Madras, Basin Bridge Jct. and Mount Road, 6-7 Feb 1980
Our group had started our trip to India in Delhi, and had visited Bombay, Bhusaval, Agra, Bombay, Darjeeling, Rajahmundry, Hyderabad/Secunderabad and Banagalore before arriving in Madras on the Brindavan Express.
After a night in the hotel, we visited the shed at Basin Bridge Junction, on 6 Feburary, where in addition to the usual WGs and WPs, we saw some BESA design HPS 4-6-0s and at least one IRS design XC 4-6-2, the XC being he heavier passenger engine than the XBs we had seen elsewhere.
After a seeing what we could at the shed, we went to the platforms and photographed the commuter rush hour. Although there must have been many EMU trains running (my notes say that we rode an EMU out to Basin Bridge), I did not "waste" film on any of those, instead shooting steam and diesel hauled trains. We stayed until the light faded and caught a train back to the station.
The next day, 7 Feb, we had plans to visit another loco shed, but instead slept in and wound up taking a steam train ride. We had noticed that a 1350 departure was hauled by a WP the day before and so we got onto the first coach of the train and waited. Eventually a WP came and coupled on, but after departing 20 minutes late, long station stops and slow running made the train even later. We rode for over an hour before we got off and caught the next train back to Madras.
I shot no railway photos on 7 Feb, probably because I just did not want to drag out my big 35mm SLR camera at the crowded station. Some years later I would get a pocket sized point and shoot 35mm camera that would have been easier to use in a crowded area, and now I have a little digital point and shoot in addition to my DSLR, but that was long in the future in 1980.
We returned to the hotel and I took photos of the traffic in Mount Road from the hotel balcony.
