The best and longest train trip I have ever taken was a 4-5 day trip across India by train. No, I did not take the ‘Palace on Wheels’ so heavily promoted by the Tourist Boards- I took the same trains that so many Indians take. And the Indians are a train-traveling bunch-Indian Rail (IR) will carry the equivalent of the population of Australia – 14 million people - every day.  Over 1 million tons of freight will moved by Indian Rail today-each day- utilizing 61,000+ locomotives, ranging from narrow gauge steam relics of the Raj (British Colonial Rule) to high speed imported and home-built Diesel hydraulic, Electric and Diesel-electric streamliners and a fleet of 500,000 cars. Indian Railways has annual revenues of nearly 10 billion dollars. 

I had never dreamed of visiting India until 1996 and an opportunity came up to visit the country (all expenses except airfare paid) in January of 1997. I spent 6 months reading and learning about the people. 

Most of my childhood visions of India came from a 1920’s British Encyclopedia edition of “The Book of Knowledge” and Kipling’s ‘Barrack-Room Ballads’.  Many of the photos in the encyclopedia dated from before the turn of the century. Surprisingly, the views and photos of Varanasi/Benares looked the same despite the ensuing 100 years. For views of Varanasi try: http://travel.indiamart.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/ 

My adult views came from reading the “Flashman” series about the further adventures of the bully/cad kicked out of Rugby School in “Tom Brown’s School Days”. I hadn’t thought seriously about going to India-but when the opportunity came up- Why not? 

Judy (my SO) and I paid a bit more than the average Indian national for the trip-but we were allowed to ‘bump’ others waiting and got accommodations that we would otherwise would not have been able to get. Ticket scalping is a common practice-don’t do it! Or encourage it by buying from ticket scalpers. The Indian Railways has attempted to discourage this practice by ‘touts’ and the ticket agents in collusion with them by computerizing. By being friendly and forceful, you can usually get what you want by merely going up the chain of command. A wise traveler usually has a letter of introduction from some official ministry, (IR is a quasi–government agency) so use it.  Don’t take photos on the train platforms unless you have a letter of permission from the IR.  Don’t lose your temper, don’t pay bribes. If you don’t get what you want, rent a room and sleep on it. A different set of officials will be on duty in the morning. Most educated people in India, have a reasonable understanding of English, though there may be some grammatical disconnections in their speech. (How many of us can speak even a few words of Hindi, Tamil or one of the seven or so other major Indian languages?) 

Again, remember that passable accommodations are available at most stations for $3-5. Cost for a 1^st class 2000-mile trip for 2 people? Less than $150.00. For $250 each we could have had 30-day unlimited mileage ‘All-India’ rail passes. 500 Rs (Rupees) or $10.00 (at 34 Rupee to the dollar) buys luxury hotel level accommodations while some of the lodging we stayed at cost less than  $1.00 per day and was perfectly acceptable. Think “Scotch Inn”.  Currently it’s 40 Rs. to the dollar-and I’m looking forward to going back. Mildly spiced all- you-can-eat vegetarian food (Thali’s) are available for 50-100 Rs. Motor Rickshaw rides are 20 Rs. Cab rides-rental for ½ day (in the ubiquitous Hindustani Ambassador AKA Morris Oxford) 100-200 Rs. 

Once you get away from New Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal), Bombay, and some of the other northern cities, the people are very friendly. We visited with the barest of acquaintances in Ahmedabad (textiles museum, Gandhi memorial, step well), Mt Abu, Udipur (Lake Palace), and Varanasi (temples, ghats, stupas). People would take the time to entertain us, show us around, arrange site-seeing visits, and help us get tickets to our next destination. The biggest, newest, building I saw in Ahmedabad in 1997 was the Indian Institute of Physics, and we drove around a secure government facility on the road from Mt. Abu to Ahmedabad. The bus driver told us not to take pictures as it was connected with the nuclear program.  No wonder the CIA, NSA and the rest of the alphabet agencies couldn’t figure out that India was going to test an atomic bomb, they never asked a bus driver! 

