Rail buffs go down memory lane

The fact that the Kharagpur railway platform is the world's longest one is well known. But do you know that there was a station called Manipur Road in Nagaland?

Or, for that matter, there is only one railway station in India which has a prefix "old" attached to it? Well, Manipur Road is the earlier avatar of Dimapur station in Nagaland. The Old Malda station is in the northern part of West Bengal.

Close to 100 ferro-equinologists met in Pune, a day after the Union railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav announced the railway Budget to discuss everything about the Indian Railways. For the uninitiated, a ferro-equinologist is a railway fan. The Indian Railway Fan Club Association (IRFCA) organised the day-long meeting.

The Motley group of railway fans had loco addicts, map buffs, timetable enthusiasts and modellers. This e-group used to exchange email discussing railways and this was the first time that fans from all over the country assembled at a common platform. Rail fans from the local IRFCA chapters, however, have been meeting often to pursue this hobby.

Shirish Yande kicked off the convention by remembering how a train journey changed the history of India when Mahatma Gandhi decided to take on the British government after being thrown out of a train at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

The next eight hours, the fans dissected the Indian railways which covers over 63,020 route km, employs over 14 lakh people (the next biggest employer in the world after the Chinese Army), carries over 14 million people across 6,853 stations by 7,000 passenger trains daily.

There were presentations on the art of good railway photography and talks on railway accidents and renaming of stations. There were video presentations too on the heritage run of a steam loco commemorating 150 years of the Indian railways.

A never-ending debate on the efficacy of diesel versus electric locos was the highlight of meeting. None of the fans discussed the railway Budget and none were threatened by the growing popularity of the low-cost airlines which might dent the rail romance.

It was rounded off by a quiz on Indian Railways.

One of the questions asked was: Which train runs through Delhi and New Delhi without stopping at either of the places? The answer is: the Kalinga-Utkal Express that runs between Puri and Haridwar.

Chennai will host the next convention in 2007. Till then, the fans will be surfing the website dedicated to rail fanning - www.irfca.org. One delegate from Mumbai who was suffering from an ankle injury postponed his surgery to attend the convention on crutches.

He could possibly have taken a flight to Pune to attend the convention if he had not been in a position to take a train!