• Letter from Mr Tim Fischer, Dy. Prime Minister of Australia
• Editorial
• Preservation Priorities: A suggested Top Ten by Bill Aitken
• Aspects of Modern Edmondson Tickets in India - 1 by John L King
• A trip down the memory lane by Harsh Vardhan
• Trains of fame and locos with a name - 1 by Joydeep Dutta
• Publications Received
• Dream comes true by R Thumanivannan
• News from the NRM
• Steam Update

THE HON TIM FISCHER MP
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
AUSTRALIA
23 March, 1998	  

As your new Society has correctly identified, preservation of live steam is important, and I hope that notwithstanding progress, we do not lose sight of the contribution of steam to the development of so many countries. One way of preserving the heritage of rail is to promote rail tourism, and in doing that your Society is well endowed with so many opportunities,

Please accept my personal best wishes, and I would ask that you convey to members of the Society my best wishes for a successful promotion of the best of Indian rail. Good Luck.

Yours sincerely,

The inaugural newsletter was released by Mr. V.K. Agarwal, Chairman - Railway and Chief Patron - FNRM on 15-02-98 at a function organised at the NRM. Several members were present and the presence of some members was particularly noted who had made it to Delhi from various parts of the country, especially for the occasion. As we go into the press the responses to the newsletter are still pouring in from all parts of the world and they have been truly overwhelming to say the least.

Soon after the inauguration, the ‘Friends’ shot off to a one day trip to visit the railway establishments at Ajmer. The trip turned out to be a real treasure hunt for the enthusiasts.

The ‘Institute of Rolling Stock Engineers’ organised a presentation before the Railway Board members on 29-04-98 to press the case for a widespread steam preservation in the country. The audience was spellbound with Bill Aitken’s opening talk and Mukul Mangalik’s film ‘Veiled in Vapour’ on the dying days of steam.

We are pleased to announce our joining hands with ‘The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society’, U.K. which is involved in rescuing the line from a possible extinction, through a popular campaign in the U.K. and other parts of the world. FNRM will shortly organise a trip to the line to identify the areas which need immediate attention.

Everyone has his or her own list of Most Urgent operations to rescue railway history, threatened by undiscerning humanity and uncaring time. Here is my own top ten items I dream of seeing enacted. Happily, already some of them have been acted upon and others are under active consideration. Members suggestions are invited.

1. The metre-gauge steam-hauled section out of Udaipur should be maintained for long-term tourist interest. The last steam locos built in India (the YP and YG class) can be shedded in Udaipur and used for occasional running of tourist trains between Udaipur and Chittorgarh which is a very scenic section. Since water and coaling facilities are in place around Udaipur and Udaipur is one of the few places outside the Taj Mahal that enjoys an international tourist reputation, Indian rail history can be displayed to good effect. (The two YG locos used to haul the Royal Orient between Rewari and Delhi Cantt will have to be moved to Udaipur with the re-gauging of this latter MG section (incidentally the oldest MG line in the world!)
2. Each zone should appoint a Heritage Inspector to earmark and collect historical items at a zonal depot. Immovable works of quality should be deemed worthy of preservation as ‘National Railway Monuments’. Inventories of antique station fittings and furnishings should be kept so that when due for replacement the originals can be sent to a museum rather than be scrapped.
3. Live recordings of the actual running sounds of the steam era should be made immediately, starting with footplate recordings of the Darjeeling, Ooty and Western Railways steam sections.
4. All vintage rolling stock bearing nineteenth century manufacturers plates should be kept in a protected zonal siding for induction into regional museums. There is a shortage of passenger carriages. (The National Rail Museum does not possess a caboose!)
5. A zonal directory of architecturally outstanding stations should be compiled and any additions to these quality works should be in good taste and historically appropriate.
6. A list of the miscellaneous plinthed locomotives that are to be found all round the country needs to be made with a view to the exchange of these vintage engines. Ideally these locos should be returned to steam and moved from zone to zone to prove the innovative skills of Indian Railways mechanical tradition.
7. Indexes of zonal archives and files should be compiled to enable valuable records to be identified and kept secure at a central archive. Obviously this involves the appointment and training of archivists. (See No. 9)
8. Steaml / Diesel / Electric Days should be observed at the regional museums to acquaint the public with the running properties of different tractions. Drivers and running crew should demonstrate their duties and help educate people on the myriad details involved in railway operations.
9. Railway history requires exposure as an academic discipline. The Railway Board could provide scholarships or provide avenues for railway officers to study for doctorates in transport history. Research students would automatically qualify as archivists.
10. Popular handbooks of railway reference that give details and performance of Indian Railways most famous locomotive types would stimulate public affection and demystify for ladies the masculine image railways enjoy.

