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The postman knocks...
A COUPLE of clarifications from readers are what the postman has brought.
* Reader Jaiboy Joseph, referring to the first all-indigenous coach being flagged off in 1956 (Miscellany, March 28), states that as early as 1950, railway coaches were being built by Hindustan Aircraft Ltd. (today's HAL) in Bangalore, ten coaches a month being produced. He recalls that Hindustan Aircraft Ltd. was started in 1942, then taken on lease by the U.S. Army for maintenance of its aircraft in the Eastern Theatre. After the War, the Government of India continued to run the aircraft maintenance operations but also added a railway coach-building factory, many of whose workforce were skilled aircraftsmen. When the Toofan Mail crashed in 1950, reader Joseph adds, only one coach was not smashed and "that was an all-metal coach constructed solely from Indian materials by Hindustan Aircraft Ltd." I trust this little bit of forgotten pioneering will be remembered when railway histories are written in future.
* Reader Randor Guy clarifies that before India House (now, sadly, pulled down), came into S. S. Vasan's possession in 1950 (Miscellany, April 4), it was owned by the Rajah of Sivaganga, who bought it from C. Rajam and renamed it Sivaganga House. Rajam apparently never lived there, but used it as a guesthouse and Vasan, as far back as 1941, used it for rehearsals, script discussions etc.
S. MUTHIAH
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