A VISIT TO OLAVAKKOT JUNCTION RAILWAY STATION

 VISIT TO OLAVAKKOT RAILWAY STATION

It was annual vacation time for our school. There was plenty of time at our disposal to enjoy. I and my friends got tired of playing various games and gossiping. In those days, there were no pastimes like browsing the net, playing games on the mobile or watching television, because none of them ever existed. Even possessing a radio was a luxury. Very few people had a telephone connection. I am talking of the days when many of the houses were using only kerosene lamps and the people depended on firewood for cooking. We kept all the doors of the house for ventilation and used the palm-leaf hand-fans when we sweat. Well, let me not go away from the topic.

I have many friends in the agraharam, a cluster of Kerala Brahmin houses built in two rows facing each other with a temple at one end. These friends had very short and funny nicknames by which they were known. Thus my friends were Cheenu, Chuppamani,  Kittu, Chandru, Mani, Vytha, Vichu etc. Their real names were Sreenivasan, Subramanian, Krishnan, Ramachandran, Subramanian, Vydianathan and Viswanathan respectively. One evening, I, Cheenu suggested that we could spend some time at the Railway Station nearby. The name of this station was Olavakkot, or Olavakkod (the last syllable,‘d’ to be pronounced as in ‘dam’). This station has now been renamed as the Palakkad Junction. It was located just on the other side of Kalpathy river. We could cross the river and walk half-a-mile (it was not kilometers then) further to reach the spot. The water in the river used to be just knee-deep and the total walking distance was 2 km only.

We three reached the Station. Cheenu was chosen as our leader in this venture, because his father was a station master. Cheenu bought the platform tickets, costing 2 annas (1/8 Re) each. Today, they cost Rs. 10/- and even Rs. 50/- for some stations. This ticket was a small thick piece of cardboard with the particulars of the station’s name, the words “platform ticket”, the cost and a serial number. These tickets were valid for the whole day, i.e. till 12 midnight, unlike today. We entered the platform and started investigating the premises. What we found forms the topic of this article. Cheenu saw that a train had arrived in Platform No.1 and would be leaving in the opposite direction, towards Dindigul. The engine had gone ahead so that it could reverse on a turn table. Afterwards, the engine would be brought to the front of the train for its onward journey. Cheenu called us to hurry up. We two followed him to the “turn-table” where the engine reversed its direction. We reached there just as the engine was approaching the bridge in the well to its middle part. There it just parked.

The turn-table was a shallow circular well with a railway track as one of its diameters. The engine approached the well through its track and went through the tracks to the middle of the well. Some railway workers walked around the well pushing a lever at either end of the ‘diameter’. We all watched with interest as the engine slowly turned through 180 degrees and finally came to a position such that it could take the same track, now facing the opposite direction. At the go-ahead signal from the workers, the engine moved out of the well, took the adjacent track and reached the front of the train. Then it reversed and got connected to the bogies to start its journey towards Pollachi.

        As the engine was busy, we three got into a compartment to examine the interior. We ventured inside a third class bogie. There were no single seats here as in the broad gauge trains. The height was also smaller. There was a long corridor with cubicles of 6 seats in each cubicle. The seats were just wooden benches, without cushion. There was not much leg-space between the rows of seats. It would be very uncomfortable for long journeys,

 Suddenly, Cheenu asked us to listen to the bell. It was like a temple bell. It was just three beats with a small interval. Cheenu told us that it was a clearance bell for the metre-gauge train to start. The guard from the last bogie waved the green flag. Giving a long whistle, the train started. As the last bogie passed us, I noticed an “LV”  board behind the train. Cheenu said, “It is a short for ‘Last Van’. The station master should confirm that it was there. In every train, the last bogie should have this board. That way, they would come to know if a part of the train had got disconnected during its run. You can see, there would not be this board in the back of other bogies.”

Then Cheenu took us to the pillar displaying the name of the station. It was written “Olavakkot junction” in Rnglish. I asked Cheenu, “Why can’t they use ‘d’ instead of ‘t’ as the last letter? In Malayalam, it is known as “Olavakkod”. I can understand if they don’t have a proper letter. It is not the case here?”

Cheenu replied, “This is how the British people pronounced it. There are worse cases. Like, “Trivandrum, Trichur, Cannanore, Tellicherry, Badagara,  Alwaye etc. where, in spite of availability of proper letters, they are not using them. Since we were under their rule, we have to follow them. Soon, the spellings will be changed.”

“See Cheenu, What is this MSL 250 written below in this name-board?” I asked Cheenu.

“Your observation is very good. MSL is abbreviation for Mean Sea Level. This place is about 250 feet above sea level. You will find such information in all stations, in their name-boards.” He replied.

As we moved, I wanted to collect more information about the railways. Presently, I saw OJA written in the pillars and walls of the stations. When I asked about this, Cheenu said, it is a code for this station. OJA refers to Olavakkot Junction. Invariably, in the codes for the Junctions, ‘J’ letter will be there. But there are exceptions.”