To some collectors who have a fairly limited accumulation of Indian tickets, they might appear to be rather dull and lacking in variety. This would however be a misguided vie because although a fairly standard design of ticket has evolved, there are vast numbers of subtle variations, and practices peculiar to specific railway systems (of which there are nine). In this series I will attempt to identify both standard and non-standard features and, I hope, encourage an increase in interest in Indian tickets generally.

Firstly, some background information which may be useful. Indian Railways today comprises nine fully functional constituent zones viz:- Central, Eastern, Northern, North Eastern, North East Frontier, South Central, South Eastern, Southern and Western. There is a bewildering variety of accommodation, although not all permutations are available on every train - Air- Conditioned Class, First Class. Air-Con 2 tier Sleeper Class, Air-Con Chair Car Class, Second Class Sleeper, Second Class Sitting and the newly introduced Air-Con 3 tier Sleeper Class.

Trains are also of various types. At the bottom of the ladder are ‘passenger or ‘ordinary’ trains; then there are ‘Mails’ and ‘Expresses’, and finally some which are designated ‘SuperFast’. In Second Class, there are separate fare scales for ‘Ordinary’ and ‘Mail! Express’. On ‘SuperFast’ trains there are supplementary charges in all classes.

There are sundry supplements for superfast trains, reservations and sleeper berths, sometimes these are dealt with by the issue of separate tickets for the basic journey and for each suplementary charge, and sometimes one ‘combination’ ticket suffices for all purposes. The Indian fondness for the word ‘cum’ is much in evidence in the context of the latter, for example ‘Journey cum Reservation cum Sleeper ticket’.

The standard modern Indian Edmondson Card ticket will display the following features:-

FNRM organised a tour for its members on 17th February 1998 to visit the railway establishments at Ajmer. A report:

Western Railway Workshop: This is amongst the oldest railway workshop that came up in India, second only to Jamalpur and was the first one to assemble, manufacture, overhaul and repair meter gauge locomotives. On the entrance to the workshop ISR No. 421, 0-4-0 is plinthed. This is the first meter gauge locomotive that was imported to India in 1873. It was built by M/s. Black Hawthorn & Co. Engineers, England (No. 263) and was a shunting locomotive at Ajmer workshop for over 50 years. It is suggested that this gem of a locomotive be kept in working order and made to run on special occasions.

Till about two years back the workshop was doing the POH for all WR meter gauge steam locomotives. But now they are limited to only major repair work and condemnation. The following locomotives were seen - YP 2233 Mhow, YP 2151 Mhow (ready and returning in a week’s time), YP 2805 Sabarmati, YP 2102 Mhow (reserved for public display by Rajasthan Govt.), YP 2681 Jetalsar, YP 2622 Mhow (reserved for public display by Tamilnadu Govt.), YP 2323 Jetalsar, YP 2803 Sabarmati (without tender and condemned). Also spotted a boiler of YL locomotive which is planned to be used as a stationary boiler.

The workshop also overhauls and repairs all meter gauge diesel locomoties working on the WR. YDM 6716/6247 of Sabarmati loco shed were spotted.

