These images are super low quality since they were taken with a hand held device nearly seven years. The location is Calcutta, formerly the capital of British India [~100+ years ago]. It has a rail museum too, though not as big as the one in Delhi. You can see few Narrow gauge locomotives including one clearly built in England; an inside of a luxury train car [ I forgot if it was the Viceroy's car or something ], a snippet of a green Pakistan loco and finally a replica of Fairy Queen, the world's oldest steam engine [ the original is kept at 70 kms from Delhi which I saw much later ]. Ironically, when I had started my journey then from Kharagpur, which is basically a railway town, ~115 kms from the destination, Kharagpur used to enjoy the distinction of having the world's longest platform. [ It doesn't anymore; it's ~4th in the list now; the longest is at Hubbali somewhere towards Southern India though I haven't been there].
New images at last These images were snapped last week, though are still not from the city's main rail station, hence not very busy [ in one shot, I took the platform view and you can see how sparse they are on a wintery day]. There are 3 images dedicated to showing how train boards are done on Indian Railways. One at the front and back of the train [usually in two languages, one being English and other regional usually]. There are small top plates on each coach to determine the name of the train. On some modern trains, they have switched over to an LED interface but otherwise, these iron rung plates have ruled the roost since times immemorial. There are 2 shots of engine, one is a WAP-7, an electric engine primarily used for hauling long distance trains. Other is a WDP-4D [funfact: the D in the middle indicates that this is a diesel based engine primarily just like WDM series of locos] standing completely still.
Locos, Locos, Locos All images taken this week at Lucknow, also the state capital of India's largest province. The station is fully electrified, however you can see 3 diesel locos, mainly used for hauling either freight or shunting duties. Proper diesel closeups [without electric lines] are hard to get now with most sections being electrified in this area. There exists a national park in the state called Dudhwa [which has a meter gauge station of it's own] that won't be converted to broad gauge due to higher chance of train-animal collision and will continue to operate as Meter Gauge for the foreseeable future. I think that stretch will represent the last vestiges of 20th century India since meter gauge lines have been uprooted and converted in most other place.
Thank you. The couple of electric locos were at the front of trains that had come to their final destination whilst the diesel ones, as usual, were roaming without intent.
This is the capital of the most populous province of India.[one of the two major stations in that route]. It looks magnificent from the outside, though not so much from inside. All Indian stations have a Station Board installed at either end of the platform with station name affixed on them in atleast two language, English being constant. The English spelling here, is an anglicization of the Hindi spelling; hence, slightly off the mark when speaking. The platform shelter here doesn't extend to the complete length, so if a train comes in say, the rainy/monsoon season, some passengers are bound to get wet. The second image is of another smaller station in the same city region. The winter sun is at it's full peak. For lack of passenger trains, you can spot nil passengers at that time frame.
I had originally shared a half snap of this station in midnight. This is the proper front view of the station [ the minarets were built to resemble pawns in chess when seen from upside.] On the far left, one can spot a yellow EMU type train common for short distances. The white train is the latest to join the Indian Railways' list and is a complete unit in itself [8 or 16 coaches depending on route] and no separate loco to be attached/detached. It has amongst other things, auto closing doors [ though honestly, I once traveled in an Indian train with this facility and I hated it; in my case, I had gotten off at a platform for having some food stuff and thought the doors were closing and ran towards them { since there was no other sound signal to alert passengers of doors closing } and banged my head into a open berth near the door used by staff ]. On the right side, you can see the German designed LHB coaches now widely used in majority of trains here.
Did someone say I ran out of Images? A diesel loco, sadly out of place, in an environment full of electric wires. Their bellowing smoke is but a distant memory. This city only has a single metro/rapid transit line starting from the airport and going via three rail stations including the above rail station. Most cities in India, barring Delhi, have limited lines and are only in the process [slowly or rapidly depends on the political choices] of expanding their capacity. Most stations here are overhead except for a few. This is one of the those exceptions, taken at a non peak time since I don't wish to get crushed by a maddening crowd.
There is an equally busy station around 70 kms from here called Kanpur. It was also proposed to be build originally across a similar plan but abandoned midway due to prohibitive construction costs. So today, that station halfway mimicks this one [ if one sees the image on Wikipedia or Google Maps ]. I have been to that station couple of times but didn't take proper snaps of the main station. That being said, I did wander into an inner city station of that area. Only a single platformed, two lined station which is apparently scheduled for demolition/relocation at massive cost some time in the future. As you can see, it wasn't built with future in mind, what with lack of space and facilities. However, at the right, there runs a overhead transit system [for a small distance] which is well, a glimmer of hope.[ Image is more than a year ago ].
I have few old images, which are obviously not my own. First up is from Steve McCurry's collection of images circa 1980. Showing the Taj Mahal in Agra with what is still, a broad gauge loco, judging by it's inking in front. This is from another photographer, though I couldn't trace it back. I have had this image in my collection for over a year for some reason. This train is starting from Mathura, not far from Agra actually, with a Meter gauge engine in tow and semaphore signalling. Neither this train nor this route survives in it's current form. It's broad gauge now and electrified with modern signalling.
Lying adjacent to the above station, this one belongs to a different rail zone and was originally Meter Gauge. Now it's Broad gauge but comparatively smaller. I took the image whilst taking the escalator to the overhead transit system. Fun fact: Both stations are named as Lucknow with the only differentiation being that this one has the suffix Junction added to it. The same names create confusion for outside travellers and once, even my own relative, missed a train to the capital city of Delhi due to waiting for the train at wrong station. The following is a snap of an above ground metro/transit station. It lies at a stone's throw from the main railway stations and vies to connect the city. Sadly, not much has been built and lots of work still needs to be done to fully integrate the city into a modern mesh. [/QUOTE]
The new transit system visible and accessible from the good old rail station. The red train has reached it's terminal and has been standing thus, probably for more than an hour. This station remains very calm in the daytime[pre - afternoon] since it's a terminal station and until/unless it's the time for a train to come and/or start off, there are little passengers.
Old Images I took these images couple of years ago. This station lies ~150 km from the above/previous station. It's a medium sized 4 platformed junction. When I visited it in the morning, it was relatively empty, and even furnished with couple of lifts/elevators, I think. Eithercase, the image quality isn't high but the curving platforms in the morning sun gives an idea that a station can sometimes be tranquil as well.
I took these images last week when at the state capital to catch a morning train to Delhi, the national capital, ~500 kms away. I took tons of images, will post them. > These are extra set of tracks that lie next to main platforms. Freight barely comes on them and these coaches can rest there idly for weeks, if not months. A view of such a rusty coach. > Early morning view. Moon is still visible > A 1926 made loco standing outside the station, as a display. When I took the image, people were just lounging on the green field around it and nobody ever glanced a second look at the loco > A EMU type passenger train that will go to the next major station 72 kms away.
I like that steam loco! I think it's a test to weed out the railfans from the travelers. Keep up the nice photos!
Delhi's circular ring railway was established in 1975 and upgraded in 1982 for Asian Games. However, due to stations lying wayside, lack of feeder buses and expansion of city far beyond these stations' limits, the ridership gradually fell[one could argue there never was a proper acceptable peak] and as of last month, no passenger trains [ except for shunting purposes as seen] use the tracks. There are no loop lines and no facilities. Hardly any railway personnel either. These structures represent another time period almost when compared to the crowded shimmering metro lines that boom overhead/underground.
