted a spate of train accidents in foggy weather and loss of lives, says the man who designed it.

The ACD, designed and developed by former Konkan Railway managing director B. Rajaram, is credited with having a success rate of 99.9 percent in preventing collisions, after its commissioning by the Konkan Railway and the Northeast Frontier Railway.

"Its implementation is being delayed over the years by successive revision of norms by the Railway Board, even though the technology has met the conditions successfully at every instance," Rajaram told IANS.

"The ACDs fill up gaps of what existing systems cannot do, like averting collisions even in block sections (the distance between two stations beyond the range of signals) and in foggy weather when signals are not visible," said Rajaram, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

During his tenure, the then Railway Board chairman K.C. Jena had officially said ACDs would be installed initially in southern zones by 2009 as part of a phase-wise implementation of the project in all railway zones.

Western technologies relating to new rolling stock or signalling equipment are usually assigned to the Southern Railway or the New Delhi-Agra section -- considered the least risky zones -- for testing. But a different criteria seems to be applied in the case of indigenous technology, said Rajaram, who holds 14 US and global patents, including the ACD, in his name.

The ACD pilot project was assigned to the Northeast Frontier Railway, where signalling systems work only half the time, and which is plagued by erratic power supplies.

"Sceptical experts, doubting whether the technology would work under these highly adverse conditions, said if it showed results, it would succeed anywhere in the world. They had to take back their words," Rajaram told IANS.

Forward to April 2010, B Rajaram writes on his blog in a letter addressed to the Rail Minister:

http://rbojji.blogspot.com/2010/04/indi ... lting.html

We spend so much of funds on RDSO, but we have nothing innovative of world class to export from RDSO or even to be used on Indian Railways. We just import. RDSO is used to assist to import. These are facts which you can easily verify.

For the first time we have successfully developed Anti-collision Devices network and named as Raksha Kavach.. our own Indian product! The World Intellectual Property Office, Geneva, Switzerland singled out from millions of world patents our ACD and praised as a unique safety system development in their Journal. This is very rare and there is no other case like this from our country.

Further National Geographic internationally publicised our achievement and show cased the ACD technology of ours in 160 countries and is repeatedly shown over the last 5 years.

Let us pause and think how our country has achieved this distinction while we consistently failed earlier and continue to fail even now with all the budget allocation to RDSO.

With my decade long experience of working in Research both in Kharagpur IIT and in RDSO, I did identify the system defects which sap our intellect. I was actually instrumental in preparing the RDSO restructuring report in 1987, before I left for working in Zambia.

The ACD needs a continuous development cycles because, we have a road map which finally makes the technology replace all existing visible signaling. One cannot have multiple vendors for such technology development effort, because plenty of research and development effort has to happen with specifications being fluid.

After successful implementation of ACD network in the worst possible field conditions, India should be proud of its achievement. We have all safeguards for protecting our interests and Konkan Railway is the PSU which supplies the equipment. They do this with their technology partners with whom they have long term continuous working agreements for controlling all the processes involved. In normal course we should have seen ACDs protecting our people by this time.

But the multi-national companies which have much to lose if ACD comes in operation, have consistenly been fighting a proxy technology war using our own retired and even working railway officers. At every stage of development, hurdles were raised. But for another honest and committed Shri Nitish Kumar in your position, they would have prevented ACD from being implemented in NF railway.

Be as it may, during Shri Lalus's they succeeded in getting an inquiry ordered in the manner of development of ACD, but to their dismay found no cause for taking action to close ACD. But they wasted time of three years and also demoralised staff and officers.

Some one in the Board seems to have threatened the MD Konakn Railway that he must fix multi-vendors. It is ridiculous. A technology partnership agreement cannot be converted into a routine stores and procurement process. I came to know from staff of Konkan Railway that they will now freshly start developing the ACD!!! Letters to drop the private company who worked for a decade to develop have been issued. Threats of violating stores code and vigilance angles are being used now against the officers concerned.

Konkan Railway is a vendor to Indian Railways. If Rly Board wants multi-vendors, then RDSO should be asked to develop additional vendors. They have a huge budget too. But not Konkan Railway.

