Train in Indian Cinema

A compilation of movies where Indian steam trains can be seen. This list was compiled by Harsh Vardhan with contributions from other IRFCA members.

Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) Towards the end, this Dharmendra, Saira Banu, Mumtaz and Firoz Khan starrer has a thrilling sequence on board the WP Hauled luxury train, which I believe is Frontier Mail as this is pre-Rajdhani era. The scenes were shot in the First Class A/C and the Dinning Car. To show that the train is on it's way to Delhi they have shown a mix of WP hauled trains including a rare shot of the Blue WP (with crown on the smokestack) hauled Flying Ranee between Mahim and Bandra stations (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Aankhen (1968) At the outset of this spy film, a WG hauled train is shown blown up by foreign agents while traversing a bridge in Assam. Note that there was very little broad gauge in Assam at this time though (Contributed by Viraf Mulla)!

Achut Kanya (1936) In this Ashok Kumar and Kanan Devi film has Kanan Devi playing the role of a level crossing gatekeeper's daughter who averts an accident towards the end of the film. (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Aakhri Khat (1966) Aakhri Khat is the tale of toddler on the streets of Delhi as he goes on a searching quest for his mother who passed away. The child oblivious to the fact that his mother is no more retraces his steps to the last place where he saw her thinking his mother is playing an elaborate game of hide and seek. In the meantime he survives on the crumbs that he finds on the streets and of the leftovers of others. During his escapades, thes child played by Master Bunty also sleeps between the tracks whilst a steam train passes over him and he escapes unscathed (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Aap Ki Kasam (1974) Rajesh Khanna is leaving Bombay for good after having gone through a divorce, which he now realizes, was only due to his suspicious nature and not being able to trust his wife. He boards a long distance train that obviously is hauled by a DC electric as one can also see in the long shots of the train on a curve. However, I suppose for more effect, they show you close up shots of a WP wheels, cylinders and firebox to depict the motion of the train and the anguish inside the man. Song Zindagi ke safar mein plays in the background and was an instant hit.

Andaz (1971) At the very end of the film, there is a station scene when the father in law Ajit comes to take Hema Malini back, whom he had discarded after the accidental death of his son. No complete locomotive here but there is a steam whistle depicted and you can also see bar less windows in 2S class coaches.

A Passage to India (1984) Based on E.M. Forster's book and set in imperial India, the film opens with a scene showing arrival of a ship from England at Bombay Port. The passengers head to Bombay VT to board the Imperial Mail. There are some very true to life sights and sound in the scenes showing this journey. When the old woman and her intended daughter-in-law arrive at their destination Chandrapore, there is much pomp as the chief of the town is also arriving by the same train. On their journey home from the station, they stop at a level crossing for a passenger train with XE locomotive and full of natives up to the roof shows the total contrast in the lifestyles of the rulers and the ruled. Dr. Aziz played by Victor Banerji befriends the two women and proposes to take them for a picnic to Marabar caves. The journey to the caves by rail is on the disguised Nilgiri Railway and is done very well. Later when Mrs. Moore is leaving for England, only her son and Prof. Godbole come to see her off as she is seen leaving Chandrapore station at night by the Imperial Mail.

Aradhana (1969) Rajesh Khanna serenades Sharmila Tagore while he is on a Jeep and she is riding the Up DHR train. The song Mere sapnon ki rani became an instant super hit and is probably the best known song featuring a train in India Cinema. There have been many other songs with DHR in background but this one was probably the first one in colour. It shows several important features of DHR including the sharpest curve at the `Agony Point.'

Basant (1960) Very good shots of WP locomotive can be seen many times in this film (Contributed by Capt. J.D. Singh).

Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966) Dharmendra is a happy go lucky but principled young man. He has been fired from yet another job and is going home by one of the narrow gauge trains on Martin's Light Railway (probably the Sheakhala branch) network at Howrah. While his friend pokes fun at him, he sings the title song standing mostly at the door of the train while it whizzes by a rural backdrop. Later one of the female leads played by Tanuja who is also in the same train tries to jump from moving train and is saved by our hero.

Bahu Begum (1967) Nawab Sikandar Mirza goes to Lucknow and this trip is depicted by a momentary shot of a WG hauled mixed passenger train with four wheeled covered wagons in the lead.

