Indian Rail Pass Trip Dec 2009

[caravanman]

Hi Folks,

I have just uploaded some photos of my Indian trip in Dec 2009..

Indian rail pics..

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them.

Ed

 

[jis]

Neat! I see you went to Matheran. That's a beautiful journey through the Syahadri Range. I was in Pune middle of December.

Hopefully you did travel the Bhore Ghat on the way from Mumbai to Pune, specially between Khandala and Lonavla, with the spectacular climb.

Which was the Rajdhani Express that you traveled by? Not one of the premier ones since the equipment in the picture shows ICF/Schlieren coaches (and not RCF/LHB/Alstom coaches). The premier Rajdhanis are now all equipped with the LHB coaches. Interestingly the ICF coaches do not have yaw dampers, and are still cleared for 130kph. It becomes quite obvious when one experiences the ride quality at 130kph.

I presume you passed through Igatpuri on the way to Mumbai from the north? Igatpuri used to be the end of electrification before the massive country-wide 25kV electrification was taken up in the 60s. I actually find it amazing to see the ubiquitous 25kV Constant Tension catenary for 100s and 100s of km no matter which way you go. And yet there still are no electrified routes, some of which you experienced as evidenced from the pictures. What was the route that you traveled on which electrification was under construction as evidenced in the picture of a station? Is that Varanasi?

Of course the non-electrified routes are heaven for Alco aficionados, since those WDM-2 and WDM-3s are all Alco derivatives.

Looks like you managed to visit the Railway Museum in Delhi too? No picture of the N Class Garratt that is displayed there? There is a second one preserved and operational at Kharagpur, the home shed for this class when they operated on BNR and later SER.

The first picture looks uncannily like New Delhi Platform 1, but one can never be sure.

Glad you had a good time, though you don't look too happy at the door of that Mumbai EMU

 

[caravanman]

Hi Jis,

I am afraid most of those technical questions are beyond me.. I just enjoy the views!

The first pic is taken at H NIZAMUDDIN in Delhi, if memory serves me, on our first day's train trip to see the Taj Mahal.

We next travelled from Delhi to Jaipur and back to Delhi by train. We got off at the wrong station just outside Delhi on the way back and then caught a very packed train to take us the last few miles!

Our next ride took us to Varanasi, then down to Mumbai from there. Side trip to Matheran.. very enjoyable ride. Despite the expression on the Mumbai EMU, I was having a great time hanging out the door! Quite an experience as we came into VT/CST as people flung themselves onto our train for their return trip..

Went down to Goa by train next, then our final train ride took us from Goa to Mangalore.

I believe that only the train to Varanasi was a Rajdhani, but I could be wrong.. all the paperwork and tickets are in a box elsewhere just now.

I first visited India back in 1983, and again travelled mostly by train. That time I visited Shimla, Amritsar, Jaisalmere, Ooty, Kanyakamari, Maduri, Mysore and took a long trip from Madras (as it was called then) up to Delhi, and another from Delhi to Calcutta (as it was called!). we had the pleasure of a steam hauled train on one occasion too. The earlier trip lasted for 5 months in India, and left me with a great fondness for the country.

I have more pics of the trains and engines at the Delhi Museum, not sure which one you were refering to though.?

Ed

 

[jis]

The first pic is taken at H NIZAMUDDIN in Delhi, if memory serves me, on our first day's train trip to see the Taj Mahal.

Figures.

We next traveled from Delhi to Jaipur and back to Delhi by train. We got off at the wrong station just outside Delhi on the way back and then caught a very packed train to take us the last few miles!

Oh No! You got off at Sarai Rohilla? Poor thing!

Our next ride took us to Varanasi, then down to Mumbai from there. Side trip to Matheran.. very enjoyable ride. Despite the expression on the Mumbai EMU, I was having a great time hanging out the door! Quite an experience as we came into VT/CST as people flung themselves onto our train for their return trip..

Yes sometimes it is quite difficult to get off!

Went down to Goa by train next, then our final train ride took us from Goa to Mangalore.

You traveled one of the most spectacular and newest trunk line on IR, the Konkan Railway.

I believe that only the train to Varanasi was a Rajdhani, but I could be wrong.. all the paperwork and tickets are in a box elsewhere just now.

That sounds about right - the Guwahati Rajdhani via Lucknow.

I have more pics of the trains and engines at the Delhi Museum, not sure which one you were refering to though.?

