OCT 11, 11 (1/6) .. For What It’s Worth
TID-BITS..
Yesterday.. I went to Sealdah Railway Station here in Calcutta to totally SCOUT OUT my train to New Delhi next Monday.. October the 17th.. you know.. find the track.. find the location of my coach in the train.. just get it DOWN PAT..
OK I did this and more..
This is tricky.. at Sealdah.. the train is towed into position by a switch engine.. then the switch engine de-couples from the train and sits still.. at the other end of the train.. the end that will become the front of the train.. the main engine backs up to the line of coaches and couples up.. ready to pull the train to New Delhi .. when the train leaves.. the switch engine then leaves to do other jobs..
AT MOST railway stations.. or at least many.. the train pulls in one direction and continues out in the direction it pulls into the station from.. so the main engine is pulling the train in and out .. there is no switch engine involved..
1. My coach.. A1.. will be located approximately five coaches from the ‘end’ of the train from the switch engine .. sooner or later.. during the trip.. the main engine will then assume its position at this end of the train and this end will then become the ‘ front ‘ of the train.. I never know when or how or even why they do this.. it is done usually in the middle of the night.. I also found my upper berth number 8 and then end of the coach it is at.. I need to know this so that when I board the coach I board it at the end closest to my berth.. and I do not ‘go against’ the traffic of people boarding.. people in berth 52 will do likewise.. they will board from that end of the coach.. so they do not have to struggle the entire length of the coach to finally get to their berth..
2. There will be twenty (20) coaches on the Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.. Train Number 12313 .. PLUS the engine that will pull the twenty (20) coaches..
Of the twenty coaches.. two are NON passenger coaches.. one is located right behind the engine.. and the other is located at the extreme rear of the train .. the coach behind the engine is a utility maintenance coach.. the one at the extreme rear of the train is an enormous ELECTRICAL GENERATOR coach that generates electricity for the lighting and air conditioning and all other electrical needs for the train..
3. My walking pace-distance (the length of my pace as I walk) varies from 2.75 feet to 2.9 feet to 3.0 feet depending upon the pace and length I am ‘ stretching it out ‘ .. so let’s take my shortest length of pace.. 2.75 feet ..
EACH COACH is approximately thirty (30) paces for me.. got it.. thirty (30) paces.. so do the math..
30 paces times 2.75 feet per pace equals a coach length of approx 82.5 feet .. this is how long the passenger coaches are based on my 2.75 feet per pace ..
82.5 feet per coach times 20 coaches equals a train length of approx 1,650 feet..
This translates to a train length (NOT including the length of the engine) of just over 0.3 MILES (THE TRAIN will be three tenths of a MILE IN LENGTH..
OVER A QUARTER OF A MILE LONG..
WOW HUH ?
I wonder how long it took to walk the length.. my next project.. smiles..
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TID-BIT .. in FWIW.. 40.. October 10, 2011.. yesterday..
I wrote.. at GREAT LENGTH .. about the ins and about the outs of sending mail to families with children ..
IT.. FWIW 40 .. WAS READ BY WHO NEEDED TO READ IT..
1. I WILL continue to send mail to the VERY SPECIAL CHILD
2. I WILL send one to the other sibling and we will see how it works out.. I can live with this very easily..
I have gotten ‘closer’ to the other sibling as a result of this dialogue.. smiles.. cap..