RailEnquiry

A railway gallery, set up at Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC), in collaboration with Indian Railways at a cost of nearly Rs. 90 lakh, was opened to the public on Friday. PGSC director general RS Khandpur declared open the facility.A diesel-loco simulator, models of Jammu-Srinagar rail link, the  Kalka-Shimla rail line, the Delhi Metro, a magnetic levitation train, a bullet train from Japan, railway signaling system and informatory display showing duties, functions and working of different railway functionaries have been exhibited.Khandpur said, "Running the railways involves management of movement of trains, signalling and communication system and railway crossings spread across a vast area. The rail gallery exhibits some of the key functions of the large railway system in a simplified manner.""The gallery took a year to be set up. A rail loco simulator, the is a first-of-its-kind in country, displays the functioning of diesel engine in a user-friendly way. It displays various rules and choices to the visitors," he added.As expected, visitors were excited and happy. "For the first time in my life, I entered into a diesel engine model and experienced its functioning and controls. I thought it was simple, but has interesting features like use of sand while breaking, speed controls, noticing the signals etc. I enjoyed the experience," said 14-year-old Shruti, a Patiala resident. "The models on display are beautiful. There are diagrams showing the functioning of the station master, the guard, the ticket collector, and the points-man," said another visitor Rakesh Aggarwal. A kiosk with touch-screen enabled computer containing full information about the railway facts and statistics also attracted the visitors to try their knowledge on a quiz based on information stored in the database.