Bhowani Junction (1956) Based on the masterpiece from John Masters, this film is about Anglo Indian community in pre-partition India. Set at imaginary railway town called Bhowani Junction, this film has sterling performances by Ava Gardner, Bill Travers and Stewart Granger amongst others. Victoria Jones played by Ava is an Anglo Indian girl who is constantly tormented by her inability to find an identity and belongingness in India just before partition. Her father is a locomotive driver and she works for the Women Army Corps. A large part of the film is set around railways that played an all-important role during war years, before and after partition and 100% powered by steam. The railway scenes in the film were shot in Lahore and other parts of North-west Pakistan however there are occasional glimpses of standard gauge and other railway stock from England. You can XC, SG(S) and HGS class locomotives here amongst others. The train sabotage/derailment and rescue scene is done very well.

Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti (1967) At the end of the film, Jeetendra, the teacher who is accused of murder of a village girl but it is his stepbrother who confesses to it in the court. His account of his leaving the village after the murder is shown by a double-headed narrow gauge steam train with ZE class locomotives at helm. This is Satpura Railway in all possibility.

Boy Friend (1961) (B/W) Boy Friend Shammi Kapoor is a happy go lucky person who is interested in working in theatre. In the early part of the film, he hops aboard the roof of the Simla - Kalka train and sings Mujhe apna yaar bana lo. This is a mixed train with six carriages and is hauled by a ZF class No. 75 locomotive. At the end of the song the train comes out of a tunnel no. 103 whistling and goes through a sharp S curve just after the tunnel

Brahmachari (1968) Shammi Kapoor play the eternal bachelor who only aims in life is to adopt homeless children and raise them like his own. One day he takes them out for a picnic. This is Sayaji Garden at Baroda and although this is no mainline run, it is still real 4-6-2 steam engine on a 12" gauge pulling a train full of children in open carriages. The song is Chakke pe chakka chakke pe gaadi.

China Town (1962) (B/W) Shammi Kapoor disguises as a holy man to be with his sweetheart Shakila. She is traveling first class in the down DHR train with her father who doesn't approve of Shammi Kapoor. He breaks into the bhazan Dekho ji ek bala jogi matwala and you can see several scenes of the Up train including one at the Batasia loop before the end of the song.

Daag (1973) Rajesh Khanna is a convicted murderer who has escaped from the jail van that met with an accident. He is still handcuffed on one arm with another prisoner. They hang across the rail of what look like the old Vasai Bridge at night and a WP hauled train helps cut the handcuff off. Everyone believes that he has died in the accident and his widow Sharmila Tagore moves on to Simla to find work as a teacher. This move is shown `incorrectly' with a nice shot of the Darjeeling train at the Batasia loop with Kanchenjunga in the backdrop. Later she sings Hawa Chale Kaise to her young son to put him to sleep and a part of the song is picturised on the older Kalka - Simla Railcar (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Dal-pati (Thalapathi) (1991) Mani Ratnam is another film director who is obsessed with trains and you see them in almost every film from his portfolio. This original Tamil film with was remade in Hindi has a long opening scene of a YG hauled goods train on the Quilon - Tenkasi route. A young woman in the village delivers a male child out of wedlock. Out of shame she decides to discard the newborn but as soon as the covered four wheeler goods wagon of the train where she drops the child starts moving, she reaslises her folly. The song In aankhon ka dulaara hai plays in the background while she longs for the child moving farther and farther away from her along with the moving train. The train rolls through beautiful terrain, goes over a stone viaduct and has a MG caboose.

Dharkan (1972) Villian Roopesh Kumar kidnaps a child from a moving Kalka - Simla train and later Sanjay Khan and Mumtaz fight him and his goons in the Goregaon yards in Mumbai. The fainted child is rescued by Mumtaz as he is about to be crushed under the wheels of a WP which is being lowered on the same track by a crane (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Dil Se (1998) This is a Mani Ratnam's film that opens with a scene of an All India Radio Reporter at a station waiting overnight for the early morning train. This is Nilgiri Railway but masquerading as some place in northeast India. Shah Rukh Khan misses the train that he is waiting for and the girl that he was trying to impress. Nevertheless he boards the next one where he meets a raunchily dressed local with her troop and together they perform Chal chaiyan chaiyan on top of the coaches, on a metre gauge flatcar etc. This was the first major song in the Indian Cinema after the closing of the mainline steam and became so famous that for sometime that many producers wanted a train action for their film hereafter.

