Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

The Chinese Rail Road are also interested in developing our Railways... I feel they are better suited for the job, since they
have all kinds of Locomotives, gauges and infrastructures in their Railway system. From the 350 Km per hour High Speed
system to Narrow gauge Steam Trains, for connecting small villages and coal mines deep inside China.
Here are some You tube videos....Please note that mostly the rails are on Elevated support. This is done so that Humans
and Cattle will not get in the way....Where it is on ground level,note the fencing on both sides of the track for the same reason...
The tracks are held in place with solid concrete sleepers making the Tracks true and rigid to support the high speed.

The stunning Shanghai to Beijing Bullet train....Please do see the Stations and how they are built....and maintained...

The total distance between Shanghai to Beijing of over 1,300 Kms is covered in 4 hrs and 55 minutes, including stop
at in between stations..




Another Video showing the Facilities Inside the train including a medical emergency room....again note the infrastructure .




The Shibanxi railway system which is preserved as a Heritage Railway in China....

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Since August 2015 Indian Railways had Successfully Developed and implemented on trial basis a VANDAL PROOF Warning system for Un Manned Level Crossings. It had been tried in the Coimbatore to Mettupalayam section for the last three months with success.

Research and Development and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the Indian Railways which had finalized the design and development , had recommended implementation of the same to all Zonal Divisions for preventing accidents at un manned level crossings.

Mishaps at these Unmanned Level crossings account for 40% of Accidents and 60% of deaths.

There are about 30,348 Level crossings out of which about 11,563 are unmanned.

The Warning unit consist of TWO Blinkers and an Audible Siren ,which activates, when there is a train 1 km away approaching the level crossing. The unit is powered by Solar system and is Vandal Proof. If any one tries to tamper with it, a SMS is sent to the pre-programed mobile number, alerting the authorities .The unit also sends info about train crossing to a pre-programed mobile no .The sensors are placed about 1 km distance from level crossing so that the alarm is given in advance..

The Railway Board had strongly advised all Zonal divisions to implement the same at the earliest.

Starting from October The Railways had also increased the speed of trains .This was possible through judicious management of train crossings, stops ,and rake and Loco utilization,and UP GRADATION of rails .

On an average a passenger train runs at 100 Kmph...This is now increased to 130 Kmph . The Speed increase is implemented first in Central and Western Railway .The target is to run trains at 160 Kmph soon, though a Massive Infrastructure Up gradation is required for this...Still the Delhi -Agra section is presently being tried and train services are run at 160 Kmph to evaluate the shortcomings and remedies required.
A high speed corridor to run trains at above 200 Kmph is going to be tried in the Bandra-Kurla to Thane section to learn and implement High Speed trains.

Central Railway had re-scheduled 17 trains and Western Railways had re-scheduled 42 trains to the 130 Kmph speed.

Patna Bandra Express had cut time by 1 hour and 45 minutes, while Puri-Gandhidam Express had cut 2 hrs and 30 minutes from it's running time.

All Rajdhanis and Shatbdi trains are re-scheduled and will run at 130 Kmph minimum.


Here is a look at the spending by the Indian Railways towards different aspects of it's running.....New Lines and passenger amenities spending had increased which is a good sign Track Doubling had also increased substantially ,which will enable trains to run Faster and On Schedule.......but Of worry is the money spent on Renewal of old Tracks which is very important for SAFE Running of Trains...Rolling stock Expenses also very low indicating lesser addition of Rakes...

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Let us have a brief look at the Indian Railways Operation..

1. The Indian Railways is 162 years old and is the Oldest in Asia.

2.It Employs more than 1.3 Million People.

3. Total Track Length exceeds 65,000 Kms ..enough to go around the world One and a Half Times.

4. India's Growth rate is directly dependent on How Much and How Fast Good are moved through Railways.

5. A Freight Only Corridor is being Developed at a Cost of 175 Billion Rupees

6. Totally there are about 7,500 stations of which Select 400 stations are going to have WiFi.

7. Indian Railways Moves approximately 23 Million people.

8. Track traffic density is 70% Passenger Train and 30 % Goods train....but the 70% passenger train generates only 25% revenue for the IR.

