I like this thread!
for now there is no internet on board as far as i know. but i think they plan to have it set up on board. but at the same time i am also confused that will they be able to provide a good internet service because during the journey there are some places where there is only GPRS signal which supports very less bandwidth. Even EDGE is not fast enough to support whole train if there are multiple users. I think it will be best to introduce internet on the train when there will be 3g services in Paksitan and there would be a requirement of separate router or connection in every carriage then only it will be able to handle the load. do share your opinion about this.
thanks for the liking brother. and apologies as i don't use flikr or any other photo sharing.. its just for you guys that i have uploaded all the pics and explaining them in as much detail as i can with my opinions and views but inshAllah next time i will definitely upload pics in HQ once i get used to this posting stuff :-#
thank you brother for liking
these are the same tuck shops which are earlier in the picture. but a close up. i tired to capture multiple picture because i wanted to see them and keep them with me.. see the wonders digital media can do.. i remember the days when we had to put film inside the cameras and we had limited number or shots.. 32 and 36 i reckon. see the bottles of drinks lined up in the extreme right shop... brilliant.
this was another one but it was separate from the other three. good luck to these hard working men. may Allah give barkat in their earnings and rizq. Ameen
The reason why i have chosen to put these pictures separate were that i was amazed to see that these buffers are still working. The writing on these buffers say 'Hydraulic Buffers, Ransomes & Rapier Ltd., Ipswich, 1927 England'1927 which means its 85 years old :o ... i don't have any idea when they were made but it seems that they are functional since 1927 and OMG they are still functional. What a brilliant piece and example of Engineering work. Quality is always long lasting, i just loved it when i saw them. and was very sad to see that there were Clementine (kinoo) skins lying on top of these buffers. What a shame.!
look at the size of these hydraulic buffers they are just amazing. I couldn't stop looking at them. i don't know why but they were the best thing i saw at the station. There are the things which the British people have left for us and it is our negligence that we have not upgraded them. The same things are upgraded by our neighbours and they are far better than us in most parts of life, i assume.
a very sad picture which i think shall be an eye opener for us to see that what maintenance these unique things are given. they are not even cleaned properly. although they are for emergency and accidents but they need to be cleaned and people who throw their rubbish on these shall be penalised.
again the same buffer. excellent just look at the structure it was so solid. looks very promising and of the best quality.
a last picture of the buffer because i thought chalo je bas bohat ho gaya again we can see clearly here what is engraved on the buffers.
please share you knowledge about these. i would really like to know
here two carriages are connected to each other. very neat and clean carriages from the inside and the outside.
a panoramic view of the carriages
I won't explain each and every picture here because they do the talking themselves. While going to my carriage i came through these toilets which were on the platform of Pak business express lahore and they are not at a set of a horror movie. they look as if a horror movie shoot was going on here and they were shooting the toilets which were 200 years old and had supernatural activity in them.They are obviously government owned and it is very clear that how well they are maintained....(not).there were more but i captured these because they are enough to haunt us and give goosebumps to us. very bad situation...ye to hamari government ka safai ka haal hai..
here are a few more pictures of the haunted toilets.the main reason of showing these picture to you guys is to let you know the condition of our railways and because of these things railways is going down and down. how much will it cost to maintain these toilets? and if they cannot maintain it they can demolish them and create offices here or they can even open tuck shops or whatever but at least not this.. this is just not justifiable.
a tap fixed by the government for people to use water and even that is not fixed properly, it is facing to the right hand side whereas the sitting area is on the left hand side. i think the government or the railway authorities have enough money to install water dispenser, the silver ones but this on the middle of the platform... :S
gr888,.......keep em comin!
From now the journey begins.. jitni jaldi ye pics khatam hongi utni jaldi journey bhi khatam ho gaye thi trust me it was a lot of fun.. i did not know the guys with whom i was travelling with but they were nice and decent people.. i will tell you guys later on that how did the time pass on but 18 hours were like 2-4 hours.
