Chennai:Ā A senior section engineer and two loco pilots were honoured by Southern Railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha here recently, for their presence of mind and averting mishaps.
On 18 September, at a line crossing between Thirinjapuram and Tiruvannamalai that comes under Tiruchi section, senior section engineer K Rajaram noticed and smelt smoke in a wagon. He immediately informed the issue to the guard of the train who stopped and checked the train and confirmed that it was a warm axle box.
In railway parlance, it means that an axle bearing has become overheated on a piece of railway rolling stock. The train was then moved to Tiruvannamalai station. For his alertness and presence of mind, Rajaram was recognised by Kulshrestha and presented a cash award along with merit certificate, a press release said.
In another unrelated incident, on 20 September, while train No. 16616 Coimbatore-Mannargudi Chemmozhi Express was running between Erode and Chavadipalayam in the Erode-Karur section, loco pilots E V Mony Kandan and S Naga Lingeswaran of the train experienced a heavy jerk. The train was immediately stopped and the issue was informed to the station master of Chavadipalayam and control room of Salem Division.
The section engineers then rushed to the spot to find a rail fracture. As a result, a temporary speed restriction was imposed for the subsequent trains that had to cross this section. According to railway sources, restoration work was carried out and the track was ready later in the evening.
Mony Kandan and Naga Lingeswaran were recognised for their service by Kulshrestha.