9. The IR also supports 125 Hospitals and 168 schools.

10. With Un-Reserved seats at a lower Rates, most Trains are packed to full in General Compartments and there is a proposal to increase the numbers soon.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Indian Railways is actively thinking of implementing Ticket fare based on early booking, just like in Airline System.
The New Scheme is to be named Vikalp , in which passengers can book tickets upto 120 days in advance through the net portal, and price of ticket will be the least for tickets booked, 120 days ahead of journey, the prices will marginally increase every 10 days. Similarly, even cancellation of tickets will get more expensive closer to the date of your travel.Indian Railways do have a wide reach and considering the erratic flight situation coupled with high costs, trains are often the most preferred mode of travel for Indians even over long journeys.

Another value addition being tried out in Central and Western Railways is, Wait listed passengers on two sectors of the Indian Railways will be able to get confirmed berths in the next train on the same route , as per a new experiment the national transporter is trying out.The Railways issued a statement saying the pilot project of a new scheme, named Vikalp, will be launched on the Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu routes immediately.

The idea is to accommodate wait listed passengers into another train on the same route subject to availability.


For the first six months, the option will be available only to those who book tickets online and for Mail or Express trains.

At no extra cost, passengers booking online will be presented with a menu of alternate trains on same route if the train has wait listed tickets.

The Railways aims to achieve the twin objectives of providing confirmed accommodation to wait listed passengers and to ensure optimal utilisation of available accommodation by this scheme.

If a passenger opts for the" Vikalp "scheme while booking tickets online, he/she will get an SMS alert about confirmed accommodation in an alternative train.

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In keeping with Fuel Saving design Changes, Indian Railways had built GENSET based Locos having 2,400 Hp consisting of 3 X 800 HP Gensets. These engines consume 10% less fuel than conventional Diesel Loco engines, and are State of the art Microprocessor controlled.
The main advantage of this type of engine is, while all 3 gensets will work during initial start and run, when the Loco is cruising , TWO of the Gensets can be switched off and a single Genset power will be adequate for keeping the Entire Train running at required speed...The same way when the Loco is idling TWO of the Gensets can be switched Off with only one idling . This can save upto 15~30 % of fuel which is a Huge saving considering the fact that the older WDM series of Locos consume 8~10 liters per kilometer and WDP series consume about 4~5 liters per Kilometer. ..IR has about 5,100 WDM+WDG series Locos and 1,100 WDP+WDG Locos. The calculation is for a Passenger train with 10~12 Wagons...as Load increases, so will the diesel consumed...for example the WDG series Locos consume upto 10 liters per Kilometer with 40 box cars.

IR had built 2 of these Genset Locos which are undergoing Trials. In the United States of America, Recycling of old Locos and Converting them to Genset is taking place at a Higher rate...They had already converted 500 Locos and are in Active Service.

One of the major Advantage of Genset engines is that they can be run of Natural gas of both CNG and LPG.This drastically reduces operating cost and Pollution to the environment. The emission is almost 50% lower compared to Diesel .

Here is the Picture of the Genset model with ID ..WDM2G (G for Genset).

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Everything else, but this one; is welcome!
(Students,) IT professionals and most people in the private domain do not know if they'll secure leaves in the next month, let alone 4 months in advance. Students don't know exact dates when their exams end until the exam dates actually come closer.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

This is really a great initiative. But, will people accept the rational increase in cost as the day comes closer to their travel date. Suppose if the ticket cost for the entire 120 days is 100 , but due to this current implementation, will it increase beyond the actual cost of the ticket (i.e) WIll it go more than 100 or limited to 100.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Yes..but more important is the fact that tickets will be blocked in advance and those who didn't get it have to wait ,with insecurity. One of the more important aspect of the proposed scheme is the preference offered for an alternate train through SMS without additional cost, which would help in making decision to book the ticket or not....Knowing IRTC operation the biggest let down will be touts doing the blocking and actual passenger may have to pay higher amount, esp., during festival times and summer vacation time.
From what I had understood, the actual fare in full will be applicable for late booking less than 10 days or so...and 120 days early booking will be Actual fare minus the discount offered.....
The IR Spokesperson had made it clear that The trial implementation is being done to evaluate the pros and cons and will be fine tuned before National Implementation with FEED BACK from passengers on the Scheme....

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Close on the heels of the 1,000 numbers of Diesel Locos purchase plan from GE EMD another announcement had been made by the ministry for Railways that Indian Railways are going purchase Electric Locos from Alstom of 6,000 HP single headed and 12,000 HP double ended capacity.