So to cover tracks, an attempt is being made by Konakn Railway to do in house development work That means the clock is put back to 1999. Multinationals and their agents in Board are happyy for this development. They can now sell their product at 10 times the cost of ACD, even though they are unable to achieve the performance of ACDs in preventing mid-section accidents of collisions.

The implications are that Konkan Railway will face serious legal challenge including financial losses for their unilateral and arbitrary action because the very survival of the private company which devoted their 10 years of working for ACD is in question. Indian Railways after having spent money for proving ACD will still have no ACD and spend ten times more to get less effective foreign solutions.

In the courts of law both Ministry and Konkan Railway will be forced to explain their strange and irrational behaviour. So instead of glory for producing a world class product, we end up with ridicule in India and internationally too.

Who gains? The lobbies which worked hard to get their product chosen from foreign companies. they will not hesitate to use any means right or wrong including abusing the vigilance process and insecurity of railway officers.

It is paradoxical that an honest group like Didi, Sri Manmohan Singh and indirectly Smt Sonia Gandhi will preside over this annihilation of an Indian show piece.

Personally I have nothing to gain by writing to you-- as you know all the patent rights I had donated to the nation. It is for you to take care of the ACDs for the President of India.

As I said earlier, had it been any other person than you, I would not even attempt to write openly like this. I would consider it is fate of our country.

It is still not too late. I can only appeal for some good sense to prevail and stop this insulting ridicule of development of technology in India.

With regards

Seems like a sad state of affairs..

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 16 Apr 2010 20:43

AjayKK wrote:Seems like a sad state of affairs..

^^^ +1. There would be people in every part of bureaucracy who just cannot look beyond making more money (and the glory bought by money), and can scuttle any home grown product of ours. And guess this is not only with railways, but every thing connected to R&D in India

.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 17 Apr 2010 12:45

First oil-fired steam loco for Nilgiri Mountain Railway to roll out in December

The Golden Rock Railway Workshop here will dispatch the first new oil-fired steam loco for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) in December, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railway, V. Carmelus, said on Friday.

The workshop had been entrusted with the task of manufacturing four new oil-fired steam locomotives belonging to the “X” class to replace the old steam engines being operated in the NMR section

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Apr 2010 15:45

Death on Tracks

. . . people run over by trains in Chennai, which had crossed 1140 in the last 15 months.

Most of them who lost their life on tracks are those commuting by suburban trains. With no time to waste on taking the overbridge, most commuters, perhaps in a hurry to reach their homes and workplaces, put their life at risk by crossing the tracks every day.

Talking over the mobile phone while crossing the tracks is another reason that many people fail to notice an approaching train. The data also points out that more men die on the tracks than women.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 20 Apr 2010 16:07

I feel sorry for the poor engine drivers who have to see these kind of accidents (obviously not caused by them), and for the policemen and khalasis who are to stand guard for the body remains and clean up the mess

. As far as I know there is no formal 'counselling' for these kinds of traumas and most of these folks just take it as part of their jobs.

PS: On the net I had read about the London Underground. It seems when a driver has a "One Under" case, he is immideatly releaved of his duty at the next station and sent for counselling. And another driver (who would be on stand by until then) takes the train onwards.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 22 Apr 2010 21:56

Heights of customer friendliness - Indian Railways

This is a first party narration of an incident which happened at Banaswadi RS (suburb of Bangalore) 22nd April at 21:00 Hrs. Atleast 300-400 passengers who were to board the Garib Rath train from Yeshwanthpur to Kochu Veli (KCVL - suburb of Thiruvanathapuram) was in for a rude surprise.

They were told that their train would not arrive as expected at 21:25 but instead of that it would arrive at 6:20 on 23rd April. There was a major train derailment at Pudukkad (PKD- between TCR and ERN) and lots of trains were cancelled or rescheduled. I was aware that train leaving from Kochu Veli to Yeshwantpur was delayed and only started at 6:45AM today. Knowing that I dialled the magic number 139 (Railway Enquiry) to check up whether the train scheduled to depart from Yeshwantpur would be on time. The IVRS ** system happily informed that the train was on time. I guess it told the same thing to the other passengers as well.

