The Sealdah Chronicles
Mr. R. M. Raina joined the Indian Railway Service of Engineers [IRSE] in the year 1956. After working in various positions over the Indian Railways, Shri Raina was appointed as the Head of IR's mission in Iraq for railway construction and management of the Iraqi railway system, On return from abroad, he assumed the charge of Advisor, MTP, Railway Board at New Delhi and superannuated at the end of a distinguised career spanning over 34 years.
As a young officer, Shri Raina was selected to serve in one of the most difficult Divisions of Indian Railways, Sealdah in Eastern Railway in his very first posting. In the aricles below, he narrates several interesting experiences of those challenging times, written by his prolific pen.
Rail Enthusiasts' Society expresses its gratitude to Mr. R. M. Raina for his contribution.
SANJOY MOOKERJEE
My First Trolley Inspection
After cutting short my 2-year probationary training period by 11 months, Chief Engineer, E. Rly posted me in May 1957 as Assistant Engineer South, Sealdah, the densest suburban subdivision of the erstwhile Bengal Assam Railway. Having spent most of my first 25 years in far less populated places like Dehra Dun, Roorkee, and Unnao, I felt an instinctive uneasiness about the crowded environment in which I suddenly found myself. Further, I had recently been married in January 1957, while still under training in Baroda, Jamalpur etc, and had just been allotted a junior scale flat in Sealdah. I was trying to get to know my very interesting wife, and was not very eager to go out ‘trolleying’ early morning every day for ‘inspecting’ the railway tracks as I thought engineers should do.
However, I soon conscientiously decided to carry out my first trolley inspection on the section of Permanent Way Inspector (PWI), Sonarpur. On his advice, I boarded the 9.10 am passenger train from Sealdah. I got down at Sonarpur station and introduced myself to the PWI – Bijen Bose. Straightaway, we started trolleying towards Baruipur on Bose’s trolley, with him in the driver’s seat (at the brakes). We had hardly trolleyed 2 km when we found a small crowd collecting at the next station, throwing ballast at us as we approached. His seasoned trolley men protected us with open umbrellas. As we moved to the next station the stone throwing increased and the crowd was larger. I realised that something was amiss. As we approached Baruipur, the junction of Lakshmikantapur and Diamond Harbour lines, I really got rattled by the sight of the mob that had collected at the station and was moving menacingly towards us. The UP-Diamond Harbour and Lakshmikantapur trains were standing opposite each other on the platform, and passengers from both the trains had climbed down and were shouting. The Diamond Harbour Express was scheduled earlier but had been slightly delayed. The Station Master was seeking instruction from the Control about which train should be given precedence. Meanwhile, the passengers had lost their patience, and had started moving towards us.
PWI Bijen Bose told me firmly that he was not going to let his trolley be destroyed by the unruly mob and that we should get down at once. Seeing some hesitation on my part, he took my hand and pulled me down. The trolley men quickly carried the trolley and locked it up in the nearby level crossing hut. Bose pulled me into a bus bound for Sealdah, held up at the level crossing, and we travelled safely back to our respective offices. In this excitement, I hardly got a chance to look at the tracks that I had come to inspect!
I learned later that the two trains did not move till the evening and that too, after the Divisional Operating Superintendent, Sealdah came to the station in an armoured car to settle the matter. By that time the passengers from both the trains had dispersed anyway. I also learned later that Bijen Bose was the most notoriously lazy PWI on the Eastern Railways. He never went out alone on a push trolley. Instead he used to call the gang mates to his house every Monday with their gang charts and muster sheets and would fill in the entries for the previous week. Bose owned a flourishing restaurant in Ballygunge in South Calcutta and was an active member of the celebrated Mohan Bagan football club. He was also very fond of the bottle. Working as PWI for him was more an honour than a profession! I realised that I had to change my strategy while inspecting his section in the future.
The Railway Strike of 1961
In my Railway service of 34 years, I have had to face unrest from Railway staff many times, but never as aggressively as in the general strike of 1961. I had been promoted as Divisional Engineer/2/Sealdah (DEN) a week ago, and was just beginning to learn to ‘ride a bigger horse.’ My jurisdiction had increased from the small section of the Assistant Engineer (AEN) to the much larger Northern half of Sealdah division. I was yet to step outside my office room. At this stage, one afternoon I got a call from control that a ‘general strike’ had been announced. I had been posted as Emergency Officer at Naihati, the busiest goods yard East of the Hooghly, and was required to proceed there immediately and take charge before midnight.
I took the next train northwards and left instructions for my saloon to be sent there with the necessary kit, line box etc. At Naihati station I went up to the Station Superintendenr’s office perched on the 2nd floor on top of the station. The SS was a tall, impressive, and competent looking traffic inspector named Bannerjee. He met me courteously and offered me his own seat. I readily sat down, daunted by the number of telephones on his large office table, and looked out in the gathering dusk to see what I could of the very busy and noisy yard all around. There was till then no sign whatsoever of anything being amiss. The noise of shunting with wagons colliding in the nearby marshalling yard was deafening and it seemed that sorting work was going on quite normally. I asked the SS what he thought about it. With a straight face he said that the reports of the strike seemed exaggerated. This made me feel a little easier.