Devdas (1955) (B/W) Devdas Dileep Kumar is dejected when he realizes that his Paro is married off elsewhere. He goes wandering around the country by train only accompanied by his faithful servant. All he does on the train is to drink and fantasise about Paro. There are several scenes of tracks, stations, trains and a silhouetted WP engine to depict this journey before Devdas decides to get off at a wayside station. The servant who is traveling third class is unaware of this.

Dost (1974) At the outset of the film, Maanav played by Dharmendra is returning to the Simla to re-unite with his guardian who is a priest at the local church. He is thinking about the song that the father used to sing to give him words of encouragement and wisdom. Gaadi bula rahi hai goes on while the train negotiates the winding slopes and goes through tunnels. The movie is in colour and a shining KC 520 locomotive hauls the train in old KSR livery. The only letdown is the credits that run on top of what is first class photography. At the end of the song, Dharmendra gets off at Taradevi station. The song repeats again when the father is killed and Dharmendra is reminiscing about him. Later in the film, when Dharmendra goes looking for a job in the city and is unsuccessful, one evening while he is returning home, a WP hauled passenger train passes in the background. Interesting to note is the Rajdhani livery on the first coach of the train.

Do Ustaad (1959) (B/W) A boy is running from police at the beginning of the film and is chased through yards. There is a simmering WG, a broad gauge tank locomotive shunting in the yards and a Cowan Sheldon crane seen in the chase. In the later part of the film, the boy now grown up and played by Raj Kapoor saves a woman who is walking on the tracks to commit suicide. The train here however appears to be a stock shot of a North American train and is shown running almost too fast to creates the urgency in the scene.

Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986) Kulbhusan Kharbanda is a tonga driver at a rural station in Punjab and ferries passengers back and forth to the village. In the beginning, a WL 15049 in Jallundhar shed livery is seen arriving at the station. Following the arrival of the train there is a commotion at the station, caused mostly by the tongawallahs in their bid to get more passengers.

Gadar (2001) This film is set during the Indo-Pakistan partition era and has all the rhetoric and propaganda that is usually associated with films on this subject. In the end of the film, there is a rather long and stretched out sequence depicting the daring escape of the protagonist and his heroine from Pakistan aboard a goods train. Unfortunately, the only working broad gauge locomotive they could find in the 21st Century to pull this train was a WP class No. 7015; which is such a hallmark Indian locomotive. Nonetheless it was used as it was readily available after it had been recently restored. The film is shot around Bikaner area and the as you can see in the film, the bullet nose of the engine was damaged during the shooting due to blatant disregard on this national heritage by the filmmakers.

Gandhi (1982) Gandhi comes back to India from South Africa sets out for a soul-searching trip across the sub-continent with his wife and followers in tow. What could be a better way to discover the country than a train? This epic journey is very well done by Richard Attenborough who got an authentic BESA 4-6-0 metre gauge engine and matching wooden carriages all done in BBCIR colours to shoot this part and the result is history.

Ghulami (1985) In feudal Rajasthan, the differences between the rich and the poor are deep-seated. Dharmendra the protagonist in this film takes up the cause of the poor. There are several evocative scenes of YP locomotives including No. 2225 hauling passenger/mixed trains going through arid areas of Bikaner - Fatehpur Shekhawati region in the early part of the film. Song Mere pee ko pawan is very well done.

Heeralal Pannalal (1978) In the climax scene, the metre gauge train which the multiple stars of this film are travelling from Goa catches fire, derails (A La Silver Streak), crashes through the terminus and stops in front of a Ganapati Shrine. The locomotive shown at this stage is a broad gauge CWD (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Hum Rahi (1974) When a boy and a girl meet while they are on their way to the big city in search of a job, they constantly argue and clash on the station platform, foot over bridge and inside the first class coupe. Randhir Kapoor sings Chup chup chup kyun baithi ho to tease Tanuja and there is a silhouette shot of a WP hauled train.

Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965) A houseboat owner in Kashmir falls in love with a visiting tourist and comes back to the big city with her. Unable to compromise with their different origins, the Shashi Kapoor is leaving for Pathankot at the end of the film when Nanda realizes where her heart belongs and comes look for him at the station. Another train is shown leaving hauled by H class No. 24304. The signals are MACL. The ending is a happy one after the hero agrees to take the heroine back after her pleadings and pulls her aboard the moving train. Background song is Yaad sada rakhna yeh kahani.

Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961) (B/W) To prove that his love is true, Dev Anand jumps from the running train only to land on top of a where he croons the title song while Asha Parekh stands at the door of the Up Darjeeling Mail. At the end of the trip they arrive at what is shown to be `Neelgaon' but appears to be Kurseong.

Jab Yaad Kisi ki Aati Hai (1967) Dharmendra is an assistant/fireman on a narrow gauge branch line which is actually the famous Neral - Matheran railway and the locomotive used here is MLR 739. There are other still shots of a narrow gauge unidentified but presumably Central Railway locomotive in close up shots when the driver and Dharmendra are in conversation. In the early part of the film, there is plentiful footage of this MLR locomotive while it was still working. (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Jawab (1942) This vintage film has Kanan Devi singing "Toofan Mail" in the background whilst a BNR tank is shown hauling the Mail train (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Julie (1975) This is a story of an Anglo Indian family living at Shoranur. The father played by Om Prakash is a goods driver while Julie is the eldest daughter who falls in love with a Hindu boy who is visiting his family. There are several scenes depicting AWC, HPS WG and WP class at Shoranur station, yard, roundhouse etc. In a funny scene, a local shopkeeper misbehaves with Julie and is promptly slapped back by her. At this time, a locomotive is showing blowing down to depict the cooling off of the shopkeeper's pent-up feelings.

Kala Bazaar (1960) Dev Anand the hero is sitting on the lower berth in a First Class coupe and on the bunk above him is her heartthrob Waheeda Rehmaan. But her mom is also present on the lower berth across Dev. He sings Upar wala jaan kar bhi anjaan hai, Apni to har aah ek toofan hai, which is bhajan for the mother and a love plea for the daughter. There are several musical (not real) steam whistles in the song (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Kati Patang (1970) Madhu's marriage is arranged against her wishes and she decides to run away after her father dies from the shock of learning it. Asha Parekh boards a train where she meets her childhood friend who is now widowed. During the night the train meets an accident. These are stock shots of a foreign train as is evident from the white livery of the train. The scene of the train crashing is done with models.

Kitaab (1977) Gulzar is one of the producer director (amidst other talents) whose films nearly always have trains, stations etc. and they are depicted as real as they can get. This film is about a young boy who lives in the city with his sister and brother-in-law. Tired of the constant fighting between the husband and wife, he decides to run away from their home back to his mother who lives in the village. Without any money, he boards a train but when the ticket examiner chases him out, he takes the refuge of the tender of the WG locomotive hauling the train. The driver who catches him takes pity on him agrees to take him to his destination. The remaining movie is about the boy's adventures on the WG 8399/8585 of Kalyan shed, stations etc. until he is reunited with his mother in the end. There are very few directorial errors if any and the train sequences are shot very realistically. There is a flat wagon carrying a bonnet style bus on it. While the driver Rashid sings Dhanno ki aankhon mein in praise of his sweetheart, his assistant and fireman Raghu takes over the full control of the engine, watching signals etc. There is one more song towards the end when a beggar sings on the train with the boy accompanying him but I cannot remember the lyrics right now.

Love in Simla (1960) (B/W) Joy Mukerjee is coming to Simla to meet his would-be bride and is reminiscing her with the song Dil tham chale in the Kalka - Simla train hauled by a ZF tank engine. At the end of the film, as he returns back with the bride, the song repeats. Barog station can be seen here.

Manthan (1976) On the posters of the film I have seen Girish Karnad, the protagonist in the film getting off a steam hauled metre gauge train. (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Mera Naam Joker (1970) The joker Raju as a child goes to an Ooty boarding school. While most children are boarders and leave for home during summer holidays, Raju gets left behind as he is a local. There are excellent scenes in the early part of the film of this school train leaving Ooty and arriving back with noisy singing kids. You can also see the children waving the English St. George's flag.