Finally it was left to the lonely station master at Banaswadi to inform all passengers that their train is now going to arrive the next day. Banaswadi is a station with no retiring room or a waiting room for passengers. Their were passengers who had cancelled their bus tickets and thought of boarding the train. I can wish them 'all the best for the night', fully knowing that they would have a good company of mosquitoes and stray dogs.

May be the Malayalee train passengers are a timid lot. Because if it was in some other parts of India, I would have really worried for the health & safety of the Station Master, Banaswadi; who was announcing with glee the delay in the arrival of this train.

**: Is there any way you can reach to a human telephone operator when you dial 139? I have tried a couple of times, but it only has options to get pre-recorded information.

NOTE: I would always keep this incident in mind, when I now talk about customer friendliness of Indian Railways. And also when we gloat about the wide technological advancements the Railways is talking about.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 29 Apr 2010 09:22

Siemens commissions Aurangabad bogie unit

Siemens Rolling Stock Pvt. Ltd., a 100 per cent subsidiary of Siemens, has set up the first dedicated bogie plant at Aurangabad with an initial investment of Rs. 200 crore.

According to a company statement, the greenfield facility will manufacture high performance and superior quality bogies for locomotives, passenger coaches, electric multiple units and metros.

Siemens will provide the latest bogie solutions for the Indian and Asian markets through the factory which has the capacity to manufacture about 800 customised bogies annually, with scope for expansion to suit the market requirement. The bogies meet the European standards, that is, EN norms, and will have a minimum life of 25 years and a lower lifecycle cost.

Bogies form a part of the undercarriage of the coach and consist of a bogie frame, wheels, axles, suspension systems and brake equipment. Usually, two bogies are fitted to each carriage, wagon or locomotive, one at each end. They are primarily responsible for the ride quality, safety and comfort of the passengers on board. The range to be manufactured include metro bogies with 18 tonnes axle load, bogies for local trains with 21.5 tonnes axle load, bogies for high speed trains, high comfort bogies for passenger coaches and high axle load locomotive bogies.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 May 2010 09:25

The Public Accounts Committee criticizes Railways for increasing the carrying capacity of wagons

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has questioned the decision of the Ministry of Railways to enhance the carrying capacity of wagons a couple of years ago, criticising it for its “short-term gains at the cost of long-term damage to the railway infrastructure”.

It warned that “the physical and infrastructural damages caused by the enhanced loading to the Railways ‘core' assets would eventually suck out a large portion of the increased freight earnings”.

This meant that the wagons are loaded to the extent of 24.49 tonne per axle as against the norm for axle load of 22.82 tonne. Hence, it asked the Railways to ensure “complete computerisation and networking of their weighing and freight collection operations to help prevent overloading and leakage of freight charges”.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 04 May 2010 14:38

Saw it on a vernacular daily that motormen of Mumbai Suburban Railway network are on strike. Only very few trains are running. And their method of striking is also unique. The motormen are on a "hunger strike" i.e, they report for work without having food and continue to drive the trains. Fatigue catches up with them, and they cannot drive the train any more. And they report sick. Their main crib is about the pay-scale. Don't know the nitty gritties but Engine Drivers are pretty well paid AFAIK.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 04 May 2010 15:06

IIRC Engine Drivers doesn't exist anymore. The designation of Loco Pilot was earned after spilling sweat and blood, so don't insult them.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 05 May 2010 09:19

Dileep wrote:The designation of Loco Pilot was earned after spilling sweat and blood, so don't insult them.

. I really dont know what the change in name has given to the "engine drivers" (yes, I wish to continue to use that term). And we should be thankful to the station masters (Train movement controllers?), gang men (train line security agents?) etc. from not demanding changes in their titles.