A water tank for the engine

An engine receiving water

Another engine being served with water

Cheenu pointed at a huge metal tank kept at a height, on the side of a railway track. He said, “See, that is a water tank. The water needed for the steam generation by the engine, is stored in that tank. The water is sent through the huge pipe line to the hollow pillar and to the horizontal pipe. The engine comes there to fill its belly with water. You can see the arrangement by which water from the reservoir reaches the engine. The water tank comes in different shapes also: spherical, hemispherical, cylindrical etc.

I had a doubt. “Cheenu, if the train works on water, why it is called theevandi, fire-vehicle, in Malayalam and pukaicandi, smoke-vehicle, in Tamil?”

“It is simple. People do not see the water inside the belly of the engine. But, they see the huge fire burning inside the engine and also the thick smoke coming out of the chimney. Before you ask, let me tell yuou why water is needed. It is the water which is heated to get converted to superheated steam, using the coal at the bottom of the cylindrical portion of the engine. You can see a big fire inside the engine and a foreman feeding it with more and more coal. The superheated steam operates on some complicated lever-system, which ultimately moves the wheels. The coal emits black smoke when it is not fully utilized. If you don’t know, let me tell you, these engines are called ‘steam engines’.”

Our attention was drawn to the sound of the continuous ringing of the bell outside the station master’s office. The sound ended with three sharp strikes. Cheenu told us that the bell was announcing that a train was to reach our station from Shoranur side shortly. As instructed by him, we three followed a railway worker to a shed called signal cabin. The man climbed over the steps on a staircase to reach the cabin. Since we could see the inside of the cabin, we stood below. In the cabin, he was pulling some upright levers with force towards him. Cheenu drew our attention to the single signal far away. It had tilted down. It meant that the train could come to the station. The station master had set the track accordingly. The man in the cabin whistled to the man at the railway crossing nearby and obtained the return whistle. He closed the gate at the level crossing for the vehicles on the road. We saw the left signal at the top of the double signal pillar, near the station, had also tilted down. These signals are known as “semaphore” signals. This signal showed the passengers the platform in which the train would be arriving. Here, however, there was no confusion: there was only one platform for such trains, coming from either direction. A plan to construct another platform, to be called as Platform No. 3, was in the pipeline.

In between, we found time to check our weights from the machine which threw out a card mentioning our weight and giving a forecast, in return for a ten-paise coin dropped in a slot after standing on a small platform.

A platform ticket sample	A single signal	A double signal
A level crossing, closed for the train	Level crossing, being opened for road traffic	A journey ticket
nside a signal cabin	Another cabin   on the right	A railway porter
A RMS bogie	A steam train with red-coloured bogies	A weighing machine

Soon, another bell, just three strikes, informed the passengers that trhe train could be “sighted”.  Yes, we could see a small movement like that of a worm, at the diswtance, where the track had a curvature.  Cheenu told us, “See, that is No. 2, Mangalore-Madras Mail. The one travelling in the opposite direction is No. 1, Madras-Mangalore Mail.  You see, Mail and express trains are fast trains, skipping some small stations on its way. The difference is just that the Mail trains carry the postal articles also, in a separate compartment. You can distinguish that bogie by its characteristic red colour. Just watch for it.”

We saw that the platform became quite alive by now. Passengers left the waiting rooms with their luggage to the platform. The porters brought the luggage to the passengers. Some porters were looking for clients getting down from the train. There were hawkers getting ready with their ware, like meduwada, bhajjia, halwa, banana chips, plantain and other fruits, cool drinks and air-pillows. The man selling coffee and tea had one big aluminium kettle attached with a stove below in one hand and an aluminium bucket of water with 4 to 6 glasses immersed inside. He had the maximum ordeal compared to others: he had to take out the glass tumbler from the bucket, fill it with the hot drink, pass it to the passenger inside the train, wait for him to drink and get the glass back and also the payment. At a time, he could serve 4 or 5 passengers. As I waited to see how he collected the money and the glass, I saw one tumbler falling off and breaking. The passenger paid for the tea, but not for the broken tumbler.

A double bell was sounded then. The train was ready to leave. The guard in the last bogie waved the green flag and the driver responded with w long whistle. Producing some puffing sound, the engine started pulling the bogies. The people in the platform waved their hands to the passengers. Slowly, the hustle subsided.

Cheenu turned towards us. “Shall we wait for the 82 Jayanti Janata Express, which would be here in another half hour? There won’t be more fun. We will see the same scene again.”

Vytha and I said, “Enough, Cheenu. Let us go home. It is getting dark. I am afraid to cross the rive in the dark.”

We three then turned towards home, fully satisfied about the information learnt about the railways. 

We three then turned towards home, fully satisfied about the information learnt about the railways.

       As we started walking, I turned back to see a pair of signal posts, facing opposite directions. A train was approaching the signal post facing it, obeying the directive of the tilted signal, giving permission for the train to proceed.There was no fail-safe system and everything had to be done manually. Still, the system was working beautifully and with all safety to the passengers.