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Part 1. Godhra - Anand
1/1/80
| I have been very lucky to have made a number of trips to
India, usually travelling in the winter period. December 1979-January 1980 was my first
trip and New Years Day at Godhra was very special as amongst other things I had my first
cab ride on an Indian steam engine. |
| Godhra
is located on the WR mainline between Vadodara and Ratlam, it had two branches, one of
which was a narrow gauge line, the other a broad gauge line to Anand. |
| Godhra
had a small shed, which included a small allocation of the modern WL class pacifics, and
two old W class narrow gauge engines. Through workings on the line between Vadodara -
Ratlam were shared by Ratlam and Godhra locos, although the coal shortage had curtailed
some of these workings. |
CLICK TO ENLARGE |
| The
shed foreman Mr George D'Souza received New Year greetings from his staff as he was coping
with the coal shortage that threatened the cancellation of further services. Notice the
board behind him, showing engine availability and slogans for family planning. |
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ON THUMBNAILS TO ENLARGE. THEN HIT 'BACK' ON YOUR BROWSER TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE. |
| ALTERNATIVELY,
RIGHT CLICK ON THUMBNAIL AND SELECT 'OPEN IN NEW WINDOW' TO CONTINUE READING THIS
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WG
8497 being prepared for a freight working, using rags covered in oil the engine receives a
quick clean. The WL class with their red boilers had to be cleaned in the traditional way. |
| WL 15032, a light pacific is gently warmed up and
checked, I was invited to ride the engine when it worked the afternoon slow passenger
train to Anand. |
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WG 8198 was under heavy repair. |
| The narrow gauge engines W570 & 580 were stored
due to services on the narrow gauge line being suspended due to the coal shortage. |
BACK TO TOP
| Seen from the shed a WP wheels in the Sabarmati
Express, which it will take through to Vadodara Jn. |
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| WG 8497 gets its freight under way, notice the old
tender which was an auxillary water suply for the engine. The going away shot shows the
forest of semaphore signals in the yard area. |
| Earlier
I had seen WL 15040 depart on the morning train to Anand. As the engine gently drew away
people were still loading the parcels coach, the last photo shows the final passenger
before he boards the moving train and leaves a deserted platform. |
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Cab ride on WL 15032
working the afternoon train to Anand.
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Departing from a country station, approaching the
crossing. |
| The
fireman at work. A man ahead of his times by at least a decade in wearing a baseball cap
backwards! It was to become a young man's fashion statement in the 90's. After this trip I
realized I would need a wide angle lens if I was to take reasonable footplate photos. |
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The driver at work. |
| The fireman holding the single line token in its
pouch, ready to exchange the staff. |
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| The
cross with the opposite passenger train at Sevliga Jn. In charge is WG 8785, the close up
shows the staff about to be exchanged. |
| Nearing
the Anand end of the line we had another cross with a WG hauled freight and are shown
going into the loop. |
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| It was a wonderful New Year's Day for me and more
photos will be added to this page showing photos from other trips. |
| © All material on
this website is copyright Terry Case. Please feel free to download any of the
pictures for your own PERSONAL use or for any non commercial applications. This includes
using them on your own personal websites, or taking printouts and giving them out to your
friends. In the event of your using any material from this website, please credit
Terry Case as the photographer and source of information. The material and photographs
contained herein MAY NOT BE USED for any commercial purposes whatsoever. |
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