PS: Some how the term "loco pilot" just does not give me the true impression of the hefty men, with a bandanna on their head and working a huge machine like a toy. "Engine driver" some how seems to show the true picture.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 05 May 2010 11:05

My feelings, exactly. I guess it was an H&D measure invented by some bright union neta. My comment was in jest.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 May 2010 16:30

Windmills for smaller railway stations

The Tiruchi Railway Division, which recently commissioned two windmills to ensure uninterrupted power supply, has planned to install more windmills in smaller railway stations if this experiment proves a success.

This is a green initiative launched to make best use of wind energy for power requirements, according to railway sources.

The division commissioned a 2 KV windmill first in Aduthurai railway station near Kumbakonam in March.

Power generation through windmill here has proved encouraging so far and was being utilised to run the unreserved ticketing system (UTS) successfully at the station without any hitch.

Uninterrupted issue of unreserved tickets has come as a relief to the railway authorities of this station as well as to the passengers.

The authorities commissioned the second windmill at Kallukuzhi railway ground close to Tiruchi railway junction a few days ago. The average speed of the wind in this ground is six metres per second.

The division has also decided to install lower capacity windmill at the manned level crossing gates located in rural areas in a phased manner, the sources added.

The division has launched another initiative to save energy by distributing CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs to the railway quarters. These bulbs use less power and have a longer life.

Already 22,000 CFL bulbs have been distributed to the railway quarters in the division. These are expected to save electricity to a considerable extent, the sources said.

Ravi Karumanchiri · Post by **Ravi Karumanchiri** » 08 May 2010 12:50

Bombardier’s train passage to India

The Canadian manufacturer has put a lot on the line to be a part of the country’s massive efforts to transform its rail infrastructure. But the bureaucracy – and the baksheesh – pose big problems

Andy Hoffman
Asia-Pacific Reporter, Savli, India — From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published on Friday, May. 07, 2010 7:06PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, May. 07, 2010 7:20PM EDT

Nowhere is the ordeal of doing business in India better exemplified than in a tiny stretch of railway track in the sun-baked state of Gujarat.

It is here that Bombardier, Canada’s global transportation giant, has been literally stopped in its tracks by India’s infamous government bureaucracy.

The company has spent more than $45-million building a new train factory that has created 750 desperately needed jobs. Despite the investment, Bombardier has been stymied in its request to use a 300-metre section of the local railway to deliver new subway cars to its customer in New Delhi, 800 kilometres to the northeast.

“It has been more than 14 months we have been dealing with the authorities trying to get permission to transport our trains. We met this morning, in fact,” says a frustrated Pierre St-Onge, the general manager of the Savli facility.
…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-in ... le1561138/

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 09 May 2010 13:27

Gents, looking forward to buy the National Geographic feature 'The Great Indian Railway'. Does any one have a link to buy the same? Checked up the official web site of National Geographic. They don't sell any thing outside US and Canada. Amazon only has VHS tapes, and I am looking for DVDs.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 May 2010 06:32

Gatekeepers: they strive to perform their level best at all times

It is 4 p.m. Rush hour traffic has started to flow through the railway level crossing at Korukkupet. The gatekeeper, D.Velayuthan, receives a call on the fixed line magneto phone, a British-era device that has to be wound to place a call.

He immediately rushes towards ‘Point 62.' In Railways terminology, that is one of the locations near the level crossing where a direction changing point exists. “Children regularly throw stones in the small gaps between the regular track and the track that can be moved to alter direction,” says Mr.Velayuthan.

Until the track position can be pneumatically shifted, the train has to wait at the level crossing. That is one of the many duties that gatekeepers perform everyday.

“Sometimes, I have to run more than a kilometre to reach a track position that cannot be shifted,” he says. “Employees of nearby industrial units intentionally fill the gap with stones to catch their train home if they leave the office a bit late.”

A gatekeeper usually does five 12-hour shifts every week, two of which are in the night. Apart from shunting yard or station work, they are the ones responsible for regulating traffic through the level crossing.

“We regularly get verbally abused by motorists when we bring down the gate just before they could pass,” says V.R.Vishwanathan, a gatekeeper. “What many do not understand is that a key has to be inserted to open or close the gate. This key can be used only when the signal is given by the Station Manager.”