Rail stations may have general and women’s waiting rooms, ‘heat-stroke’ rooms, vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants, male and female lying in rooms (think YMCA-style overnight accommodations), long and short term baggage check, mail, less than car-load freight, and express package handling. The stations range from British modeled stations in the North to open sided sheds in the South. In a lot of cases the tracks are still controlled by switch towers that throw the rails utilizing muscle power. On many sections of the system, the operation is controlled by a system of token passing. That is, before a train is clear to pass it must have a ball token handed to the driver (engineer) by the stationmaster. If none is available, the train must go into a siding and wait for the next train through.  For convenience, these are attached to large hoops, which are passed from the platform to the driver’s assistant, on the fly. 

The Stationmaster of even a small town may have a staff of 50 or more. This would include trackwalkers, track maintenance personnel, security people, porters, ticket agents, and computer/telegraphers/communication specialists. In large cities squatters will build right up to the edge of the right-of-way and wander across the tracks with what in the US would be considered reckless abandon. In large cities like Mumbai (Bombay) or Calcutta, rail-pedestrian accidents kill at least one to five persons a day. Some passengers pull the emergency cord for unscheduled stops at villages or pilgrimage sites and then get off the train. 20 people recently got killed this way when the train on the other track couldn’t stop in time. 

Bus trips, bicycle rickshaws, motor rickshaws, and car rentals (you get a driver, too) supplemented our rail journey and got us to places where trains didn’t go. Buses often have TV’s and VCR’s playing the latest pirated Bollywood (pseudo-MTV) spectacular. Often the driver replays his or his assistant’s favorite song 3 or 4 times during the course of an hour’s trip. The death wish is strong with these drivers, and it takes a tactful approach to get them to alter the volume or fast-forward the tape. Bad Indian film music sounds like cats dying in an ASPCA member’s nightmare to most Western ears (Don’t think Ravi Shankir, think N’Sync and Britney Spears-at it’s best it’s repetitive, at it’s worst...well just hope your teenage daughter doesn’t become addicted to it). Remember, bus/truck drivers are already traveling on the wrong side of the road. No, I don’t mean that they are traveling on the left (British) side of the road, I mean they are on the RIGHT side of the road, passing slower drivers, ox carts, bicycles, elephants, naked holy men, tractors, and pedestrians on the left. Traffic rules are semi-optional. In a big city this means that if your side of the divided highway is full, well, use the other side. Trucks and buses can be decorated with elaborate brilliant decoration including prayers, figures, and quotes like a Dr. Bonner’s soap dispenser. Motor rickshaws often feature detuned motorcycle engines that burn kerosene rather than the more expensive petrol. 

In India, restaurant/fast food is often served on large leaves instead of paper, so this leads to different patterns of trash than in the US. Chai (spiced tea) or coffee (spiced) is often served in little terra cotta pots that remind one of flowerpots. Yes, there are cows roaming freely even in the largest cities. And you shouldn’t think of them as passive creatures, they are aggressive, voracious, consumers of all that is green. One look at them, and you will know why so many Indians are vegetarians. Additionally, packs of stray dogs congregate on each corner, even in New Delhi. In some cities, pigs operate as garbage disposal, and packs of monkeys roam the rooftops. Even in January in the North of India-there are days when it was brutally hot. ‘Step-wells’ were the only way to escape the heat before air-conditioning. Imagine a 5-story building, turn it upside down, and then dig that deep into rock. It’s cool at the bottom, and progressively hotter, the closer you get to the surface. 

Varanasi is the home of the local Diesel production facility (they produce the WDM-2 which-is based on an Alco Export model). Indian rail aficionados are very proud of the sounds and smoke that these dinosaurs produce, so much so that the IRFCA website has an audio file of one accelerating past a camera position. If you are Hindu and die in Varanasi/Benares you go directly to Nirvana. Perhaps it’s because of the proximity of the pseudo-Alco factory. I suppose very much like a New River Gorge aficionado visiting ‘Hawks Nest’. 

