Railways chugs down memory lane

110 photographs on display at city railway station

Some of the photographs that are on display at the three-day exhibitionat the Bengaluru city railway station.— Photo: By special arrangement

Take a trip down memory lane as the city commemorates 150 years of its first train connectivity.

The Bengaluru Railway Division has organised a three-day photo exhibition on Platform No. 1 at the city railway station.

The exhibition will be a nostalgic tour for the older generation and an educational trip on the evolution of the Railways for the young. The exhibition, inaugurated on Friday will be on till the weekend. As many as 110 photographs, many of which are from the archives of

The Hindu, are on display. Among those photographs on display are four of Mahatma Gandhi taken during his visit to the city railway station in 1927 and 1944.

The manual line block instrument that has been replaced by the electronic sensor equipped instruments; a manual car ticket vending machine; and signal bells, now replaced with electric sirens, are on display.

The exhibition stands witness to the fast-paced technological progress in the Railways. Even a-century-old benches and lift chairs have been exhibited.

Retired loco pilot R. Subramanyam, who piloted the first trip of the Brindavan Express from Bengaluru to Chennai after it was electrified, said loco pilots today lack exercise owing to the comfort made possible by technological progress. “I have driven steam engines and diesel engines. All the hard work kept us fit and healthy. Today, being a loco pilot is like being a techie,” he quipped.