I called for tea and lit a cigarette and watched the sun set as the railway clock in the room kept ticking. It struck 11.45 pm, and nothing had changed, and I started feeling more relaxed, hoping the strike may fail. Then all of a sudden just before midnight, all hell seemed to break loose. There was a phone call from one cabin that a mob was collecting nearby and I should urgently arrange for police help. Very soon another similar call came from another cabin, and then another. An RPF officer had been deputed to assist me along with some force. I was also accompanied by two probationers from the Mechanical Department and a signal inspector. All of us were in the SS’s room. The RPF officer was giving instructions to his personnel to move around as best they could in the dark to help the cabin staff.
Through the dim lights near the marshalling yard hump I could see a long goods train coming over the king point leading to all the marshalling yard lines. Suddenly the train stopped, and steam started gushing out of the engine hauling it. The driver had run to the nearby cabin and reported that miscreants had attacked the engine and broken its gauge glass, letting out all its steam. The long goods train was now stranded, blocking the entrance to the marshalling yard and all movements had come to a stop. An ominous silence had descended. The RPF officer kept trying to get in touch with his men through the cabin telephone. The SS was talking animatedly on different phones to different cabins. I was alarmed but felt quite helpless. This ineffective telephoning carried on for the rest of the night, but pin drop silence enveloped what had been a 24x7 noisy marshalling yard.
Daylight next morning brought a little relief and I could now see the yard lines. But my heart sank when I saw the awkward position in which the long goods train had got stranded, blocking all movement into the yard. I sent the mechanical probationers to restart the engine and clear the train but they came back unable to repair the gauge glass without assistance from the workshop. Road vehicles were very rare those days and we were told it will take some time. By now I could now see crowds of people moving in different parts of the yard. The RPF were badly outnumbered, and unable to drive them away. So, I asked Control to request for local police assistance. We discussed future plans. It was decided to post the local police along the yard on the city side after their arrival and RPF on the other side, and then run a train from Naihati to Sealdah to break the ice. A local police sub inspector arrived with a squad of policemen by nightfall.
I was hungry and tired and went to my saloon to get some rest. A little while later there was a big explosion near the saloon, which woke me up with a start. I came out. A few workers were camping on the platform nearby. They told me they were men of Gulzara Singh, my steel work contractor, who had sent them to protect me! They actually saved my saloon from getting blown up! At 5.00 next morning our whole team assembled on the station platform. The mechanical probationers started lighting up one engine and soon assembled a small train with two coaches, facing Sealdah. The police personnel and RPF moved to their planned positions on both sides of the yard. Two RPF guards got on to the engine with the two mechanical probationers and I stood on the platform and signalled for them to move to Sealdah station. The small train started, but out of sheer force of habit during training, the probationers blew the whistle, which I had not really wanted. The train moved and started gathering speed. it had hardly gone 100 yards when suddenly out of nowhere a huge crowd appeared from the city side and started picking up ballast, pelting the engine with it. The RPF guard fell down. Some miscreants jumped on to the engine and broke the gauge glass. Steam suddenly engulfed the engine as the train stopped. I was horrified and ran to rescue the probationers. By the time I reached the engine, one probationer had run away, and it took a while to find the other one lying unconscious under some coal in the engine tender. We pulled him out and I got two RPF guards to carry him away towards the Railway dispensary nearby. Our attempt to outsmart the strikers had failed.
I felt quite demoralized, and was wondering how the crowd had been tipped off about our plan. The SS, Bannerjee had been on the platform all the while, but he did not seem distressed by the assault. We went back to the SS’s office - a beaten team. The signalling inspector started checking up the system and suddenly came and told me that he had found some unauthorized wires connected to some telephones. There was also an unauthorized tapping to the SS’s house. He went there to check up. On return, he confirmed that two office phones had tapping on which our conversation in the office room could be overheard in the SS’s house. And a number of outsiders were also present there. Then the truth began to come out. Bannerjee’s brother in law and some friends were mixed up in the strike and were masterminding it from his house itself. I was shaken. I called Bannerjee and confronted him with the information. He turned red and stammered and had no explanation. Not knowing or caring whether or not I had the authority, I told him he was placed under suspension and ordered him to leave the office immediately. Next, I called up Sealdah control. The Divisional Mechanical Engineer (DME), Sen answered. But I was now so suspicious that I brusquely told him that I would talk only to the Divisional Superintendent - Mr Lee. Mr Lee came on the phone, a little surprised, and I told him the whole story. I also requested him to get the army into the picture and send some uniformed soldiers to help me as I felt that the local police and SS were all themselves involved in the sabotage.
There was little else I could do all day. The last two days had been the most eventful in my life. I kept thinking and rethinking about each interaction with Bannerjee, SS. Each time I felt surer that he had been deceiving me and was most likely himself the mastermind behind the strike. His brother in law and others were only accomplices.
Early next morning, Mr Lee arrived by road along with a group of his branch officers, including Sen, the DME. A colonel from the army with some soldiers in uniform also arrived separately. Crowds of miscreants were still hovering around near the station, and even encircled Mr Lee as he went around to see things for himself. The Divisional authorities then took over the station functions. My duty as Emergency Officer was over. The SS was replaced by the DOS. Some complicit drivers were also identified by the DME and removed from duty. Everyone got busy with removing the blocking goods train from the king point. Even shunting in the marshalling yard resumed its noisy routine as passenger train movement was restored. I went home, a tired but much more experienced railway officer on the next passenger train.
Now as I look back, I wonder why Mr Lee had chosen to post me, an inexperienced just promoted DEN as Emergency Officer at Naihati, the known hotbed of communist activity. The only reason seems that he was sure I could have no links with the strikers and so had the better chance of containing the strike.