Men like Vishwanathan and Velayuthan belong to a vanishing tribe. The few level crossings within the city are being replaced by either over-bridges or under-passes. But considering the wide array of duties that they perform, they will be reassigned another some other work.

As Mr.Vishwanathan points out, their daily roster of duties is the same as it was in 1926 “when two or three trains passed through during a 12-hour shift.” The gates that they man are not just dividing barriers between two columns of vehicles. It represents the divide between unchanging mindsets and futuristic visions.

As Mr.Velayuthan explained his possession of an exact replica of a colonial-era kerosene lamp, “What if the LED flash light fails during the night?”

He will be retiring in a few months. Most likely, no one will replace him. An under-pass has been sanctioned to replace the level crossing. He represents India in slow motion — a system that simultaneously holds on to the past and struggles towards the future.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 18 May 2010 07:05

SSridhar
Thanks for putting up the link on the railway gate keepers (gate-man, as they were called in my area). During school days when I was in a dilemma as to whether join the railway as an engine driver or a guard, it was one such gate men who introduced me to the "signalling" concepts of the railways.

I had a friend who stayed next to a level crossing and was pally-pally with all the gate keepers, and thanks to him I could clear a lot of misconceptions about a gate keeper's daily activities. I have seen that the cabin had a telephone connection. And I believed that it was a normal DoT connection and the gate keeper could freak out by calling his friends now and then.

A quick visit to the cabin changed all that. The telephone he had a was a huge black equipment normally called the "magneto phone". It was the same type which is mentioned in the news article. To ring up some one, a handle had to be rotated/cranked. And further more the same line connected the station master with 2 other railway gates as well. So there was a code like "1 ring, gate #1 will pick up the phone, 2 ring for gate #2 etc".

The interlocking device was a combination of mechanical levers and some electro-mechanical equipments (for locking and releasing 'Annette keys'). All these devices ensured that the gate barriers have been brought down, then locked down, and only then could an "Annette's Key" be taken out and locked up next to the signalling device. And without this key, the signal switches could not be pulled off. The gate had a "distant signal" and a "home signal" to protect it. Thanks to the gate keeper I could understand the purposes of the signals.

The Railway signalling lanterns mentioned in the report is now pretty much replaced. At least in PGT and TVM divisions all railway units had been asked to return their lanterns and were issued LED based re-chargeable torches. The gate then had a set of two lanterns (plus a spare IIRC). One was a lantern with an arrangement for rotating a coloured glass. This ensured that green, red and white lights can be shown. And then there was another one which was Red. The rule was that in the night the lantern showing red light had to be lighted up, but kept inside the cabin with the light pointing away from the railway track. The gate keeper had to stand out, display the white light and also check for sparks etc. And he also acknowledged signals with the guard.

PS: Gate keepers etc., dont lose their jobs when a gate is permenantly closed. They are Class 4 employee category, and would be moved to other stations as messengers, porters etc.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 18 May 2010 10:10

If it's so bad....ummm!! why don't they just pull out???

Ravi Karumanchiri wrote:Bombardier’s train passage to India

The Canadian manufacturer has put a lot on the line to be a part of the country’s massive efforts to transform its rail infrastructure. But the bureaucracy – and the baksheesh – pose big problems

Andy Hoffman
Asia-Pacific Reporter, Savli, India — From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published on Friday, May. 07, 2010 7:06PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, May. 07, 2010 7:20PM EDT

Nowhere is the ordeal of doing business in India better exemplified than in a tiny stretch of railway track in the sun-baked state of Gujarat.

It is here that Bombardier, Canada’s global transportation giant, has been literally stopped in its tracks by India’s infamous government bureaucracy.

The company has spent more than $45-million building a new train factory that has created 750 desperately needed jobs. Despite the investment, Bombardier has been stymied in its request to use a 300-metre section of the local railway to deliver new subway cars to its customer in New Delhi, 800 kilometres to the northeast.

