Modelling Indian Railways



The station at Kutcha Bazar on the Barfi Light Railway. ZB 2-6-2 is about to depart with a postal service for Chinnapettai. More about the BLR is on the "Models and Why" page. Click on the link just below.

ON TO MODEL PICTURES

The Politics of Trainsets

For many years, the notion of modelling Indian Railways was virtually non-existent. Mention of it it would evoke yawns or polite disinterest. There were, and are, virtually no commercially made, "ready-to-run" (RTR) models available.
Yet, all of a sudden, during 1999 and 2000, the issue began to arouse intense interest. One reason is that a trickle of models, all of them "cottage industry" and mostly built for existing track gauges, had begun to reach the market. The prospect that commercial production might begin on a large scale led to a series of skirmishes in a "gauge war", or more properly a "scale and gauge" war among enthusiasts. There are numerous considerations here, which can be further explored on the scale and gauge page.
The importance of commercial production lies in the fact that no modeller can hope to produce a convincing model, even of a very small area, without considerable support from manufactured components. Railways themselves embody a very complex technology, involving thousands of individuals and literally millions of components. Modellers can hardly hope to reproduce all of these single-handed.
In general, railway modellers have responded to this problem in two ways. One group buy most of their components, and often rely heavily on "ready-to-run" (RTR) items bought over the counter. Another group prefers in general to scratch-build.
As there are no RTR components available for Indian models at all, the first group have only two choices: to "bodge", adapting existing models or parts to resemble Indian ones as closely as possible, or to wait and hope for commercial ones to emerge. It is very probable that, if Indian model railway items are marketed commercially, they will be incorrect as to track gauge in relation to scale, creating the agonising dilemmas already faced by British "OO" modellers, running 4mm:1ft scale models on HO track, a scale gauge of only 4ft 1½ins. Indeed, with some HO modellers hell-bent on producing commercial models of broad gauge locos in HO scale, to run on HO track (which is 9½ inches under the true-scale gauge, a 7% discrepancy), there are signs that this disaster is almost upon us.
Indeed, it is highly likely that the choices made by a manufacturer choosing to set up production of trainsets for the Indian market will have a powerful impact on the choice of scale and gauge by modellers with a more serious intent. At present, it is probably a safe bet that - despite powerful reasons not to do so - manufacturers will opt for established scales AND gauges, ignoring discrepancies.
The alternative to waiting for commercial production has the advantage of being immediately viable. This is to combine scratch building with "bodging", using as many commercial components as possible. Nowadays, with good quality mechanisms, wheels, and many detail parts available in profusion from innumerable suppliers, this is an entirely viable option. It requires both cunning and good intelligence, in the sense of knowing where to source components and what can be used. But it is fun.
Scratch building, or even extensive bodging, also opens up the possibility of finer wheel and track standards than those offered commercially. This is a controversial subject, but fine scale standards, offering a significant increment in realism, are growing ever more popular. For a brief discussion, see the gauge and scale page. The writer is just such a scratchbuilder/bodger, (for some of the reasons see the "My Models and Why" page) and most of what follows is from that perspective, though it may well be useful for others too.



Some Notes for would-be Modellers

The challenge of modelling Indian railways stems in part from novelty. The multiple gauges, the exotic locations, the great variety and interest of locos, coaching, and freight stock, the fascination of the signalling and architecture, all excite. It is also a challenge because of the lack of commercially available, RTR items, and the precious few kits. "Bodging" and scratch building are unavoidable. But they can be immensely rewarding because the pleasure of building one's own models, or the ingenuity of adapting available equipment, offer their own sense of achievement.



