steam masala

Twenty images of Indian steam during the evening of steam traction between 1980 and 1987.

Featuring ELEVEN classes of locomotives on THREE gauges.

From the mountains to the sea.

VISITORS SINCE OCT.1999:

Number of hits mentioned above is inaccurate due to counters from previous provider being defunct for over three months without notice, consequent to which the starting number had to be extrapolated on this counter from another source.

All shot during my travels in India over the years.

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PS: That is NOT me in the picture!

Without further ado, let us jump straight into the photo gallery, beginning with the mighty Himalayas, way up North.

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2.A rare bird: a WM on the Northern Railway returns to shed after duties in December 1980.

3.An Indian beauty queen, the WP, as she reflects upon her bygone glory en route to Agra with the 362 New Delhi-Agra Passenger in December 1980.

4.With the sun now high up in the sky, another WP beauty queen departs Hazrat Nizamuddin station in Delhi in December 1980 with the Agra Passenger.

5.Travelling down a little, we encounter this CWD leaving Benares (Varanasi) with a freight train heading eastwards towards Mughalsarai. (December 1980). Note the metre gauge track in the foreground.

6.Its just after eight on a cold winter's night in 1983 when a majestic WP steams into Lucknow Jn. with the Mail from Jhansi.

7. A dimunitive 2'6" gauge CC class 4-6-2 of 1906 vintage makes a hefty effort out of Raipur City in Jan. 1984 with the 1RD Raipur-Dhamtari train. It was a convention of yesteryear to sometimes classify engines (esp. on the ng) in keeping with the end-points of the routes they served, and later engines on the route were classed RD.

8.Ranchi had been a legendary transhipment point between bg and ng. In this shot, a massive bg WG brings in the Jharsuguda-Ranchi mixed, with two pint sized ng BS engines in the background which have brought in a heavy bauxite train from Lohardaga.

9. A gaily decorated YP # 2212 prepares to do her country proud as she readies to leave Ahmedabad on Republic Day of 1984 with the 42 Fast Passenger to Abu Road.

10.Metre gauge express:A WR YP hauls the 16-car Delhi-Udaipur Chetak Express through rugged countryside near Debari in January 1982.

11. And still in the Western region, a YG departs Ahmedabad in 1982 with the 56 Passenger in January 1982.

12.Moving Southwards to the Braganza Ghats, a hardy YD 2-8-2 on the SC banks a diesel hauled 297 Mandovi Passenger against a dramatic backdrop of the Dudhsagar Falls on the Miraj-Goa line.

13. Two YDs on the SC wish each other a very good morning as they cross at Majorda near Goa in December 1983.

14. Carrying out precisely what they had been designed to do in the first place, two YGs make a hefty effort with a massive mg freight as they accelerate through Londa on Christmas eve in 1981, having exchanged tokens without stopping.

15.South Indian magic and an aerial view as a YG works the daily train over the summit on the branch line from Bodinayakkanur to Madurai in December 1984.

16.The YG on the 772 Bodinayakkanur is now closer to Madurai, and does her stuff against the backdrop of the Cardamom Hills in December 1984.

17. A light axle load YL accelerates quickly out of Nazareth on the Tirunelveili - Tiruchendur line in January 1985.

18.Heading towards the sea now, we encounter a fast running WP near Balugan in January 1987 with the 217 mixed to Palasa.

19.A WP on the SC accelerates out of Vijayawada in November 1980 with the 505 Passenger to Narsapur. This pic was shot from on board the Calcutta bound Coromandel Express.

20. The smell of salt and spray greet a SER WP on the as she skirts the massive Chilka lake in January 1987 with the Tirupati-Puri Express.

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Comments/Questions?

E-mail me at: jlacey@zeta.org.au

Steam Masala