The workshop has a rich archive collection of some very rare photographs. FNRM suggests that an exhibition of these and other rare articles be organised by the workshop for the public in near future.

Carriage and Wagon Works: This work- shop does the repair and modification work on the carriage and wagons of both HG & MG. It also maintains the coaches of ‘The Palace on Wheels’ and ‘The Royal Orient’. One coach of the old rake of the MG ‘Palace on Wheels’ is parked here for visitors to see.

In the backyard a condemned Rail Motor inspection Car of 12 seat capacity was spotted in good condition. On closer examination it was seen as marked ‘EZZRA 1009’, 1971 Ajmer Division. It had the makers plate on both side on the undercarriage. The markings were ‘1939 Baroda State Railway Builders, Loco Carriage Works, Goyagate, Tare 10.31 T’. FNRM strongly recommends that this rare and beautiful piece should be brought back to working order and be moved to the NRM at the earliest.

Also spotted a condemned and accidental shunting loco (engine missing) made by John Fowler & Co. (Leeds) Ltd., No.4200029 which had both the brass cabside plates intact. We recommend that the plates be removed and sent to the NRM for display. Also spotted two OBO type shunting locomotives in good condition. These were No. 1007 & 1009. An accidental WR Rail Motor inspection car ‘No. 1196 R’ was spotted. Although a rare one it was not found suitable for preservation.

In India, it is a part of our railway tradition to provide an official name to every train. The practice of naming trains which began during the ‘Railway Mania’ of the 30’s declined after the second World War. The railways then faced fierce competition from the road and the airlines. This led the railway managements, throughout the world to reorient themselves, in order to improve the image of the railways. Hence the great trains like the Flying Scotsman, Orient Express, Rheingold Express, were replaced by the sleek looking, fixed formation TGVs, HSTs, ICEs, XPTs, Shinkansen and so on.

In this context it is interesting to know which was the first officially named train in the world? Most railway historians agree that this record holder is the ‘Irish Mail’, which began its journey from London (Euston) on August 1, 1848. Though officially called by that name the train did not carry the nameplate depicting the words ‘Irish Mail’ until the Summer of 1927. The year 1927 was an exciting year for the Indian Railways due to the so called ‘race to Delhi’ between the GIP (Great Indian Peninsular) and BBCI (Bombay Baroda & Central India) railways. During this year the ‘Punjab Special’ of the BBCI competed with the GIP’s Bombay-Delhi boat mail. The BBCI’s Bombay-Delhi route dated back to 1909 and was 140 kilometers shorter than the GIP route, which had to run over several ghat sections. After Mathura the BBCI had the running rights over the GLR The BBCI won the race by cutting the schedule to less than 24 hours but many felt that GIP was the real winner since it took only 27 hours to cover a much longer distance with 18 intermediate stops. The excitement paled in the following year, i.e. 1928, but the BBCI again attracted attention by introducing the legendary ‘Frontier Mail’ on 1st September 1928. This train ran from Bombay to Peshawar (now in Pakistan), conveying troops to the Afghanistan frontier, covered the distance upto Delhi in 23 hour 35 minutes. In the 1930s the Frontier mail was slowed down by 15 minutes and it ran into Delhi in 23 hours 50 minutes. After independence, the Frontier mail continued to run upto Amritsar still doing the Delhi run in the same time. The Frontier Mail ‘was’ the pride of the Western Railway.

Recently, the name of the Frontier Mail has been changed to ‘Golden Temple Mail’ and with that the railways have erased the most legendary name in India’s passenger train history. This neglect for railway history was protested by many through articles and editorials in the newspapers. ‘The Statesman’ in Calcutta came out with an article on the history of the great train. Fortunately the travelling public still calls it the Frontier Mail.

