Chalti Ka Naam (Rail) Gaadi

My affair with trains began with my childhood days. Cheran, Cholan, Pandyan, and Pallavan were not names of Tamil kingdoms; to me, they were the daily express trains that screamed through Nungambakkam station everyday (except Cheran, which leaves from Central). My uncles used to take me for my evening outing most days around 5 o'clock, and the ambit of these trips invariably used to include Nungambakkam station and its environs. We used to go across Choolaimedu High Road towards the railway tracks. This particular road used to terminate at the railway embankment and there was a nice viewing spot from where one could survey all three (then) Metre Gauge (MG) lines charting a course south from Egmore. During that time of the day, we could see the Nungambakkam station a few hundred metres up the line bustling with the evening rush hour activity. This was interrupted with periodic evening departures out of Egmore to romantic destinations such as Quilon Jn. (Quilon Mail), Rameswaram (Mail), Tuticorin (Pearl City), Tirunelveli (Nellai Express), Madurai Jn. (Koodal, Pandyan, Mahal, Vaigai, etc.) to name a few. Also names like Rockfort, Kamban, Sethu, etc. never failed to invoke visions of some faraway station, bustling with activity, station masters sounding their typical whistle/gong before the trains depart, the guard waving his flag, the engine (in my dreams, steam) belching out exhaust and a long warning toot, people on the platform waving their last farewells, and the train slowly pulling out of the busy platform.

Nungambakkam used to present none of those visions. It was a sterile suburban station, with locals arriving and departing with clockwork precision. The only long distance visions were the above mentioned trains rushing on their ways behind cute YAM-1s (those were my favourites) or YDM4As. But that was enough for me build my dreams.

Later on, my interaction with trains grew more personal with my biennial trips to and from Bombay on the Mail or the (then so called) VT Express. I vividly recall sunflowers in some rural Karnataka district lining the tracks in neat rows while our train rushed past belching out diesel exhaust, which I would catch on my face as soot as I pressed my face to the window's guard rails. These experiences introduced me to more romantic destinations like Guntakal, Gooty, Wadi, Solapur, Renigunta, Cudappah, Poona and Kalyan. For some reason, I used to like the name Guntakal the most. Of course, my all time favourite was Thana (now Thane), where we would alight. I can recall early mornings on the 10 Up Mail around 0400 hrs., when we would gather our luggage and wait near the door, as the train noisily crossed the Thane creek and pulled to a stop at Thana.

As I grew up, I noticed a lot more about trains, electric or diesel, BG or MG, local or express, etc. Finding out that my grandfather had worked for the Western Railway and some his legends retold (apocryphally, no doubt) helped matters in this area. I used to enjoy my trips in Bombay suburban trains (of course, off peak hours only!), and would never lose a chance to visit a railway station. This happened when relatives arrived from elsewhere, and my Dad and I would set off to Thana to receive them. Usually, this would be an early morning trek to receive the 10 Up Mail from Madras Central. After moving south to Madras, these trips were directed to Madras Central, especially platform 1, where the legendary TN/GT used to arrive from Delhi.

Soon, I began to notice intricate details such as the type of loco, like WDM, WAM, WAP, etc. They did not hold much significance to me other than identifying if they were electric or diesel and their appearances.

Imagine my joy when one boring day in college, I discovered that I was not the only one interested in these details. Some of my close friends also used to do the same! So I was not the only nut in the world, and did not have to bear the ribbing from some of my cousins! IR served to strengthen our friendships further, and soon we discovered a wonderful website called IRFCA . An Indian Railway Fan Club, of all things! I was in cloud nine! Soon, I read about WAPx classes, WDMx, and other classes of locomotives, and gained an immense knowledge about trains that continues to grow even as I write this.

I was (and am) not the only rail fan in the world!