Lahore - Karachi - Lahore... and the journey Beginsssss i liked the way it was written... very nice...
my cabin where there were total of 6 people including me. 2 were old aged very humble and real gentlemen. 2 were local business men and 1 person was looking for a job and then it was me taking pictures for you guys we can see the fan the light and the cleanliness of the cabin. it was really very clean. and fresh odour no foul or bad smell.. and the staff were using air freshners after 45 minutes to 1 hour. so pleasant smell all they wayy
then they came in and put the local newspaper and the bed sheet and pillow cover for all the 6 passengers travelling. all of these were done in all the cabins. all the linen were properly packed and washed. they were neat and tidy and smelled fresh. Why i am concentrating on the smell is because sometimes to save money they re-pack the slightly used ones and it carries the odour but these were fresh and on the table lies my bag with a smiley face
a close up of the bed sheet and the pillow cover. there was a sticker of Pak business express stitched to both of them.
the lcd, the two electric sockets, the air conditioner/ heater, and the door. Everything in the train seemed to be unused. i looked like we were the first passengers. actually it had not been many days since the service started. i travelled on the 7th so it was new at that time. but i really liked it..the electric sockets were in working condition, the ac was working and sometimes it was throwing cool air and sometimes warm. overall excellent environment in the cabin. however i still believe that the cabins could have been more spacious.
the other side of the cabin. this is what you will see when you stand on the door of the cabin. a fan, light, window, luggage holder, led lights for nigh reading and light if required. top beds for two travellers with support at the end to prevent them from falling down every thing was clean and in immaculate condition.
there were 6 led lights in the compartment. there are two light settings of the led lights. one is high and one is low. they also seemed to be new and very nice. they come in use when the lights of the cabin are closed and if a person wants to do something or wants to go out he can turn this light on and do whatever he wants without disturbing the fellow passengers.
the toilet again... it was again very clean and without any foul smell or odour..
after taking the pictures of the toilet and some other pictures of myself in the train when i came back i found this member of staff spreading the bed sheets on the seats business class service really. so he did the lower level seat and the top level seat and did not spread it on the mid level because it was folded. again very nice and well mannered gentleman.
the train started to move at sharp 3:30pm as per the schedule. also the company has promised that it will leave on time and it will arrive on time. So, yes it left Lahore on time and when the train started to move.. what a feeling it was because we all have had lost hope Pak railways but to see it moving i felt yes its coming back the days are coming back when we can travel on train and save money and also enjoy the trip. there is nothing which can compare the train journey. it has something in itself which is unique and most importantly it is not tiring. when you get off the train you feel really fresh. very comfortable train.
people looking at the pak business express leaving lahore. they would have been thinking k wah je wah... new train...
some old building while leaving lahore.
other train carriages. there a lot of difference between these carriages and the ones in the picture. i think the railway shall also get them refurbished because they are in miserable conditions. fans broken, floors broken, no lights and what not.. this will be a long term investment which the government really needs to do.
greenery in lahore. and on the left hand side we see the man's best friend sitting looking at his best friends going to karachi :D:D
and brothers.. at 4.30 we were served snacks. very neat and clean and packed in a plastic bag which was sealed. and in the plastic bag there were there things. nimco, 3 biscuits and a cake with tea. we also see the mineral water bottles provided by the pak business express. very nice stuff indeed and it is all included in the fare. nothing to pay. the tea was not so good but still they are doing their best effort. i appreciate their hard work and positive thinking.
Here you go:
Ransomes & Rapier was formed in 1869 when four engineers, J.A. Ransome, R.J. Ransome, R.C. Rapier and A.A. Bennett, left the parent company by agreement to establish a new company on a site on the River Orwell to continue the business of railway equipment and other heavy works. The company built the locomotives for the Woosung Road (or Woosung Railway) which was the first railway in China. The railway opened in 1876 but was demolished the following year. During the First World War they produced shells, guns and tank turrets. The company merged with Newton, Chambers & Company of Sheffields and formed the NCK excavator division to form NCK-Rapier who built walking draglines used in opencast mining. Ransomes and Rapier built the model W1400 walking dragline called Sundew for The United Steel Company iron ore quarry at Exton Park, Rutland, England. At the time it was built in 1951, it was the largest in the world, weighing in at 1880 tons. Ransomes & Rapier sold the right to their walking dragline technology and patents to Bucyrus International in 1988. The turntable used to turn the revolving restaurant on the BT Tower was also built by Ransome & Rapier. Ransomes and Rapier closed in 1987.
