Date uploaded in London – – 31 December , 2023
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
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PICTURE OF PROF. S SURYANARAYANAN
PITCURE OF LONDON SWAMIATHAN
I went to Chennai Rail Museum with my brother Prof. Suryanarayanan on 20th December 2023. It has got four galleries with lot of train models and pictures. Fans of Railway clubs and those who with train spotting hobby will enjoy more. Outside the museum all old type train engines are kept. Though children would like to see trains, they wouldn’t understand the significance of black smoke emitting Steam Rail Engines.
When we saw those old model engines it kindled our nostalgic memories. About 60 years ago we, brothers, used to travel from Madurai to Madras (now called Chennai) and our aunty in Madras used to tease us saying “what is this ? Why are you wearing black shirt?”
The reason is whatever colour shirt you wear , that will be deposited with black particles that came from the coal fired steam engine. All our brothers studied in Setupati High School, Madurai which was behind the Goods Shed of Madurai Railway station.
Sitting at the playground during afternoon lunch time and play time we used to enjoy inhaling the smoke from the coal fire. Anyone would like the smell.
Apart from this we used to watch the burning fire and the driver and fireman throwing big lumps of coal into the inferno and the steam coming out of umpteen holes in the engine, emitting big noise.
Only my eldest son had the fortune of at least seeing the coal fire and thick black smoke. Now and then I used to take him to the Railway station to show the engine and praise the genius of George Stevenson.
Those are the golden /olden days. When we read that Madurai- Madras will have Diesel powered engines we got exited; then came the electric trains which generated more excitement because of its speed. But I would like to go back to the olden days with al least one or two coal fired smoky engines.
It is like reading Ponniyin Selvan novel by Kalki and all of us wish to travel back in time to the golden days of Great Choza emperors.
In London, they run the old coal fired steam engine once a year with £25 ticket for a short distance. Whenever I looked at the website, it said the tickets were sold out.
Indian Railway should have at least one line with such old model trains in every area. It will generate very good income from train fans.
Here in London, we have separate clubs for Train spotters, Railway Stamp collectors and Train travellers.
Though I have used Euro Rail and trains in Italy, nothing will match the good old steam engines. The big noise and the whistle are still ringing in my ears.
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Coming back to Chennai Rail Museum, we have al types of carriages, engines, the mechanical parts and a lot of pictures of personalities like Jawaharlal Nehru to Queen Elizabeth. She visited the Perambur Coach factory during her trip to Chennai.
Another interesting feature of the museum is the display of lot of drawings and paintings with train as the theme.
Indian Picasos have done lot of modern, mechanical sculptures. Some of them are beautiful, but lot of others need explanation or description to appreciate them. Just like Picaso’s paintings!
With a very small entrance fee, it is worth visiting. A toy train is also run for the benefit of children.
When you visit Chennai next time, don’t miss it.
Since I took over fifty pictures I post them in two parts.
TO BE CONTINUED………………………………….
PITCURE OF LONDON SWAMIATHAN
–subham—
Tags- Rail Museum, Chennai, My visit, Steam engine, coal fired,
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