Back From The Marabar Hills
The story so far: Miss Quested has returned by car to Chanderapore without telling the others of her reasons. Bewildered and alarmed, Dr Aziz, Mrs Moore, and Mr Fielding pack up and return straight away. There are no scenes of elephants this time, just some shots as the Marabar Express returns to Chanderapore. The train is met by a huge crowd, and Aziz is arrested by the police. No details of the charge are given, but Fielding soon hears of Miss Quested's accusation from the Collector, Mr Turton.
Marabar Express returns to Chanderapore
Closeup of the locomotive
The location of this level crossing was tracked down with a fine bit of detective-work by Ravi Sundararajan. He writes: 'The level crossing you have shown is between Kallar and Metupalaym. (QLR-MTP) I had a look at the working timetable (WTT) of Palghat Division and this section comes under the PGT Division. The kilometre reading starts from 0 at Mettupalayam and ends at 45. The WTT indicates presence of a level crossing (Level Crossing no 8) between Km 5/7 and 5/8 and the overhead communication wire mast indicates 5/7. The other mast must be 5/8. This coincides with WTT and so the conclusion. The X class loco is on the Mettupalayam end and the far end is towards Kallar/Coonoor. From the other photos, given along with this, it appears that the train is going towards Kallar/Coonoor.'
Closeup of the carriages
Dr Aziz and Mr Fielding - 1
This shot shows Dr Aziz and Mr Fielding in their 1st Class carriage as the train pulls into Coonoor. Unfortunately, we have a very clear view of a Southern Railways good wagon in the background! The Southern Railways division was not created until 14th April 1951.
Arrival at Chanderapore
Here is a scene as the Marabar Express pulls into Chanderapore, which is of course Coonoor station, on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
Dr Aziz and Mr Fielding - 2
Mrs Moore and Ronny leave the station
Mrs Moore waits to see Dr Aziz
Turton explains the charge to Fielding
I included these scenes for the benefit of rail-enthusiasts. There are good views of the Neale's ball token machine, which is used to ensure that only one train is on the section at one time. For a detailed explanation of this, see the IRFCA FAQs. You can also see other signaling indicators, and a map of the Coonoor track-layout.
Mr Fielding learns the details of the charge