The Global Tender participants were Alstom , Bombardier , and Siemens. Alstom's quote of below 30 Crores Each for the locomotive was the lowest.The Order is worth 3 billion Euros and the Locomotive is expected to be built in INDIA with inflow of 100% Foreign Direct Investment in the railway sector allowed by the Government which had provided a renewed push to the Indian mainline railway sector. The construction and maintenance will be by Alstom, for the first 10 years. Indian Railways will invest 26% of the Total cost .

The average number of LOCOS to be constructed in INDIA by ALSTOM will be 80 per year for the next 10 years...amounting to 800 LOCOS.

This project includes the set-up of a plant at Madhepura (Bihar state) and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh state) and Nagpur (Maharashtra state). The delivery of the locomotives will spread between 2018 and 2028.

The Factory is expected to cost 4,000~5,000 Crores .

The contract covers a single type of locomotive, which is to be development of previous Prima family designs including locomotives supplied to Kazakhstan but with modifications to suit Indian requirements. They will have IGBT traction controls, be rated at 9 000 kW at the wheel rim and have a maximum speed of 120 km/h.
The locomotives are to be used on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor for hauling 6 000 tonne trains at 100 km/h, and also on other routes to raise the average speed of heavy freight trains from between 25 and 30 km/h to between 50 and 60 km/h.

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

A very Interesting and Innovative kind of use of Rail is followed in Cambodia Vietnam...

During their colonial rule, the French put 400 miles of rail line across Cambodia, but the years of war, civil war, and general instability since they departed the country in 1953 have taken their toll. Although the Khmer Rouge were overthrown by the Vietnamese in early 1979 after a four-year reign of terror, they continued to wage guerrilla war throughout the country into the late 1990s, and making the Railways as one of their Prime Target.
Due to these reasons the Normal Train stopped totally...The natives who used the Railroad extensively were severely handicapped....They could not reach Main Cities to buy , and to Sell Rice and other products . The Road was non existent and not motor-able...
Necessity drove them to invent a means of Locomotion, using the old rails to help themselves ..
Thus was born " Norry " The Bamboo Train....
This train is capable of doing Bone Rattling Hair raising speed of 50 Kmph....
It is made of a small platform which sits on a Pair of wheels ,welded together to run on rails. One of the wheel is connected through common car belts to a generator motor through pulleys. The whole platform cab lifted by two people , and the wheels will be free on the rails....This enables Two norries to use the only track available to do bi-directional drive...If two trains on opposite direction comes on same track, then the one with lighter load gets off the track allowing the heavier one to pass...here are some interesting pictures...

The wheels on the rails...

The Norry getting assembled..

The assembled Norry

The wheel with the Brake Pads on top..

The Engine...

Norries waiting at a Station...

Normal Load...

Heavy loads with higher power engine...

The Driver with the Accelerator/ clutch control in his left hand..


A Ride Experience ....
https://[URL]https://www.youtube.com...[/URL]

A fast run on a Bamboo Train....at 50 Kmph..

https://[URL]https://www.youtube.com...[/URL]

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Its so astonishing to see people improvising from scraps to run their daily work and earn out of it. Hats off to these people, definitely a Jugaad...

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Necessity is the mother of Inventions. Vietnam had seen countless wars, exploitation , Khmer Rouge Govt's organized Genocide , and a total lack of Law and Order, pushing it's citizen's to the brink of extinction ....still they have bounced back mainly due to innovative self development like these..

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Indian Railways had manufactured on trial basis , a Swanky New Coach for passengers with plenty of amenities as standard fitments...

Re: An INTRO to Locomotives..Steam /Diesel Electric / Electric.

Indian Railways are on to making Trains go faster and safer..Baby steps had been taken with the launch of Gatiman Express which runs 200 Kms in 1 hour 40 minutes. This may seem lame in comparison to 200~300 Kmph speeds in foreign countries, but is the first step towards a faster Railways commute. It has only Air conditioned Chair cars and two classes. The normal one costs 690/- while the business class will be 1300+. The train has hostess, Pantry with good cuisine dining , GPS and other connectivity, including Satelite TV
The train runs from Nizamudin to Agra...
some pictures of the train...