Mere Apne (1971) Another Gulzar film. In the beginning of the film, Anandi played by Meena Kumari is being brought to the city to do the housework by a person who claims to be her relative. A WP hauled train at dusk depicts this while the credits roll in between.

Mere Humsafar (1970) A boy and a girl began the journey as companions from their humble village to Bombay in search for their fortune. They start off in the back of a truck carrying produce which brings them to the station. Song is Mere humsafar mere humsafar. They get inside a four-wheeler covered wagon train hauled by a WG locomotive and have several railway adventures before the boy get left behind when he gets off to fetch water for the girl. AWD 12706 is also seen hauling a goods train.

Mere Huzoor (1968) Jeetendra meets his soul mate Mala Sinha in a train. The lady is wearing a veil and the poet pleads her to remove it with a song 'Rukh se zara naqab hata lo mere huzoor'. You can also see beautiful wooden first class coach in this song.

Miss Frontier Mail (1936) This film has lot of railway action including an accident scene shot quite convincingly with miniatures considering that it was done in the 1930s! Nadia Hunterwali (Mary Ann Evans) indulges in extensive fist-fights, set to heavy sound effects, and a famous battle alongside her hero Sundar played by Mansoor atop a moving train. She is fighting to clear the name of her father who is accused of murder and to achieve this she hits a lot of guys in a circus-like way, fights, runs like a hurricane and gets the nickname "Miss Frontier Mail", the fastest train in India of this time.

Neel Kamal (1968) Waheeda Rehman plays the lead female character that suffers from sleepwalking. In the beginning of the film, she is in a waiting room with a group when she wanders off into the path of the incoming train. At the helm of the train is a WP pacific but things are brought under control by the Hero Manoj Kumar before a mishap take place.

Northwest Frontier ('Flame Over India' in the USA) (1959) Two steam engines are shown and the yard switcher steam engine is featured in the entire movie as British nationals use it to take a Hindu prince to safety from a Muslim rebellion. Stars Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall and Herbert Lom in that order except in the US where Bacall is listed as the top star (Contributed by Walter Haan).

Pachai Vilakku (1964) (Tamil) The story revolved round an engine driver played by Sivaji Ganesan Sri Nagesh played the comedian fireman. It featured a few engines from Basin Bridge (BBQ) loco shed at Madras. (Contributed by Swamy Nathan)

Pakeezah (1971) Meena Kumari who plays a Nautch Girl in the film gets her dress entangled in the points and faints on the track at the sight of a steam engine approaching. She is rescued and the hero Raj Kumar carries her to his first class compartment (old Wooden stock), and falls in love with her feet and leaves her a note - Yeh paun nazukh hai ise zameen pe mat rakiaga maile ho jayenge - remember this? She later does a mujra Chalte chalte yunhi koi mil gaya tha which has several wailing whistles of a steam engine in the night. Whenever Pakeezah hears the whistle from her house she reminisces her admirer (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Parineeta (2005) Features DHR. (Details invited).

Pavitra Papi (1970) Parikshit Sahni plays the lead and is seen walking absent mindedly along the track after losing his job in the early part of the film when a passenger hauled by WP class No. 7602 comes on the same line and he is saved by a passerby just in nick of time. Later when his sweetheart Tanuja is married elsewhere, he blesses her with the song Teri dunia se hoke majboor chala and he sees her and the bridegroom off to the station.

Professor (1962) Shammi Kapoor disguises as an old man to find the job of a tuitor but finds it more rewarding when he falls in with Kalpana who is the student. Song Main chali main chali is partially shot on the Darjeeling train. There is more steam footage later when Professor accompanies the Madam and his sweetheart to Bombay and WP hauled trains are shown to depict each trip (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Pudhu Kavithai (1982) (Tamil) Meaning "New poetry", this is one of earlier hits of Rajnikanth. The climax sequence is picturised on a metre gauge steam passenger. As per the story it is the Banglore - Mysore line, but there was very little greenery in the scenes and looked more like the Madurai - Teni route. The very last frame where the hero and heroine unite on a small tidy station, with the train moving away in the background, is simply superb. The coaches are all old unreserved second class sitting stock, and the loco looked like a YP. There is another frame in this sequence shot from the hilltop with the train down at a distance. Another reason why I think it is the Madurai - Teni route. Overall the train sequence looked very authentic and nicely captured (Contributed by N Manohar).

