Demodera Spiral, Sri Lanka

Demodera-Loop is the only rail loop of its kind in the entire rail network of Sri Lanka.  It is situated at  Demodera, which is 172 miles from Colombo along the rail track. When the construction work came up to this point, the engineers were in a dilemma not knowing which way to cut across due to the wide gap between two hills confronting each other. For a while, they even thought the Upcountry Main Line might have to be terminated at this place. After much predicament, engineers of the time decided to cut the line towards the left, around the hill at a gradual slope forming a full circle. The line had to descend at 1 foot to every 44 feet, thus plunging 100 feet below the level of the station. The line by now had come below the hill. A tunnel 416 feet in length was then dug which brought the track to the other side of the bund. The open line now faced the opposite hill but the gap was not as wide as at the top of the hill. The stamp shows the  Demodera Station on top of the hill and the tunnel below

Seasons Greetings

I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and  a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015. May all good things be yours through out the coming year.

Historic View of Naarden Railway Station & Closed and Open Summer Tram Wagons in Netherlands.

A Rail Road Scenary in Netherlands.

 

The Little Yellow Train, France.

 

The Little Yellow Train runs from Villefranche de Conflent, 50 km from Perpignan, to Latour de Carol, near the Spanish town of Puigcerda. The most spectacular part of the route is the section from the start at Villefranche, up as far as the small town and ski-resort area of Odeillo – Font-Romeu. Hugging the sides of the deep valley of the Tet, the line winds up between forests, chasms and gushing streams. From the start up as far Mont Louis, near the summit, passengers are treated to spectacular views of the rocky mountainous scenery, including villages, two historic fortresses, and a precariously perched old hermitage. The line, which was begun in 1903, is a spectacular feat of civil engineering, and apart from the dozens of mostly short tunnels, it includes many bridges and small viaducts, plus two remarkable viaducts spanning wider valleys. These include the remarkable Pont Gisclard, or Pont de Cassagne, which is the only railway suspension bridge in France. After Mont Louis, the line continues to rise for a kilometre or so, before reaching a broad high valley, which it skirts along for seven kilometres as far as the station at Font-Romeu– Odeillo. From here, it then descends some 300 metres down to a high valley on the Spanish border, and the frontier town of Bourg Madame. The station at Bourg Madame is just a few hundred metres from the Spanish border, and it is easy to walk to the old Spanish town of Puigcerda. The line terminates a few kilometres further on, at the small town of  Latour de Carol, where it connects with the French railway line from Toulouse, and the RENFE Spanish line from Barcelona.

Tours Railway Station France

 

Gare de Tours is a railway station serving the city Tours in Western France. It is situated on the Paris – Bordeaux railway, the Tours – Saint Nazaire railway and the non-electrified Tours – Le Mans railway. On 28 December 1984, the railway station was classified as a historic monument. The railway station was built in 1898  with four allegorical limestone statues of cities (Bordeaux, Toulouse, Limoges and Nantes. 

I AM BACK AGAIN

Hello Friends,

Here I am back again after almost 5 months of absence. Thank you so much for the cards you have sent me during this period. I will be writing to all of you very soon. Thanks for being patent with me. Cheers.

Mono Rail, Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Monorail Line is an urban monorail system in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia. It opened on 31^st  August 2003, with 11 stations running 8.6 km on two parallel elevated tracks. It connects the Kula Lumpur Central transport hub with the  “Golden Triangle” According to Ministry of Transport statistics, the annual ridership in 2008 was 21,765,233.  On 1 March 2012, KL Monorail was integrated with the Ampang Line light rail transit when the "paid-up" or restricted areas of the Hang Tuah monorail and LRT stations and Titiwangsa monorail and LRT stations, were physically linked up, allowing transfers without the need to buy new tickets.

Amsterdam Central Railway Station (1910), Netherlands.

 

This  is a view of Amsterdam Central Railway Station in 1910. The station structure remains the same even after 100 years, but the surroundings have changed. I have written about Amsterdam Central Station in one of my previous posts on 6th July 2010. You can compare this view with my previous posts and see the difference in the surroundings.

Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive No 9, U. S. A.

Photo: John B Hungerford

In this bucolic scene, Southern Pacific narrow gauge Second No 9 traverses Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Number 9 heads along right of way staked out almost 80 years earlier as the Carson & Colorado Railroad - the narrow gauge extension of Nevada's Virginia & Truckee Railway. In April 1960, No 9 was towed on April 26 by "Little Giant" to the Laws Railroad Museum at Bishop, California where she has remained ever since.