I was reading the blog “Maddy’s ramblings”, where there is a mention about Maniyachi ( Vanchinathan) station. While the author dwells in his blog, on the assassination of the Collector of Thirunelveli Mr. Ashe, I got more interested with the station which happens to be the Crime Scene (i.e. Maniyachi railway Station). This station is imprinted deep in my mind, for during school vacations, we had to cross this station while traveling to our grandparent’s house, at Chennai. No doubt, for a train traveling from Tuticorin to Chennai, there are about twenty stations at which it stops. But yet Maniyachi haunts my mind inerasably. Why? Probably because of its historical links or is it anything else?. Well I wanted to comment about this station in Maddy’s ramblings. But then, I would become a parasite isn’t it?. Putting my blog in his blog site. So here is “My version” on Maniyachi station.
My father was in the Textile Mill at Tuticorin. During school vacation we used to go to Chennai for spending our holidays at our grand parent’s house at Chennai. There was one train from Tuticorin, which left in the afternoon. It was a passenger train, pulled by the steam engine. The train used to make maximum noise but would cover very little distance. But being kids we never minded this travesty. We spent the time fighting for the window seat and kept running down the aisle.
After traveling for over an hour we reached the Maniyachi Junction. It was an island platform. The train stopped after huffing and puffing. My father asked us to climb down and explained that from this point on, our train will be linked to the Diesel train coming from Thirunelvelli. Of course, we would miss our good old steam engine but yet we had to complete the journey before the holidays were out. So assured of better speed we began to relax. We waited in the small station for well over an hour for the train to arrive from Thirunelveli. This gave us an opportunity to tour the station and take all the details of the location. There were huge mounds of sand dunes all around. The wind was howling and blowing with such velocity that, huge grains of sand beat our face. We stood there and watched, the steam loco being detached from our coupes and puff off to the shed with its mission accomplished. My father showed me the signal and how they changed. He pointed out the “points man” and we saw him use the lever to change the track for the train. He explained the difference between meter gauge and broad gauge. He added that the narrow gauge operated in hilly regions. We enjoyed all this bits of information. We saw the huge water tank at a little distance, which would fill the engine with water to generate the steam.
We waited and waited for the diesel engine to arrive. Finally it did on the adjacent platform. The diesel engine then was attached to our train first and then this entire group was linked to the train from Thirunelvelli. We saw the men working frantically and running around. Our compartments were shunted up and down and finally we were grouped alongwith the other train. As the electrification work was not completed or even begun at those places we had to go through all these exercises. Electrification was available only from Villupuram. There again the engine change procedures were carried out. But that was during the night so we were deep in sleep so we missed it. At last we were all set to go. By then the sun was setting, we could see the red ball of fire over the vast open space around the station. We got into the train and set off.
During the return journey the entire process was reversed. This time the wait seemed to be abominable. The coupes meant for Tuticorin were delinked and left like orphans at the station. The diesel engine, on the other hand, rolled off with its train to Trinelvelli . We were stranded at Maniyachi for well over an hour. This time our pop was already back at home and not traveling with us. The useful education and tips he was giving us during the onward journey was missing. To add to it, it was mid afternoon and the hot wind was scorching us. The train compartments were like hot ovens and we were scared we would be baked alive. There was literally nothing else at the station besides our train. We played all kinds of games and pestered our mother and irritated her. She shooed us off. We got down from the train and tried running on the platform, it was not very pleasant in the hot sun. My sister by then had studied Indian History so she was aware of the great Independence activist Vanchinathan, but she preferred to twist the tale a little, she said the train was waiting at the station for such a long time one day, that an irate Vanchinathan had shot Mr. Ashe mistaking him for the station master. That revealed her killing mood. I laughed at her joke . Then we began conjuring up some strange story or the other for the delay like ,to pass time. I said “Probably the loco driver has lost his way”. My sister suggested a more weird tale , “ no, the driver has taken a loan from the station master and is hesitant to return here.” As the time waned the stories became more Halloween , we even imagined that the station was haunted by Mr. Ashe and Mr. Vanchi.
It was sickening to note that the station had retained its rustiness since the days of Mr. Ashe. That was understandable for not many important stations were available beyond this junction. The traffic was meager in those days, so it was sufficient to use the steam engine for shorter distances. Trains coming from different directions such as Trinelvelli ,Sengottah , Tuticorin etc were clubbed together and hauled to larger destinations. This of course is the best method for management of resources, but at that tender age we could not comprehend or appreciate such “Drucker ian” theories.
Even today, with so much of advancement in technology, waiting at stations or at some remote locations for signal or some other reason is mandatory in train travel. I once read that while traveling in the Trans-Siberian Railway, one could witness the change of gauge while traveling from one country to another. While going into China the wheels under the train have to be changed, so one has to spent an hour or two in the train yard. When the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, the Russians were worried that an invading army could use the tracks against them, so they made the track gauges wider. Mongolia followed Russia on the question of track gauges (which meant that Russia could invade them quite easily, which it did). China uses standard track. So this change is inevitable. However, most sophisticated equipments are now available in the train yards, that the entire exercise is completed without much ado. Tongs are used to hoist the carriages up, while the set of wheels are changed underneath. I once saw a movie ( or documentary ?) where I saw that the carriages were lifted with cranes while the wheel sets were changed.
Well, getting back to our story, since the station master was the only visible personnel representing the great Railways there, he became our villain. Then we got the better of ourselves and walked up to the station master and said “ Maniachu”, meaning “it is already time”. The station master blinked once and then understanding the pun said “this is Mani Achi” ( Grand mother of Mani) so everything is slow here”. Well at last our steam engine came and we were hooked on to her and then we went on with our journey back home.
Recently, I happened to travel there and saw that there was some changes, the name board was changed, the station had more buildings around it, steam engines were gone, the linking and delinking were no longer required as a direct train with an electric engine was plying right from Chennai to Tuticorin. Further the trains had compartments fitted with air conditioners, so waiting in a hot compartment was ruled out. Above all, I have become older now that I would not grudge a few extra hours of time all to my self not doing anything at all. Well that ‘s not to be, for the train nowadays does not make such long stopovers at this station any more.
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