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April 10, 2005
A Circular Train Trip
Went for a short train trip today, with some email-buddies: Samit and Sourav. We are all members of a Yahoo group about Indian Railways appreciation - these two formed the Kolkata 'branch'. If you wish to know more about the group, see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/ or http://www.irfca.org/
I am not a 'hardened railroad nut', as many on the group are, but I do like riding the rails throughout India. Samit and Sourav had organised a small circular journey from Kolkata; departure just after 8am. I went to the station early, for a pleasant and relaxed breakfast of onion omelette with a liitle green chili, 4 slices of triangular (a first for me) butter toast, and a pot of tea, which came with a an old one-person teapot, and separate cup, saucer, milk jug, sugar bowl. This is a standard Indian Railways breakfast, and very good value at 28rs - about 66c US or 35p UK.
I had picked up some newspapers in English from a vendor outside first of all - being Sunday, the papers are thicker, and cost 5rs each (about 12c US) insted of the more normal 1rs. Available in Kolkata this morning were the Times of India, the Telegraph, and the Statesman The papers were all reporting the Pope's funeral, the marriage of Charles and Camilla, and the visit to India of the Chinese premier, plus a story about a woman who had a leech living in her nose for some time, without realising it until she went to the doctor with peristent nose bleeds, and the doctor saw it peeping out.
On the 'funny pages' are Peanuts, Archie, Hagar the Horrible, Dennis the Menace, Beau Peep, the Wizard of Id, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, Beetle Bailey, and Ripley's Believe It or Not. They help to start the day, before the more depressing local and international news.
Sourav and Tim, on the Akal Takht Express
Met my friends downstairs at the bookstall, and we bought our tickets: superfast express from Kolkata's 'Sealdah' station via Asansol and Adhra to Kolkata's 'Howrah' station. The total journey took all day, (SuperFast in name only), though we had stops in Asansol, where we changed trains, and Adhra, where we had lunch. Saw a lot of scenery and locomotives. Did a lot of chatting, and compared notes about countries and lifestyles.
Lunch at Adra
The rain and thunder starts
Half way through the trip, I noticed that the barometer on my watch was dropping like a stone, and sure enough, a big depression was coming in from the Bay of Bengal, and with it, my first rains of the trip. The newspaper later reported 2" in 2 hours.
21293 WAM-4 at Adra
Sourav and Samit at Adra
Two more locomotives at Adra
Catching the 8024 Rupasibangla Express
The streets were flooded, trains delayed, and the taxis at Howrah thought Christmas had come, and charged triple fares to take people home.
I had to wade through 10" of water to get into my hotel - a first rinse for my socks and trousers before the nightly chore of doing my laundry of the day's clothes, so quite useful, actually! More of the same likely today - will test out my new 'Moss Bros' umbrella and report back.
Posted by travellingtim at April 10, 2005 08:03 PM