Knowing your subject: Dependent Development and Technology Transfer

Indian Railways were built by the British. They served British strategic and economic interests. The system they left behind at Independence in 1947, while the largest in Asia, was radically incomplete from the point of view of India's economic development.
Understanding Indian Railways development in part involves the impact of dependent development. For although Indian conditions evoked some important engineering advances, most notably on the civil engineering side, the development of the railway system tended to "track" British technology until the 1940s at least. Since that time, the influence both of U.S. technology and of European practice has grown markedly. India's railways were among the first major agents of technology transfer, and remain among the most experienced.
The design of Indian Railways locos, rolling stock, track, signalling, and structures has never exactly mirrored British, U.S., or other influences, but it has been strongly influenced by them, and as a result, "look-alikes" of all kinds can be found. Steam locomotive practice has always been strongly influenced by British practice, reinforced until 1947 by the "Imperial Preference" system which restricted the purchase of non-British goods and inhibited the establishment of an indigenous manufacturing base. More recently, adoption of U.S. designs for diesels has led to numerous locos which appear to be "off the peg", but which turn out on careful examination to be subtly different in both dimensions and details.
Similarly, Indian railway architecture is strongly influenced by British models, but has adopted numerous features needed for local conditions. One early station even included a "heat-stroke" room; retiring rooms, vegetarian tea stalls, and third class waiting sheds are all examples. These differences arise for all sorts of reasons, social, political, geographical and even climatic. In fact, ability to operate in extreme conditions of heat and cold is an important factor in the design of locomotives and rolling stock. Stations, signal boxes, and other structures often vary greatly too. While signal boxes often look very British in the North and on the older lines, in the far South they are often nothing more than a protective roof, with no walls at all.

Choosing What to Model

Modellers are consequently spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing what to model. Nowadays, with the modelling of actual locations becoming more and more popular, there is a real incentive to get out in to the field and find interesting, picturesque, or simply modellable locations.
One difficulty which may not be appreciated until layout design begins is that, except for the hill railways, most Indian railway locations are very spacious. Especially in broad gauge, tracks are widely spaced, platforms are long, and buildings often large. These factors will obviously affect choice of locations to model, and may influence scale, especially where space is tight.
Another important factor, especially for BG and MG models, is the use of standard designs. Standardisation has a long tradition on Indian Railways, but the application of universal standards has been largely a post-Independence phenomenon.
And with four track gauges, there is plenty of choice there too: BG, MG, 2ft 6ins or 2ft gauge NG. It depends what grabs you! BG actually had 80% of all the traffic, and 60% of mileage before the recent extensive gauge conversion began. The variety of stock, equipment and architecture was and is positively kaleidoscopic. MG was very standardised in the early years, but served some spectacular locations and interesting places. The NG, because individual lines or groupings were isolated, tended to have localised designs of locos and stock. Where lines were under common management, designs might be shared. Examples include the Parlakimidi and Mayurbanj lines on the east coast (BNR, later SER); the BNR Satpura and Raipur lines; the Central Provinces Railway with the Arvi-Pulgaon and Achalpur-Murtijapur-Yavatmal lines; and most famously, the lines of the former Gaekwar of Baroda, now part of the WR.

Modelling in an Unfamiliar Environment

Indian readers will be familiar with the Indian environment; but others may appreciate suggestions as to how to create authenticity.
The first point, of course, is that both the natural environment and the social customs of the chosen area will be relevant, even before the idiosyncracies of the chosen railway or period obtrude. For example, many soils in India are lateritic, leading to the characteristic red tinge seen in many parts of the country. Use of a geological atlas will help to pinpoint rock and soil types, avoiding embarrassing errors. Vegetation types are also important; not only do they differ by region, but modellers of hill lines should note altitude variations as well. They can do much to suggest place and differentiate areas. And social customs matter in unforeseen ways: in the South. for example, food is often served and eaten off "plates" made of banana leaf. Consequently, discarded leaves are a large component in trash at stations and other places, replacing the paper more common in the north.
Therefore, if at all possible, the intending modeller should visit the chosen area, taking the camera. Not only should soil types, vegetation, typical crops, industrial products of the region, and other data relevant to scenicking, train operation, lineside industry, and so on, be established, but the locals should be observed to see how they dress and behave. Photos are an essential aid to this process, and should be taken copiously. Include street scenes, platform "candids", photos of buildings and fields as well as the inevitable railway buildings, structures, rolling stock and locomotives. All will be found invaluable, especially when an obscure point has to be checked or a corner of the layout "dressed" convincingly.

ON TO THE GAUGE AND SCALE PAGE

ON TO MY MODELS AND WHY (with photos)

SOME NON-INDIAN FINESCALE MODELS

BACK TO MAIN INDIAN RAILWAYS PAGE