“It has been more than 14 months we have been dealing with the authorities trying to get permission to transport our trains. We met this morning, in fact,” says a frustrated Pierre St-Onge, the general manager of the Savli facility.
…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-in ... le1561138/

vina · Post by **vina** » 18 May 2010 10:17

Frankly I don't think we really should care too much about the Canadian poodles. I always said that they way to deal with the dogs like Australia and Canada is to kick them. Why deal with them, when we deal directly with their master, America ?.

There are tens of alternatives to Bombardier. If they act uppity, kick them out. Good riddance. Why feed anti India terrorist cess pools and breeding grounds with economic incentives.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 18 May 2010 12:14

Sachin, thanks for a reminiscing type of post which also contained a lot of details.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 May 2010 15:09

Dialogue initiated for Chennai-Mysore Bullet Train

Seeking closer interaction with industry leaders from Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka State Government officials have initiated dialogue for a bullet train plying on Chennai-Mysore sector, wants Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor extended to Mumbai and an Aerospace Park for mutual benefit, said its Industries Minister Murugesh R. Nirani on Tuesday.

Noting that Japanese firms are demanding a separate industrial park, industrial corridor and bullet train, Mr. Nirani said “recently we set up a dialogue committee to speed up the work relating to bullet train. It is in the initial stages. It involves heavy funding. The next round of meeting will be held in June.”

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 May 2010 07:52

15 MG locos to be converted into BG shunting locos

The Railway Board, New Delhi has entrusted the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here {Trichy} with the task of converting 15 metre gauge (MG) engines into broad gauge (BG) shunting locos.

. . . the under frame and super structure will be completely new in line with BG standards. The bogies and wheels would be changed to BG, while the engine's power pack, electrical components, generators and radiators would be retained and re-used. . . The workshop had successfully converted a MG loco into BG shunting loco as a pilot project last year

rajkumar · Post by **rajkumar** » 20 May 2010 14:46

Gagan wrote:Indian railways gauging system

Can this be made into a sticky on Page 1 of this thread please?

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 25 May 2010 09:33

14 coaches Rajdhani derails in Assam, no casuality per latest news.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 May 2010 09:01

rajkumar wrote:Can this be made into a sticky on Page 1 of this thread please?

Rajkumar, there is no provision to make a post within a thread as 'sticky'. When this thread reaches its 72 and hence gets shaheedized, the starter of the new thread has to remember to cut and paste this in the new incarnation.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 May 2010 09:10

Rajdhani has not derailed in Assam but in Bihar. a 2 m section of track has been found missing. driver heard a big sound as the train passed over and applied emergency brake. 11 people slightly injured in falling from bunks but no serious wounds.

passengers bussed to katihar , served lunch and then a replacement train is taking them upto dibrugarh.

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 28 May 2010 13:10

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/railways ... -28351.php

After the Maoist attack on the Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal today, the Railways is considering halting night operations in five Naxal-hit states.

"We are discussing the issue of suspending night operations during night time in Orissa, Bihar, Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. A decision will be taken shortly," Vivek Sahai, member. traffic, railways board, said.

So, now these two bit commie criminals have brought GoI/IR to its knees?

Seriously, what is the difference between India and Pacquistan if things head this way; if citizens cannot travel in their own nation without fear of getting blown up?
Pacqui gobermund has no control over large parts of its country, and apparently, GoI's writ does not run in all parts of India either.

As long as sh1t like this continues, all dehyphenation efforts will seem pretty hollow.
Pacquiland India == onlee.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 May 2010 13:31

halting night ops in all these states will mean rescheduling basically all trains entering from N,W and S into that region. must be atleast a 100 express trains entering east zone from other parts. it will be rightly seen as a massive defeat and loss of face for GOI and only encourage more atrocities by the naxals and more recruits thronging to join.

everyone joins the winning team. and so far GOI hasnt remotely behaved like it wants to win this one.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 28 May 2010 13:50

GOI will crush the Maoists, period.

You don't mess with the biggest dada of them all, and you don't get any bigger than GoI.

This behemoth has the world's second largest armed forces, and probably the largest police force in the world.

Once they coordinate ops all across the states, and these repeated attacks are pushing them towards this, the maoists will be in trouble.