While I was in India- I saw narrow gauge (meter) steam, wide gauge diesel and high speed electric, and never left the main lines for the ‘tourist’ lines like the Darjeeling, Konkan or Simla lines. See the Indian Rail Fans FAQ http://www.geocities.com/irfca_faq/toc.html they have a very active and arcane discussion of IR activities. There are also specialty sites for the narrow ‘heritage lines’ like the toy trains to Simla and Darjeeling. I didn’t discover this discussion group till after my return, or perhaps I would have been more concerned if I had known that many IR locomotive speedometers don’t work. The record time for a lost IR cargo load is 2+ years. This was a car-load of high explosive bound for the Indian Navy that lost it’s destination tickets and was shunted back and forth until somebody opened it up and figured out what it was. (Good thing they weren’t smoking.) 

The ghats frequently referred to in the IRFCA discussion are passes through the mountains with runaway train provisions. Think Cass, West Virginia, for 50 car trains with runaway truck ramps. If the train doesn’t stop at the top of the grade, coming to a complete halt for a specified period of time, it is automatically switched to the deceleration ramp. There is no relationship to the ghats of Varanasi, where the dead are burned, unless, of course the train is unable to stop, even on the emergency ramp. “Sheds” are more like division points or regions. Indian Railways run on mostly ‘wide gauge’ (over 5’) though NG, and MG are distinguished and commonly recognized track standards. 

Later on my list of additions to this module is a WDM-2 (Atlas FM Trainmaster painted for Indian Rail) and a “rake” of Indian Coach Factory (ICF) 2^nd Class sleepers and day coaches (the ‘Up-Mela Train’)- having spent 24 hours in an non-AC Sleeper, I have a particular fondness for them. Each car is home to 100 or more people for an evening. Train restrooms have either western toilets or non-American style facilities to squat. BYOTP. Thank God or Ganesh (Hindu Elephant God) that it was January and fairly cool at night. No Indian passenger car looks complete without somebody looking or hanging out the doorway. At least one of the IFCA sites mentions rail fanning from the front of the locomotive, and other practices that in the US are only practiced by candidates for Darwinian awards are commonplace. Much of the Indian Rail mainlines are electrified but many major routes are not, so the WDM2 and now later models based on GM export models are still haulers for the majority of the system. 

The temple on this module is like the Buddhist Stupas (temples) we saw near Benares/Varanasi. The abandoned monorail (and cars) was used for hauling crops to the railhead-the Delhi rail museum has a working monorail steam engine that I was fortunate enough to ride. For a view try Donald W. Dickens Indian Monorail page:  http://www.e-z.net/~ddickens/monorail/ or the IRFCA FAQ above. 

The wedding procession, the tractors and white horse are very much what I saw around Udipur and New Delhi during that January and February. (Or Crystal City/ Arlington, VA for that matter; the Washington Post a few years ago published a photo of a very uncomfortable NRI bridegroom on a horse). 

Construction is foam over plywood; plaster cloth over rest, paper-mache, and the switch tower is from an imported British Rail N-Scale Radius kit that included interior detailing. Palm trees are from a bakery supply shop - idea stolen from Maj. Gen Tremordan Rederring’s Site: http://www.zeitcom.com/majgen/index.html 

For directions on modeling Indian Rail prototypes visit Dr. K.J. Walker’s page- http://www.home.acenet.net.au/kjw-meh/indrlmdl.htm 

Yes, the ground looks a little redder than we are used to - that’s ‘cause the Indian Continent is redder than we are used to. The yellow trees and faded roadway, buff ballast and riverbed stone is recognition that in January- Monsoon is still some 2-3 months off.  Yes, Virginia, there is electricity in the overhead trolley wire, and very much like the real thing, it may cause sudden violent death if you touch it. If not from the voltage, certainly from the owner of the module who is given to sudden violent fits of temper when it is touched. The trolley wire and N-Cat rail are wired for DCC. Yes, I may consider putting an elephant in there someday. 