Pyasaa (1957) Guru Dutt is an idealistic poet who is unable to find a job despite a university degree. His college sweetheart Mala Sinha ditches him for a wealthy publisher and his brothers turn him out of the house. He is sleeping on an bench on the sidewalk and as he tries to get some water out of a dry tap to quench his thirst, Mala Sinha drives by and spots him. At this moment a Calcutta Port Trust steam train with a tank engine comes between their view and she leaves. In the second half of the film, Guru Dutt who is totally disillusioned with everything and tries to commit suicide under a moving train. He leaves his coat with a beggar who realizes what he is up to and follows him on to the track. The beggar is caught in a switch and gets killed inadvertently but since he is wearing the coat of the poet, everyone thinks the poet died. This night scene is shot very well.

Rang De Basanti (2006) Features one of the recently revived WP 7161 in sepia toned scenes in which an English filmmaker is shown as contemplating her film on Indian freedom fighters.

Ram aur Shyam (1967) Twins separate when they are young, one grows rich and the other poor and they are mixed up as adults played by Dilip Kumar. After Shyam has been living at Ram's house forr some time, the evil brother in law Pran exposes him at birthday party. Shyam is accused of killing Ram with the intent of grabbing his wealth and jailed. He escapes from the jail, hops on a broad gauge train at a station, which soon turns into a metre gauge train and after hanging on the side for a while, finally he jumps off from a viaduct to his freedom (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) The female lead Ganga played by Mandakini begins her epic journey from the mountains to Calcutta just like the river Ganges. With her is her newborn child and when she gets of the train to give him some water, the train leaves without her. There is night scene of a WG hauled train with MACL signaling and a deserted platform at night.

Sadma (1983) This remake of a Tamil film is about a young woman who is left with the sense of a five year old after a road accident. She lands into a brothel in Madras from where she is rescued by an Ooty schoolteacher played by Kamal Hassan. He brings her home and nurses her back to normal. This poignant film has several scenes of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in the Conoor area and a particularly memorable one is at the end as the Sridevi leaves by train on a very rainy afternoon. Song Ae zindagi gale laga le is good.

Salaam Bombay (1988) In the early part of the film the young boy Krishna who plays lead is seen arriving at Bombay (what appears to be Sealdah but could be someplace else too) by a WG hauled train.

Shatranj (1969) Starring Waheeda Rehman and Rajendra Kumar. Both of them are Indian spies. The railway scenes were shot in Goa. I think the hero tries to blow up the villain's train fully aware that his father is on the same train (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Shola Aur Shabnam (1961) (B/W) The story is about childhood love of a boy and girl whose parents work for the railway at Mysore and they spend their childhood playing on the station, yards etc. There is lots of metre gauge action in the early part of the film until the girl's father is transferred elsewhere and the two friends get estranged.

Sholey (1975) This Indianised version of a western flick in the mid seventies changed the equations of Indian Cinema forever. Jai and Veeru are two small time thieves who are roped by an Inspector who sees them capable of overturning the empire of empire of dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh. There are several railway sequences in the film. Two of these show the inspector and a jailor arriving at a rural station aboard a YP hauled train. The most famous one of course is of the dacoits trying to hijack a goods train hauled by H/4 class No. 026472. Jai and Veeru are prisoners of inspector Sanjeev Kumar and after he agrees to let them help him, Jai and inspector take charge of the fighting from the guard's van while Veeru mans the engine and runs its through the barrier laid on the rails by dacoits. There is also the talkative tonga driver Basanti played by Hema Malini. Veeru charms her by singing Koi hasina jab rooth jaati hai while YP hauled passenger of South Central Railway runs past in the background.

Shor (1972) Nanda is killed by a Western Railway's AWD class locomotive hauled goods train in the early part of film while she is trying to save her son who has wandered on to the tracks. Very poorly shot sequence that lay little emphasis on authenticity and more on blood and gore. The train in the scene hardly looks to be moving and one cannot fathom why the boy cannot hear the train coming on a very straight and level track in the siding. Later in the film the father of the boy Manoj Kumar is trying to arrange funds for his boy's treatment and visits his parents in the village to ask for a loan. This trip and back are depicted by scenes of a WP hauled train at speed (Contributed by Viraf Mulla).