As it is these brazen attacks by the Maoists seem to be those of a force going down, a spark before the candle blows out. Their next target might well be PC himself, because as HM he heads the entire ops. We all know that PC is winning the media war against the maoists - the way he destroyed the propaganda of Arundirty Roy and other maoist apologists is quite effective. Also he is really getting the police forces in order.

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 28 May 2010 13:52

Singha wrote:.....so far GOI hasnt remotely behaved like it wants to win this one.

My friend from near KGP in WB told me that last month the maoists paid a visit to his rural area. The f*#@ers went to the village school where his sister teaches primary school kids, and shot dead one of her colleagues in cold blood in front of the class. Just to serve as a warning to others as to what fate awaits them if they do not fall in line.

I am not as optimistic as Gaganji. How long has the maoist infestation been around? Why has it not gone away completely?

GoI doesn't give a packistan as long as its elites can hop around the country cocooned in 5* luxury and Z++ security cover. It's the abdul on the street who has to bear the brunt of the pain.
Once the war reaches the cities, maybe the kick in the musharraf will force GoI to act.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 28 May 2010 14:29

It is reaching the cities. When the mediawallahs make it headline news and babettes keep yacking about it 24x7 on the news channels, it makes the netas look bad.

And they don't like it.

Their first instinct will be to do an underhand deal with the maobadis to keep things under the scanner. Then prodded on by the maoists reckless violence, they'll have to do something about it.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 29 May 2010 21:24

Purush wrote:I am not as optimistic as Gaganji. How long has the maoist infestation been around? Why has it not gone away completely?

Remember there was a time these wacko's infested TN and AP quite densely. In fact these states were their base of operation back then.

You havn't heard about them there recently have you.

After many years of Dicking around these states finally got serious and went after the leaders with a vengeance. There were no courts or such niceties, They were pretty much exterminated where they stood.

The key is to eliminate the leaders. The Riff Raff will disband automatically after that. The leaders mostly lived in cities w/ their families back then. I suspect the same if true even now.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 30 May 2010 03:28

Theo_Fidel wrote:
The key is to eliminate the leaders. The Riff Raff will disband automatically after that. The leaders mostly lived in cities w/ their families back then. I suspect the same if true even now.

These are basically extortion groups which use the name of maoists and revolution. That ideology and movement was given support in the 70s by the jholawalas in Universities and movies. The bandit queen has a scene where one jholawala warns that if these naxalites are not given respect then there will be revolution. That was one of the first movies to legitimize the murder and extortion

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 30 May 2010 03:57

African Railways Benefit from Tubular Track

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 30 May 2010 11:34

Mail/Express trains to have LHB coaches as safety measure

To minimise casualties after derailments, the Railways are contemplating switching over from indigenous ICF coaches to German technology based LHB coaches in all mail and express trains as a safety measure.

LHB (Linke Holfmann Bush) coaches made of stainless steel have more inbuilt safety features as they can absorb shock and impact of derailment more effectively and as a result do not topple, thus reducing the loss of lives in case of accident, said a senior Rail Ministry official.

LHB coaches manufactured in the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala are mostly used in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains while other mail and express trains are equipped with conventional coaches built in the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Chennai. ICF coaches are made of normal steel.

"Recently Guwahati Rajdhani and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani trains got derailed but not a single injury was reported let alone any casualty," said the official.

"But in case of Jnaneshwari Express", added the official, "ICF coaches were toppled on to the adjacent track which led to a collision with a moving goods train, resulting in heavy casualties.

"Had it been LHB coaches, these might not have toppled in such a severe way," said the official.

While an ICF AC coach approximately costs Rs 1.5 crore, a LHB AC coach costs about Rs 3 crore.

With about 50 new trains introduced every year, there is a demand of 2,500 coaches annually.

Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory, which produces about 300 LHB coaches a year, has been given the target of 500 coaches next year.

"Our aim is to run all mail and express trains with LHB coaches as a safety measure which cannot turn turtle in the event of any derailment or collision," said the official adding, "The conventional coaches have to be replaced in phases."