I was referring to this N Class.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Ed, I've never been to India and don't know much about the country, but I did enjoy looking at your pictures. The sleepers sure look to be luxurious. :unsure:

Did you sample any food in "The Pantry?" Is it safe to eat for Westerners?

 

[jis]

Ed, I've never been to India and don't know much about the country, but I did enjoy looking at your pictures. The sleepers sure look to be luxurious. :unsure:

Did you sample any food in "The Pantry?" Is it safe to eat for Westerners?

The Pantry cars serve food to the entire train. Generally food is served at your seat. Only a few Rajdhanis that run with the new LHB cars have a small buffet section in the Pantry for use mostly by First Class Sleeper passengers. On Rajdhani's AC2 (2 tier sleeper) and AC3 (3 tier sleeper) passengers are usually served precooked meals that are loaded en route. Only food for the AC1 passengers is prepared on board. Yes, generally the cooked food is safe to eat. Avoid raw stuff like salads. Use only bottled water. The Railways actually have their own bottled water branded as "Rail Neer" which means "Rail Water".

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Ed, I've never been to India and don't know much about the country, but I did enjoy looking at your pictures. The sleepers sure look to be luxurious. :unsure:

Did you sample any food in "The Pantry?" Is it safe to eat for Westerners?

The Pantry cars serve food to the entire train. Generally food is served at your seat. Only a few Rajdhanis that run with the new LHB cars have a small buffet section in the Pantry for use mostly by First Class Sleeper passengers. On Rajdhani's AC2 (2 tier sleeper) and AC3 (3 tier sleeper) passengers are usually served precooked meals that are loaded en route. Only food for the AC1 passengers is prepared on board. Yes, generally the cooked food is safe to eat. Avoid raw stuff like salads. Use only bottled water. The Railways actually have their own bottled water branded as "Rail Neer" which means "Rail Water".

Thanks for the info!

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

I enjoyed the meals aboard the trains.. a guy comes through and takes your order, either veg or non veg meals, which arrive at your seat sometime later.. the orders are phoned ahead from a preceding station, and delivered to the train further down the line. Meals are very reasonable prices, and I found no tummy problems in the month that I was there. I ate mostly vegetarian, options aboard train are fairly limited, but tasty! Breakfast omlette, or Veg. cutlett, followed by Chai, or masala Chai, one feels quite content and ready to face the day.. Far better than an Amtrak microwaved hot dog, any day of the week!

The sleepers we used were open, with curtains to close.. it is posible to have a private 2 berth compartment on some trains, but the open compartments seem more convivial, as a tourist!

Jis, I must confess that I missed that particular museum loco.. looks impressive!

Looking back, I see that the train we took from Delhi to Varanasi was the "Shiv Ganga Express", so not sure if that was a Rajhdani?

Ed

 

[jis]

Jis, I must confess that I missed that particular museum loco.. looks impressive!

Yup those were some of the largest and most powerful Garratts ever built - specially the N Class. My Grandfather used to work for BNR in Kharagpur which was the home shed for these beauties.

Looking back, I see that the train we took from Delhi to Varanasi was the "Shiv Ganga Express", so not sure if that was a Rajhdani?

No, Shiv Ganga Express is not Rajdhani. On which train did you take those pictures out of the door where the cars had a red band above and below the window and the window band was cream colored?

 

[caravanman]

Hi Jis,

That train was the one from Goa (Madgaon) station to the south. Unfortunatly, we were only on it for a few hours to Mangalore. I believe it originated in Delhi. Just as well that we were getting off in Mangalore, as there seemed to be friendly confusion about just who had the right to be in our berths!

The photo taken on the station platform of the vendor pushing his barrow was at Madgaon, I purchased my copy of "trains at a glance" from him, which sadly got lost before we returned to the UK...

OK on your grandfather, I watched a fascinating BBC series about Indian Railways some time back, and there were many stories of the "railway colonies" that were established to support the railways.

Cheers,

Ed

 

[jis]

That train was the one from Goa (Madgaon) station to the south. Unfortunatly, we were only on it for a few hours to Mangalore. I believe it originated in Delhi. Just as well that we were getting off in Mangalore, as there seemed to be friendly confusion about just who had the right to be in our berths!

OK that was the New Delhi - Tiruvanthipuram Rajdhani. The color of the coaches suggests that. That is the Rajdhani color on ICF coaches.

The Rajdhani color on LHB coaches is different.