MERE SAPNON KI RANI

She is the oldest surviving and still in working order according the Guinness Book of World Records. Born in 1855, initially working in the Howrah area, she was put to a well deserved rest around 1908. After a whopping eighty seven years resting – thankfully not rusting on the outside of the Headquarters where she was serving, she was shipped to Chennai in 1995 to see if she could handle some more work at the ripe old age of a hundred and forty years.

She has, and how! She still does the work of pulling trains – though a lighter load for steam loving, mainly foreign tourists. She is the Fairy Queen – the grandmother of all steam locomotives. “The Fairy Queen comes here once in two years for a full check up – what we call the Periodic Overhaul”, informs R Kuppan, Chief Workshop Manager of the Perambur Loco Works.

“This year, the overhaul has been pretty comprehensive and well ahead of time”, announces Parimala Kumar, Works Manager of the Perambur Loco Works. The trial run of the Queen within the workshop precincts was a great hit – and it was an exclusive to Madraplus. The longer version of the trial run will take place today on the Perambur Loco Works line to Padi station on the Villivakkam-Anna Nagar line.

“This year, we have made a number of modifications, based on our earlier experiences’, says Kuppan. “One major area was the injectors, which we concentrated this year first”, says Parimala Kumar, reminiscing of the stop-start-stop trial run the last time around. That the efforts have been superlative is evident from the almost flawless trial run – achieving the maximum pressure on the boilers. “We have changed a few parts – and that is not easy considering that there are absolutely no drawings for any part”, recalls Kuppan. “We have fabricated most parts that needed to be replaced as a inhouse project”, adds Parimala Kumar.

The Ash Pan has been given a sliding mechanism – so that ash does not accumulate in the trays, the water equalizing has been made more efficient across the two tanks, thanks to the larger pipe that has been run through – in spite of challenging difficulties like not finding enough space for the pipe. All the one hundred and four tubes have been dismantled, descaled and reassembled in the boiler – and the Queen now looks more like a bride than the run down dowager when she arrived here in July.

Given the age of the locomotive – 152 years to be exact, she seems to be in shipshape. There is absolutely no doubt that the years of rest have taken its toll – but the engineers have done such a wonderful job, that the age does not show at all. Given their expertise, the Railway Board is examining the proposal to send the Express – the twin of the Fairy Queen, and one year older for a similar rehab.

“Next year we plan to replace the boiler”, declares Kuppan, amidst the noise of the chugging locomotive. Kuppan was himself trying his hand on the locomotive and said, “it was an exhilarating experience, and we have to thank Mr Carmelus, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of Southern Railway, who has been a source of great inspiration”.

Well, our appetite does not seem to end here. We plan to take out the trial run today as well, and make most of the good times as they last. After, she is Mere Sapnon ki Rani!

FAIRY QUEEN – A FACT FILE

Commissioned in 1855, with Road Number EIR 22
Ran initially on the Howrah Ranigunj route with express trains on the East India Railway
Decommissioned in 1908
Plinthed as an exhibit at Howrah for some time
Moved as an exhibit to the National Rail Museum, New Delhi
Plans for revival started in 1994
Sent to Perambur Loco Works in 1995, and revived to run
Hauled the Delhi Alwar Weekend Tourist Special every tourist season
Returning to Perambur Loco Works once in two years for a complete overhaul

This was published by ET Madrasplus on 6th September 2007.

KALAIGNAR KILLS MOZHI

It was a launch that was eagerly awaited by the hordes of viewers fed on the staple of filmi stuff – songs, scenes, climaxes, comedy tracks etc. It was a launch that was eagerly awaited by the big soap makers that were intent on cleansing the souls of the million and more viewers of a new channel – now that they were done with basking under the sun. It was a launch that had lined up block busters even before the first switch of the transponder was turned on.

All that hype left me pondering whether the hungama was worth it. For, it turned out no different from the hundreds of channels that line our remote buttons. Feeding on hype, cinema and the ever cleansing detergents – that would be a better word to describe soaps. For, these are only hours that seem to deter gents from watching TV. The line up on day one of Kalaignar TV at least as far as films was concerned was mighty impressive. Mozhi – a slickly made wholesome entertainer and pathbreaking in the sense that it lacked even a semblance of skin show or violence was to be the showpiece in the afternoon. Later, the evening was to feature Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikesi, a Vadivelu starrer that made no bones that it was a parody on the State of the Nation – opinion polls to that effect be damned.

