From today, Pushpa Gujral Science City to get new attraction of rail gallery by greatindian on 08 June, 2013 - 03:01 PM | ||
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greatindian | From today, Pushpa Gujral Science City to get new attraction of rail gallery on 08 June, 2013 - 03:01 PM | |
Kapurthala : Adding another feather to its cap, Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC) will get a new attraction in the shape of a railway gallery on Friday. The gallery will be opened to the public at a simple function by PGSC director-general (DG) Dr RS Khandpur.The much-awaited gallery on the Railways depicts an interesting combination of information on the Railways coupled with dioramas on some of the world-renowned railway lines.Talking to The Tribune, Khandpur said, "The Gallery has been set up with the financial and technical assistance of the Railway Board. The Railway Board has spent Rs 90 lakh for setting up this gallery."The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km rail tracks and 7,000 stations. It runs 14,000 trains, carries 1.4 crore passengers and 16 lakh tonnes of goods every day.Accordingly, the rail system is quite complicated involving management of movement of trains, signalling and communication system and railway crossings spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. All these functions require highly trained and motivated staff for operations and maintenance of this gigantic task. The Rail Gallery shows the functions of some of the key operational personnel of the railway system, which will provide valuable information to the visitors to PGSC especially the enthusiastic children, he added.Dioramas have been set up on those rail lines which are technologically challenging and visually inspiring. These include Kalka-Shimla railway track, Jammu-Srinagar railway link, the Bullet Train of Japan, Delhi Metro and the principle of levitation used in high-speed trains.Khandpur further stated that the Jammu-Srinagar rail link was a dynamic model which showcases the Udampur-Baramulla 390-km railway project. It covers a 11-km-long tunnel and the highest bridge over the river Chenab. The route covers major earthquake zones, and is subjected to extreme temperatures and inhospitable terrain, making it an extremely challenging engineering project."On the other hand, the Kalka-Shimla railway line, which recently completed a centenary of its operations, is proud of its heritage status. The narrow gauge rail line passes through 103 tunnels during its journey from Kalka to Shimla. The journey on this track by rail motor or toy train provides an unforgettable experience."The model of the Delhi Metro, which is fast becoming life line of Delhi residents, has offered the much-needed relief to the commuters. The Delhi Metro project is the first railway project in the world to be certified for carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the United Nations,"he added.Khandpur further stated, "A model of magnetic levitation train has also been set up. This is a wheel-less train that only requires a magnetic rail track on the ground. This technique is increasingly being used in high-speed trains."The famous Bullet Train of Japan, with the operating speed of 320 km per hour, is shown with an interesting landscape in the background, he said, adding that there were separate dioramas showing the functioning of the station master, the guard, the ticket collector, and the pointsman.The most interesting part of the railway gallery is the Diesel Engine Simulator. This type of simulator is used to train engine drivers. Sitting on the driver's seat in the simulator, the visitor can feel and enjoy the movement of the train on the tack.Outside the driver's cabin, there is a duplicate control kiosk on which you can learn the operations of various controls of the engine.It displays various rules and choices to the visitors and gives information on incentives and penalties of the scoring system to assess your performance, he added.Khandpur said the Rail Gallery would be very useful, informative and entertaining in addition to the Science City. |