Hopefully, by the time you read this I will have a sound effect CD burned and the speakers and CD player Velcro-ed to the module. (I’ll be providing the sounds in .wav file format to our Webmaster so if you want to hear them press here  [Not yet, you don’t!!! – ed.]) 

Visit India. It’s different than you expect, and more than this article could possibly explain. A recent article compared train travel in India with travel by the Acela- the writer realized that from Boston to Washington, he talked to 2 people-whereas on an Indian train, he would have talked to at least 5 times that number, and become familiar enough with fellow traveler’s families to call on them for dinner if he was lonely and in an unfamiliar town. If my affection for the IR, peoples of India, and for the land of India is not apparent, let me assure you that I would go there again in a heartbeat.   

Evolution of Rahway, Rajastan, Roslyn and Alexandria Modules

For me, the hardest thing in building a N-Trak Module is the legs. I early on gave up on the idea of having those folding wooden legs and then began work on the detachable electrical conduit version of the legs. 

For months I was hung up on how to attach nuts to washers with 5 minute epoxy and then to the legs. It didn’t work. So then, I asked somebody and looked at their module’s legs. They used a threaded washer with points that was hammered into a dowel that was secured inside the conduit by a nail.  

Ah, it became clearer, it only took me 3 more months to realize that the eye-bolts that I bought to use as leg ends for the wooden legs wouldn’t work for the metal ones. They were too large. 

So, I bought new, smaller ones, and they worked! They fit inside the legs. Break each job down into the smallest component of the job and it may be easier than attempting to do the whole thing at once. 

But then the legs splayed further than Bambi’s on his first stand-up. 

So, back to wooden ones.  I used Brad Petersen’s source for hinges and built the legs from wood and attached them that way. Good thing I hadn’t thrown away those large eyebolts. His module looks like it was built by a cabinetmaker, mine by a woodbutcher. 

So,on to the wiring harness. I am not famously good at soldering electrical or plumbing joints. So, I felt some trepidation when I began work on soldering the Cinch Jones connectors to the lamp (zip) cord. Really what I should have been worried about (and wasn’t) was the alarming ease with which the security pins on the connectors disappear into the ‘locked’ position on the connectors and the ease (or lack thereof) with which the head of the pin came off in my needle nose pliers. Of course, this did not happen evenly over the supply of male and female connectors-the male connectors were the most affected. I pressed on irregardless, ribbed to the front of the module, consulting my trusty N-Trak book regularly. After soldering the leads to the connector I would wrap the finished product with electrical tape, and stuff it back into the connector shell. And after testing with my meter to be sure that the connection was electrically sound, I would then wire it into the connector strip, wrapping it with the appropriate color tape when done. I then secured the wiring harness and connector strip to the module with drywall screws and Velcro strips (to hold the dangling wires). I then tested it again with my power pack wired into a male socket, plugged into a female ‘line’ (red, blue, white or yellow) socket and tested the male socket at the other end of the module to see if there was power. On my first module it worked the first time!  

Then on the top of the module, I used a square and straight edge to draw lines the length of the module, and attached roadbed, spraying first with ‘wet’ water (water with detergent), then dilute matte medium (1 part to 5 water). I then positioned and put down 1 section of track, clamping a board at one end and using a 2.5” section of track to position the flex track. More ‘wet’ water, matte medium and time (for drying). 

To connect the connector points to the track, I first soldered wires to the undersides of rail connectors, drilled holes, attached the connectors to the rails, stuffed the wires down the holes and used these to supply power to the track. I connected the ends directly to my power pack with alligator clips and using a DC meter, I checked and verified that there was track power. Then, using a rail nipper I trimmed the loose ends of the wire. Then, one track at a time, I took each rail’s wire wrapped another wire around it and plugged it into the connector strip. Then, using a automotive connector, I attached the two wires, used the Cinch Jones connector/power pack connection and verified that there was power at the correct rail(s). I then trimmed the excess.

Eureka, a module!