World of Steam:  India & Pakistan (cont.)

Volume 7: Steam in the Sub-Continent 

We start on the DHR, tracing the progress of the Kurseong-Darjeeling school train. Ootacamund then beckons, with coverage of both rack and gravity-adhesion sections.

Mainline metre-gauge coverage is provided on Ahmadabad - Udaipur line, where we see passenger trains worked by standard class YPs, several banked at considerable speed. After looking at the Dabhoi Junction 2' 6" system, we move north-west into Pakistan to study the 4-4-0s and 0-6-0s on the broad-gauge at Malakwal. The programme also includes some 1987 recordings of the Pakistan metre- and 2' 6" gauge systems, ending with rare footage of the Zhob (formerly Fort Sandeman) branch.

Note: if the DHR is your particular interest, then Volume 10 of this series is a must.

Steam in the Sub-Continent (on VHS tape) runs for 75 minutes and costs £18.50.

Indian Railways X Class rack loco propels 
its train near Runneymede, en route for Coonor
 and Ootacamund (January 2005).

Volume 13: The East Revisited

India and China provide a vivid contrast, and this programme offers an interesting chance to make comparisons in the mid-90s.

The Indian content lasts for about 15 minutes, and in 1994 we visit the Burdwan to Katwa 2’ 6" gauge line, running through the Bengal sugar fields, and then the nearby Bankura to Rainagar branch, employing a 1906 British-built CC class Pacific. We travel south to the Ootacamund Branch, and follow a train from Coonor to Ooty. We conclude in the Punjab, where the reign of the broad-gauge WL Pacifics was drawing to a close.

For details of the Chinese content (about 45 minutes) please see the "China" pages of this website.

The East Revisited (on VHS tape) runs for an hour and costs £18.