Alright so Ive been touring India and of course the first thing on my mind as always is trains trains trains. My main goal here it to be riding freight trains through the country and filming as much as I can...
Its proving to be quite the challenge as there are so many people everywhere and most of the work done with trains here is done manually not computerized back home. When ever a train pulls in there are people everywhere. Not to mention a manned caboose on every train. Add in that every where I go people ALWAYS come and either talk to me or just stare at me making the stealth approach impossible.
Trains here are a quarter the size of the trains back home. There no where near as sexy in my eyes but there still trains none the less.
India has electrified trains as well as diesel, but from what I gather they are looking to electrify the entire system eventually.
Without getting to wordy here are some photos of some of the trains Ive come across thus far. I have been focusing on filming for the most part, but I still managed to get a few shots off.
1) this is a shot of a Mumbai metro train as its pulling into the Charni road station. I'm a big fan of the hardened look, there are some newer sleeker versions but to me these are golden.
2) Surprisingly they have special cars for handicaps, however after three weeks I have yet to see a wheelchair person even once.
3) Not a train but a shark. a guy was running for a train and dropped it. They dont actually ever close the doors on the trains so even after they are heading out people are gunning it to get on.
The no closed doors thing really made for some great rides though.
4) Again not a train so much as a dog chilling out on the roof of the Vasai road train station.
5) This is an electric train shot at Vasai road. The trunk route from Mumbai(Bombay) to Delhi is all electrified
6) A standard caboose which every single train is equipped with.
7)Inside the caboose, not the most elegant but Id be happy.
8) rear view from a caboose
9) This is a shot of an open boxcar, very ridable. Most of the times there all closed however if you see one like this you have your palace on wheels..keep in mind they may not take you far
10) This was a little train on an Island of Mumbai. The tracks were man made and not very well put together but they did the job.
11) The engine for the little train that could
12) view from on the train, short but sweet ride.
13)Night shot of a caboose
14)Here is a limestone train, they are loaded by tractors but then leveled one by one manually. Like one rock at a time...they will even trow some over the side of the train if there are too many.
15)red loco
16)blue loco
17) most of the trains in India are still not cab-forward.
18)One of the longest switches I have ever seen. The bar that runs of into the distance actually switches a track!
19) A truck dropping of limestone
20) while walking trackside one day some kids in a caboose invited us over to smoke cigarets. They were in there Earlie teens and smoking was the big thing. So we told them we would come back the next day with a few beers. It was a perfect way for me to hang out and stalk freights.
21) in the caboose hangout drinking kingfisher with kids
22) Empty train rolling in. It takes about three hours for them to fully load one train.
23) This pic is out of place but Im too lazy to move it. Back in Vasia road - crew change.
24) Inside an empty coal car. they way they go about loading and cleaning these is interesting. I have it all on film and will hopefully include it in the final film.
25) Again electric loco doing a crew change.
25-2) the rest of the train. Almost all container trains are single due to the current set up with the overhead power lines. Thus makig roof riding on these routes impossible.
26) Night time boxcar train pulling in.
27) A caboose out in the desert hooked up to marble cars.
p1) Passenger trains here feel like cargo trains with so many people crammed into every little inch. In order to get proper sleeper units you need to book weeks sometimes months in advance. That isnt really my style, but after a few rides in Second class we found ways to get proper beds...but thats a whole other story.
p2) this is basically what most washrooms look like in india. This one is aboard a train of course. No toilet paper to wipe your ass, or soap to wash your hands. I had major diarrea the first too weeks here...you can imagine how that went!
p3) Indian washrooms not so different from North American ones, replace Bob with rajbinder and your golden.
Ill end it here for now, if any real train photos pop up in the future Ill be sure to add them later on.
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