During the earlier days of railways in India all the trains were named as mail trains since the carriage of postal mail was one of the most important service of the railways. It will be interesting to know which is the first named train of India. This answer is not clearly known though it appears to be the ‘Calcutta Mail’ from Bombay to Howrah via Allahabad. In the ‘Complete Book of Trains and Railroads”, John Westwood also mentions about the ‘Poona Mail’ of 1860’s. In ‘Railways of the Raj’ by Michael Satow & Ray Desmond there is a plate depicting the accident of ‘Poona Mail’ through a brake failure on the Bhore Ghat on 25th January 1969.

THE DARJEELING MAIL The newly formed ‘Darjeeling Himalayan Railway society’ set up to promote awareness of, interest in and support for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has made commendable progress in a short period to come up with a unique magazine - for a unique mission. This quarterly magazine features articles, historical facts, photographs and news from the line. It also features up-to-date travel advice to the line and is a mine of facts for information and research. For details contact Marilyn Metz, 80 Ridge Road. London N8 9NR, England (U.K.)

It was 07.15 hours and I climbed my grandmother’s house in Omlur to see and hear the Salem-Mettur Dam passenger, passing through the green fields, with its scintilating ‘chug-chug’ and sweet whistling before the level-crossing and ‘dada dada dada’ on the river bridge and finally vanishing in the mango groves. I was lucky to be only 7 years old to feel the happiness of enjoying a ride or look of a Steam Train.

My fascination increased when I happened to see working models of miniature trains in exhibitions and since then it continued to escalate, I started collecting stamps, books, models - anything and everything on trains.

On one occasion, I happened to read about a strange species of locomotive, ‘The Garratts’, in a book by John Westwood. These are the heaviest of the steam horses, which could haul the maximum load even on the steepest of gradients without slipping. They were named after an Englishman, Herbert Garratt, who invented and modified this design. They were manufactured by a firm called Beyer Peacock in England.

These were special type of locomotives, which are now rarely used in South Africa and Indonesia, mostly in mine trains. Their very existence has become a rarity.

These engines have a single boiler in the middle and have two engine units or power bogies, to which are attached the couplings and buffing gears. The cylinders are at the outer end of each unit. So in effect they are two locomotives with equivalent power however utilising a common boiler, coal tender and water tank.

Their wheel arrangement would mostly be 2-8-0+0-8-2 though the ones used in India were mostly 4-8-0+0-8-4 and 4-8-2+2-8-4. In such locomotives, the weight available for adhesion is spread over on several axles of the extra- driving wheels and hence, the stress on the rails is minimised and the adhesion is considerably increased. These two factors made them haul greater loads even on steeper gradients.

Ever since I read about the above facts, I longed to see such a giant. In 1970, I happened to see a photograph of such a great working wonder in the book ‘Indian Railways -- One Hundred Years’ published by the Ministry of Railways in 1953. I felt very happy to know that such a majestic emperor has also reigned our railway system. Since 1930, these locomotives have been used by the ‘Bengal Nagpur Railways’ in Coal trains and for mineral traffic over gradients.

I began enquiring as to where I could meet the greatest of all steam locomotives classes.

Jetalsar & Junagarh sheds (30.03.98) Only two passenger services remain on steam namely 331/32 Jetalsar-Dhola and 387/88 Junagarh-Dhari. Steam is pressed into minor shunting jobs at Junagarh and Jetalsar as and when the need arises. Jetalsar shed allocation is VP 2151/2257/2684/2679/2590. 2257 is the best performer of the shed.

The once upon a time grand Mhow shed (25-03-98) has been reduced to 4 locos namely YG 3261/3334/3724 and YG 2825. They are being utilised for banking services on the Patalpani-Kalakund ghat, shunting at Mhow and for hauling 89/90 between Mhow and Ratlam. The shed roads were being upgraded for diesel loco maintenance and there were rumours rife with the news of the steam shed closing shortly. YG 3333/4028 and VP 2508/2795 were seen dead at the yard awaiting scrapping.