Teesari Kasam (1964) (B/W) Hiraman is a poor bullock cart driver falls in love with a theatre actress whom he has been assigned to take to the village fair. The inevitable happens and Heerabai played by Waheeda Rehman has to leave at the end when Raj Kapoor comes to see her off at Aswali station desperately racing his cart. Central Railway's WG 8751 brings the train into the station and leaves after a short stop.

Teesari Manzil (1966) This film has all the masala of Indian Cinema. There is journey to Mussoorie by train, boy meets girl, love blossoms, romance, misunderstanding, villain and finally reunion. The film starts from a scene at New Delhi station ticket window. A WP and a WG (with a bicycle on the buffer beam) on platform with Ajmeri gate bridge in background. After some comic relief during the day journey, the arrival at Dehradun station is seen. After the bad guy dies, and to show the couple's reunion and return to Delhi there is a shot of WG locomotive hauled train at the end that quickly turns into a Dehradun CWD 12507 hauling wooden non-bogie stock. You can also see the interiors of a spacious wooden first class carriage.

Toofan Mail (1934) (B/W) Comments invited.

Return of Toofan Mail (1942) (B/W) Comments invited.

The Burning Train (1980) Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra are childhood friend and Vinod dreams of making the fastest train in India. As children and young adults they sing, play and frolic around train and the Rail Transport Museum (now NRM) with their girl friends. There are sights of steam in the yard and the PSMT working in the rail museum in its original livery.

The Train (1970) Nanda plays a conwoman who is forced by her stepbrother to regularly rob innocent passengers on trains out of Bombay VT. Rajesh Khanna is the police inspector assigned to catch her. There is plenty of electric and steam action, chasing train by road, shots of stations and landscape of the ghat section. You can see how Nasik Road and Igatpuri stations looked three decades ago. There are WPs and WGs all around and the switchover from electric to steam at Igatpuri. In the climax dhishum-dhishum scene, there is a WP 7197 rolling by as the hero and the villain try to get each other.

Vidhaata (1982) The movie is about two characters that start off as locomotive driver and fireman but go on to go very different ways. Film starts with both arguing whether fate is more powerful that the will of a man. They sing Haathon ki chand lakiron ka aboard the WG hauling goods. Funnily enough, the song begins and ends with metre gauge YG locomotive hauling tank wagons! There are other scenes depicting steam and notable amongst them is when the prematurely born grandson of the fireman is carried to the hospital aboard the cab of WG 8892 with the firebox providing the warmth.

Waqt (1965) This one is about a family separating due to sheer misfortune and meeting again after many years by an equally interesting quirk of fate. After the separation the patriarch of the family Balraj Sahni is implicated in a murder and gets a life term. After coming out of the prison he starts looking for his family. This journey to Delhi in his search is shown by a WP hauled train. A few moments later, the youngest son who lives with the mother is shown moving to Bombay in search of a job and there is a rare scene of WP hauled Bombay Deluxe arriving at Bombay Central. You can also see old wooden first class, chair car, and third class coaches. Watch out for the line of taxis just outside the station even in those days (Contributed by Capt. J.D. Singh).

Yaadon Ki Zanzeer (1984) Two brothers are separated at childhood and one becomes a gangster while the other is a police officer. Sunil Dutt is chasing an enemy on the train that his police officer brother Shashi Kapoor is escorting. This is a YD locomotive hauled train in the Braganza ghats near Castle Rock. Also seen is also a metre gauge SLR with windows at the guard's end for him to look back without craning his neck outside. There is wonderful scenery all around and at the end of the sequence, Dudhsagar falls are in view. Though you might want to chuckle at the scene when Sunil Dutt chases the moving train through the ghats on foot while it negotiates the ghat section.

Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai (1981) The story is based in Ooty. Padmini Kolhapure is a poor girl who pretends to be rich to win over lover boy Rishi Kapoor. When the secret is revealed, she tries to run away from him, sitting on top of the lead carriage of the down train. The boy follows her and serenades her back with Hoga tumse pyaraa kaunÂ.Â.he kanchi on top of the train before it reaches Mettupalaiam.

Ziddi (1964) Joy Mukherji is daydreaming about his sweetheart in a Nilgiri Railway coach while a thief tries to run off with his suitcase. The thief jumps off the train and the hero gives him a chase.