Western Railway introduced a 3
coach SIG Rake in early 60s. Initially, it operated only on Saturday afternoon,
leaving Churchgate around 1 P.M. for Virar. It did not stop on stations between
Marine Lines and Dahisar and covered the entire route in 1 hour and 10
minutes.
Subsequently, six more coaches
were added to make it a 9 coach rake. It was, however, discontinued in 1967 due to high
breakdown rate.
Picture shows the rake waiting at
Vasai Road (Then Bassein Road) Home signal.
Picture taken by Mr. Damania of
Bombay Photo Studio, Vasai in 1963 and a copy was presented to me free of cost
on March 17, 2000. This picture also appears on front cover of Dr. A.K.Arora's
book, "History of Bombay Suburban Railways".
Similarity of design between SIG
and ICF coaches can easily be noticed here.
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