I was eagerly awaiting my afternoon siesta, when the first strains of Mozhi started flowing into my ears, and I shifted my venue from the bedroom to the living room. What a decision that turned out to be! The unexpected huge hit that Mozhi was really hit hard by a channel that answers to the name of someone who is the protector of language. The movie was itself interspersed in advertisements – only as if to prove that the marketing guys had done a very impressive job selling the channel to the advertisers. It was, though, a very bad advertisement for the channel. Ten or fifteen minutes of advertisements interspersed with almost equal snippets of the film was the norm of the afternoon.

What was even more appalling was the hacking the film was subjected to – entire sequences were chopped off to fit the time slot that was allocated to this film. My daughters who have seen this twice – I have seen this movie only once on the screens, were disappointed by the indiscriminate slaying resorted to in this fashion. I was too, but there was nothing that we could to save Mozhi from murder. It was as insensitive to the viewer as it was to the subject that Mozhi dealt with.

At the end of it all, as the last frame of Mozhi played out, the marketing guys had won – it was one big win going by the way the ad time outstripped the programme time. But the channel lost one pair of eyeballs – and I will anyday trade this channel for a pirated CD – at least that will give me uninterrupted viewing on my terms – not on those of a bigoted programme killer – killing with advertisements.

QUEEN’S STEAMING IDLIS


The mainline trial run of the freshly overhauled Fairy Queen was held this afternoon – 6th September 2007 from Perambur Loco Works to the Padi station on the Villivakkam Annanagar line. A detailed trip report with photographs will be put up by Ranganath Eunny and Gowrisankar very shortly on the list and the website.

Meanwhile, here is something that happened - that has rudely shaken me and I wanted to share this with you all at the earliest.

The run from the PLW to the Perambur Loco Works station was uneventful. As we got the shunt signal to proceed from the wrong line on the Perambur Loco Works station to the down slow line - onwards to Villivakkam, I impulsively jumped out of the coach and on to the footrest alongside the entire length of the loco, and perched myself on that foot rest right near the entry to the loco.

The loco itself had about 8 people in a very small space that would seem to be crowded with just two people. The officers were there for mandatory inspection etc., and about a dozen others were perched outside on different footholds on the loco. As we moved under the FOB and passed on the mainline for about a hundred and fifty metres, it suddenly happened.

The rain of coal particles mixed water first came in a drizzle, and I was in seventh heaven soaking up the refuse of the Queen – so to say. The drizzle soon turned into a torrent and we were all bathed by black water – scalding to say the least. The Queen suddenly let out a lot of steam – most of it around 100 degrees centigrade, and visibility was nil, both on the outside of the loco and inside. I was scalding inside, with hot steam and torrents of hot rain pouring on me.

I instinctively mulled the option of jumping out – I dared not, since I was unsure of the footing I would get if I landed a bit wrongly on the soil or ballast drenched with overnight rain. I then pushed myself into the loco – and this was again a mistake. I literally jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

Ten shouting screaming humans were stuck inside – I was one among them. There was no way could we catch a breath in the steamy atmosphere. All of us were screaming at the top of our voices to stop. The pressure had apparently exceeded the limit and the safety valve automatically engaged to dissipate the pressure. The safety valve would close only when the pressure reached lower levels of tolerance. The fact that the place was crowded did not help matters at all.

The shutters to the coach were also closed – as its occupants were also literally facing the heat. Gowri and Ranga were praying that we all get out alive – and Ranga probably was thinking of a flowery obituary – should the worst happen.

Then, thanks to the magic of the prayers of the well meaning great friends, the loco came to a halt – and the steam dissipated. I jumped out of the loco – literally frightened and too shocked to even speak coherently. None of us were steamed to idlis, but shaken and stirred, Bond style. So, here I am – still up and about – writing out this piece to you all!

Well, if the Fairy Queen comes again two years down the line – I will still be there – soaking in the atmosphere. But I WILL NOT repeat the foolhardy thing I did this time.

Thanks Gowri and Ranga!