SELF PROPELLED COACHES:

As the name implies, these trains do not require a separate engine to haul the formation. Each formation contains a minimum of two motor coaches and other trailer coaches as per the formation requirements. Further there are some other categories but the popular category being the Electrical Multiple Units (EMUs). Other categories include DEMUs, MEMUs and Metro Coaches.

Berth numbering system

Nilgiri Mountain Railway

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is now a world Heritage Site.Ride it to enjoy nature at its best 

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway connects Mettupalayam in the foothills to Ooty-as Udhagamandalam was called.There  was a time when the Nilgiri hills were inaccessible to the common travelller.One had to ride up on horseback following a bridle path or be carried on "dollies" through the forests to reach either Coonoor or Ooty.

A railway to connect the beautiful hill stationsof Coonoor and ooty,to the plains became necessary.The idea was mooted in 1854,but work on this dream project could begin only in 1891 and was completed in 1908.

A Swiss inventor named Riggenback offered to contruct the Nilgiri railway on his patented Rigi pattern.But his conditions could not be met and his proposal fell through.However,in 1882 he came to the Nilgiris on the invitation of the Government and submitted a detailed estimate for laying the line.A local company called " The Nilgiri Rigi Railway Co. Ltd."was formed.But it was 1886 before work finally commenced on the Rigi-system in metre gauge.

Coonor was the destination until 1899 and then the tracks were extended to Fernhill in 1908 and finally to Ooty a month later.The Madras Railway Company managed the railway line for the government.

The ideal way to begin your holiday in the hills would be tot take this little toy train.It sets the pace for a leisurely,stress free break from tests,exam,school,teachers and yes ,parents too. And as the train goes up hill and down vally,through tea estate and tunnels you get to see nature at its best.You will be pleasantly surprised by the brilliant gren of the tea bushes,the thundering sound of the waterfalls and the startled cry of the hoopoe as it flies out of a tree.

As a train slowly chugs its way over the viaduct,you may gasp as far below,you glimpse the trickle of the mountain stream on tis way to the plains.

Clinging to the mountainsides,the train manoeuvres the sharp curves,huffing and puffing along.

The stations with their quaint names Runnymede,Hill Grove,Adderly,Lovedale are picturesque.The stations are rlices of the Raj.

Mettupalayam is at an elevation of 330 metres and Udhagamandalam at an elevation of 2200 metres .So you can imagine the steep incline the train has to climb.

From Mettupalayam to kallar,the ride is prastically on a level ,but as soon as you leave kallar the climb begins.The line is a metre guage and the train uses the rack and pinion system ti climb the incline.This train is still fuelled by a steam engine.

Train to Udhampur

On 13 April 2005,Dr manmohan Singh dedicated to the nation the 54.85 km long Jammu-Udhampur rail lines and flagged off the tri weekly Uttar Sampark kranti Express . 

The Project was first sanctioned by the former Prime Minister late Mrs. Indra Gandhi in 1981-82 and a foundation stone was laid by her in Udhampur in 1983.While the estimated cost of the project initially was only rs. 50 Crore, the delay has caused a cost escalation of over rs. 460 crore. 

The Jammu-Udhampur line is 54.85 km long and has 22 tunnels along the route.part of the grandiose Jammu-Srinagar-baramulla rail Link Project,this section has 36 major bridges and 122 minor ones.  

This railway line will give a boost to tourist traffic for the valley, as the travelling time by road beyond the proposed railhead at Udhampur will be reduced. In addition to the economic gains the proposed extension of the railway line up to Baramulla would add to the social and cultural benefits and contribute towards strengthening the existing bonds that knit the people of the State with the rest of the Nation. 

The challenges of construction of this prestigious project in the mountainous terrain included the building of high embankments, long and tall bridges across deep gorges, long tunnels and deep cutting of the mountains. The challenge increased multi-fold as the project was executed in the highly difficult and varying hilly region of the young Himalayas, which are seismologically sensitive. 

An engineering marvels with state-of-art-technology included hollow tapering pier shafts raised on well/raft foundation in seismic zone of Himalayan regions, Cantilever construction of pre-stressed concrete high rise box girders, encompassing rivers, nallahs and unstable hill tops, tunnels through soft and medium fragile sedimentary rocky strata, further accentuated by the fact that the terrain is tough, approaches are difficult and overall un-favourable working environment.

The project links Jammu to Udhampur connecting on way four stations i.e. Bajalta, Sangar, Manwal and Ramnagar and crossing the mighty Tawi river and its tributaries Sardan, Ringhal, Gambhir and Dudhar. Completion of Jammu-Udhampur rail link is a first major step forward to the ambitious project of “Bridging Kashmir valley from Jammu to Baramulla” by rail. 

 

The Rack & Pinion System

This rail system is unique because it uses he Alternative Biting System(ABT) or the rack and pinion system.A special toothed-rack rail is mounted on the Sleepers between the running rails.The train is fitted with cog wheels,that mesh with the rack rail. From Coonor to Udhagamanadalam,it run on a non-rack system.

Normally when we travel by train we see the engine in the front .But in the NMR don't be surprised to see the engine at the tail end when climbing.This is because it has to push the train ups.And while descending the engine is in front making sure that the train comes down gradually.

