from the IR Yahoo list:

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2004 09:50:07 PM ]

India is trying to resurrect the romance of steam locomotives and
attract inbound tourists in the bargain. From five unscheduled and
partial steam services currently in operation, the Indian Steam
Railway Society intends to shortly put around 100 steam locomotives in
working order in the country.

Speaking to MarkETing, Indian Steam Railway Society founder member
Ashwani Lohani said that launching 15-20 fixed steam services carries
the potential to attract one lakh foreign tourists annually and every
£1 of investment on reviving steam locomotives generates at least
£7 worth of economic activity.

According to Rob Dickinson, an international steam expert, the UK
earns roughly £60m from steam trains.

Considering the UK is smaller than Uttar Pradesh, just one Indian
state, the potential does appear promising.

France, Austria and Germany are also making money from steam services,
says Indian Steam Railway Society president RC Sethi.

In a step towards this objective, a steam train between Delhi
Cantonment and Farrukh Nagar is being launched in April, and later
possibly another service from Udaipur to Chittorgarh.

Time-tabling the services is seen to be crucial for attracting foreign
tourists as itineraries are planned well in advance.

Overall, Mr Lohani believes that 165 of the total 340 steam
locomotives in the country can be restored to working condition. Other
proposals to revive the sector include upgrading the existing steam
centre at Rewari to a world-class working museum, open for public
entry. The society proposes to convert all the five hill Railways to
steam and also convert to steam the Palace On Wheels along its 75-km
run from Delhi to Rewari, the Royal Orient between Delhi and Rewari
and the Deccan Odyssey along 40-50 km of its total route.

The activities are expected to generate a high publicity value for the
steam movement.

At present, the Neelgiri Mountain Railway runs fully on steam on a
60-km run.

while the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway runs partly on steam and partly
on diesel on its 89-km route.

The Kalka-Simla line has one steam engine available for charters on a
25-km ride while the Matheran and the Kangra Valley Railways have one
steam engine each available, though the service has not yet been
packaged for tourists.The Fairy Queen, a 150-km service from Delhi to
Alwar, also runs on steam. Besides these, there are just a few other
occasional steam services in the country.



newhaven0401-NOSPAM-@verizon.net

One of my research projects is comparing the similarities and differences among the 36", 1000mm, and 42" gauge 2-8-2 MacArthurs. I have access to a 36" version and the folks at Queensland Ry have been most helpful regarding their 42" AC16. However numerous attempts to contact someone in India with access to a meter gauge MAWD have met with no success. Various e-mails to the Northeast Frontier Ry at Guwahati and the the New Delhi Railway Museum have simply been ignored.

Is this typical?

Does anyone know someone in India with access to a MAWD who might be more cooperative?

mike211@yknet.ca

Try posting to the IRFCA group at Yahoo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/

It's a very active group; someone there is bound to at least be able to direct you to someone that can help.

The Ultimate Steam Page
whodom2001@yahoo.com

> Try posting to the IRFCA group at Yahoo:

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/

> It's a very active group; someone there is
> bound to at least be able to direct you to
> someone that can help.

Already tried that route, no meaningful response other than "contact the railroad and the museum", no one actually knew anyone at either facility. It appears to be merely a list of railfans whose interest is modern operations and railroad / governemt politics. Altogether quite strange, it must be a cultural thing.

mike211@yknet.ca