Ransomes & Rapier was formed in 1869 when four engineers, J.A. Ransome, R.J. Ransome, R.C. Rapier and A.A. Bennett, left the parent company by agreement to establish a new company on a site on the River Orwell to continue the business of railway equipment and other heavy works.
The company built the locomotives for the Woosung Road (or Woosung Railway) which was the first railway in China. The railway opened in 1876 but was demolished the following year.
During the First World War they produced shells, guns and tank turrets.
The company merged with Newton, Chambers & Company of Sheffields and formed the NCK excavator division to form NCK-Rapier who built walking draglines used in opencast mining.
Ransomes and Rapier built the model W1400 walking dragline called Sundew for The United Steel Company iron ore quarry at Exton Park, Rutland, England. At the time it was built in 1951, it was the largest in the world, weighing in at 1880 tons.
Ransomes & Rapier sold the right to their walking dragline technology and patents to Bucyrus International in 1988.
The turntable used to turn the revolving restaurant on the BT Tower was also built by Ransome & Rapier.
Ransomes and Rapier closed in 1987.
More information here:
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Ransomes_and_Rapier
Seems like its worth the ticket
Good photos and captions, mate. How I'd love to travel to Pakistan one day.
yes brother it is worth it. i would say that one shall experience a train journey and with this type of train i think we shall not think twice. if budget is a problem then there are also tickets for 3,500 PKR which comes without food and lcd. other things remain the same. then i think for around 1,000 PKR you can pack some food/meals, or snacks for the journey.
thank you brother for liking them. Definitely Pakistan is a place to travel but it is the media which has always portrayed and promoted a negative image of the country. In my opinion positives shall me promoted for a better future.
this is the night view of the cabin with the lcd on. actually after we were given snacks we turned off the lights and decided to enjoy the natural sunlight. it was far better and was very relaxing.
this is the view of the cabin with the flash and lights closed and the lcd on. on lcd they do not have many channels. what they have done is that they have connected all lcd's to a common player and they have burnt cd's and they play them. if you change the channel nothing comes. so its a pre recorded cd which you have to watch. you cannot change channels or programs according to your wish/choice. however upon asking the staff told me that they are working to add more channels such as movie channels and etc. At the moment the play cartoons, stage shows, Islamic content and Pak Business express advertisements.watching lcd was not a 'major' attraction for me and one thing which is find a little awkward is that the position of the lcd's. but to be honest they don't have any other area to mount it so we have to manage it like this.
there was a gap of around 4 hours between the snacks and the meals so what i did is i made my bed and i got ready to have some rest because it was night time and hardly there was a visibility of anything outside. as most of the areas from where the train passes is farms and villages. one can only see some lights faraway and the moon light. i have also captured the moon which was MashAllah very bright on that particular night. Also one thing i have noticed is that on highways the light of the stars and moon is noticeably higher than in the city. maybe because of the lights currently present in the city the pillow and the blankets were also provided by the crew and they were also clean and washed.
this is another very interesting picture. we came to a stop at some station, i forgot the name :-# as i am not too familiar with the station names. however what we see in the picture is a P.C.O and a lot of chargers a very creative thought and service by the person running the P.C.O. really liked it and also found it funny these are especially for the trains which do not have sockets in them and have long stopovers at these stations.
good elaboration about journey and especially train, waiting for more pic's
nice..
Finally some good condition train. I went to Karachi in 2011, the condition was very pathetic
i heard that this train is closed after few days of launching ? is it true ?