The maximum speed of the train is 33 km per hour.it traverses 16 tunnels,26 bridges,with one big viaduct over the Bhavani.These are indeed feats of engineering,as they merge with Nature-never incongruous,never unattractive. 

Iron and Steel Bridges that have helped build Bridges of Understanding!

In an effort to link every corner of this vast and diverse land of ours,Indian railway has undertaken massive civil enginerring projects like tunneling ,laying tracks over ghat inclines and building bridges.Some of the earliest bridges constructd by Indian railways include:-

The Magnificent bridge,build on River Sone near Ara ,Bihar and opend in 1863 and the Ganga -the largest and most important of the bridges over the sacred river Ganga.this was officially opend in 1887

An overview about High Speed Rail (HSR)

The term "High Speed"may be understand differently over different Railways of the World.On Indian Railways,when Rajdhani/Shatabdi  Express was introduced at a speed of 140/150 kmph, was termed as a high speed train.However internationally the term "High Speed" is used if the following characteristics are fulfilled : 

• Separately constructed lines with defined standard of high speed 
• Vehciles for high speed traffic 
• Maximum speed for at least 200 km per hour and generally more than 250 km per hour.

The first  high - speed rail was Japan's Shinkansen Service between Tokyo and Osaka,which opened in 1964 with a maximum speed of 210 km/h.It is a dedicated HSR system,meaning that it was build specially for high speed trains and only high speed trains operate on it . 

France took the next big step for shared use HSR with the introduction of the Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) program in 1981. It proved that High speed rail could attract a large share of the airline market in medium-distance market.French railways are now operating train upto 300 km/h and constructing new lines with speed potential of 350 km/h .

Germany's high speed train system,the Intercity Express (ICE) began operations in 1992.Germany used a coordinated program of improvement in infrastructure ,rolling stock ,and services,upgrading much of the main line network of 200 km/h .This allowed ICE trains to efficiently share track with other trains and enabld Germany to expand its network quickly and cost effectively.

Italian,Swedish and British Railways use tilting trains to achieve high speeds on their existing network with minimm modification to track structure.Tilting trains can negotiate curves at up to full speed,which is 35 to 45 % faster than convenstional trains without any effect on the quality of  ride.

The development of these high-speed lines has been done over a period of more than forty years,between the middle of 1950s and the last decade.

Speed of various high speed trains operating internationally are as given below:

• USA -Amtrak's Acela -245Km/h
• Sweden-Arlanda Express -200Km/h
• Spain-Renfe's Alaris Tilting Train-220Km/h
• Sweden-X2000-200Km/h
• USA-California High Speed -320 km/h
• Italy-High Speed train ETR 500 - 300 km/h
• Finland-RHK's Pendolino - 200 km/h 
• Florida-Overland Express FOX -320 km/h
• Norway -The Gardermon Line -210 km/h 
• Germany- Inter City Express ICE -300 km/h
• Japan - JR Central's Shinkansen-270 km/h 
• Australia-Speedrail High Speed Railway-320 km/h 
• Switzerland-Tilting High Speed trains-200 km/h
• Taiwan- High Speed Rail Administration-300 km/h 
• France-SNCF's TVG train Grande Vitesse-320 km/h
• South Korea -Korean National Railroad's TGV -300 km/h
• Benelux/German/Farnce-Thalys PBKA-300 km/h
• UK-Railtrack's West Coast Main Line-225 km/h
• China-High Speed -250 m/h

Form the above table ,the high speed world over,reckons anything betwen 200 kmph to 320 kmph.Thus Indian Railway have to go a long way in attaining"High Speed" of international standard.      

Article from Telegraphs about Kolkatta Tram

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090208/images/08metrolead.pdf

Adarsh Coachs ......

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4352196.cms

Major "Firsts' in a 150 year journey

• India's First Railway Bridge :- The Dapoorie Viaduct on the Mumbai -Thane route 
  
• India's First Railway Tunnel :- Parsik Tunnel 
  
• India's First Ghat to be covered by Railway Lines :- Thal and Bhore Ghats.
  
• India's First Reversing Station : Thindharia 
  

  

Plateforms..

Of the seven railway stations in the world having the longest plateforms ,five are in India ! 

These are : 

Kharagpur (2733 ft.) The longest plateform in the world 

Sonepur (2410 ft.)

Lucknow(2250 ft.)

Bezwada (2100 ft.)

Jhansi (2025 ft.)

Article about Rail fanning ...

The letter but brought "RELIEF" to rail passengers !

Toilet first introduced in 1891,gradually became part of he construction of all coaches,saving passengers like Okhil Ch. Sen ,the ordeal described in the letter below,addressed to the Shainganj Divisional Office,West Bengal

Dear Sir,

I am arrive by passenger train at Ahemdpur Station and my belly is too much swelling with jack fruit.I am therefore went to privy,Just I doing the nuisance the guard making whistle blow for train to go off and i am running with Lotah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shockings to man and women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur Station

This too much bad,if passenger go to make dung,the dam guard not wait train five minutes for him.I am therfore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake,Otherwise I am making big report to papers

Your faithfully servant
Okhil Ch. Sen

Article about rail fanning in DNA Mumbai Edition