One more trip home, so nothing very different from last time... except that we went by a saloon car this time round.
A Saloon, in Railway language, is basically one bogey that's been converted into a compete RV / caravan / mobile office for the officers to travel around in. There was one heading back to KGP after a recent tour, so we hitched a ride.
The best part of the saloon trips is the view. Because it's essentially an observation vehicle, it's always the last in the train and has nice big windows at the back, so you can look out and watch the tracks flying past directly away from you, instead of just beside you. Makes for a completely different and hypnotic experience.
The inspection officers had a thumb rule - the tracks should be good enough that while traveling, a cup of tea on your desk shouldn't splash. Remember, this was before the modern shocks on all coaches, back in the days when a halt at a station at midnight would chuck you out of your comfortable upper berth like a kick in the backside and straight down onto the floor on your nose. Nice peaceful relaxed day at KGP. Read a lot. Ate like a pig. Slept like a log. Went for long walks in the starlight around the compound with a beautiful girl. Though of the rest of office in, um, the office. Laughed like a loon.
