The Yal Devi that chugged from north to south, forging friendships among communities is set to resume her journey again all the way upto KKS, after violence stopped her in her tracks. Kumudini Hettiarachchi takes us back on a nostalgic journey. The stentorian but monotonous voice still rings in memory……..the down-train from KKS bound for [...]
Continued from February 15
He pulled out his note pad and wrote: “Mr. Lelwela has been entrusted with the work of doing up the minister’s room. For this purpose he is hereby authorized to assume all powers of the GMR. Staff of other sub departments should take his orders and ensure that their work component is [...]
What triggered my memory was an old (very) studio photo of my childhood self staring glumly at the camera while my infant sister timidly leaned towards me. Proudly embossed at the photo’s bottom was “Terminus Studio”. I seem to remember this venerable institution yet standing, till the early 1950s, on the triangular corner where Panchikawatta [...]
It was by a quirk of circumstance that my friend and batch mate AGA and I found ourselves in the office of Mr. Vaithialingam at Railway Headquarters one day about the end of June 1960. This amiable, gentle person was the Chief Engineer, Way and Works, Sri Lanka Railways.
Year after year for several years he [...]
Never a day passes without some incident in the railways – derailments, delays, strikes, etc. To get to the root cause, it is best to go back to the era of the legendary B. D. Rampala and before, when the trains ran to time and derailments, accidents were very very rare.
The derailments are mainly due [...]
Continued from last week:
“Don’t be slovenly you fellow. It’s time we finished this work and called it a day. If you had drilled the hole on the crown, put half a charge and blast it.”
Girigoris did exactly as he was ordered and they all ran for safety having ignited the charge. Two flagmen were stationed [...]
“Don’t be a fool, Girigoris” said Weerakoon, the foreman of the tunnel gang, Way and Works department, to his Minor Supervisor. They were getting down from the special service train near the tunnel No. 18, Pattipola, to unload the men, material and equipment from the train brought along with them for the purpose of carrying [...]
The present generation of Lankans may perhaps know just a little about the history of the Sri Lanka Railway, which reaches back to nearly a century and half. In spite of the administrative changes that could probably have been introduced over the years, the railway service is still the most popular mode of commuter transportation [...]
