A visit to the Railway Museum (CPR Station) in Castlegar, BC, Canada

On my third trip to the Kootenays, the previous ones being in Nelson and Trail, I found myself in the city of Castlegar. 

Castlegar is the second largest city in the Kootenays with a population of around 8000 people. An interesting feature of this city is that there is a large population of Doukhobors here. Doukhobors are a Christian religious group originally from Russia. Since they rejected the Russian Orthodox Church and faced persecution they emigrated from Russia in large numbers during the 20th century. Many of them settled down in British Columbia and in other places in Canada. 

Like my previous trips in the Kootenays I was scheduled to be in Castlegar for 3 days and 2 nights but this time I had only one evening for an exploration of the city. I found out there was a railway museum here and it automatically became a must visit for me. So, on the second evening after the day's work was complete I immediately made my way to the CPR Station Museum as its called.  Now, I have a fascination with railways, be it from any part of the world, and ever since I read a book about the history of the Transcontinental Railway route I became a fan of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Having done the Toronto to Vancouver rail journey abroad the iconic train 'The Canadian' my love for the history of the Canadian passenger railway increased.

I couldn't wait to check out this museum which is a housed in a 100 year old actual station and is believed to be one of the best preserved ones in the province. The station is made up of two floors. The upper floor used to be the station agent's residence and the entire floor is recreated the way it used to be in the 1900s. It was fascinating to see the different equipment in the home and the type of home furniture and accessories. But for me the ground floor was much more interesting. It housed a number of exhibits and a lot of books on railways in Canada. I could have spent a couple of hours easily just browsing through the books. But I was pressed for time and could only manage a cursory glance at the titles. There were also a huge archive of newspapers. Again I could only take a casual look at the newspapers. Some of the other interesting exhibits include a 1929 Harley Davidson, a 1924 Brown Radio and most interestingly for me a 1923 time table of the Canadian Pacific Railway which included the Transcontinental Railway.  Having done that trip just last year it was fascinating to look at. 

Outside the station is a Caboose parked on the railway track. I checked out the inside and it was standard caboose with no interesting features. The railway museum I visited in Prince George had far more models including some locomotives. Going back inside the station I met the caretaker there and chatted with her for a while. A spirited lady, she regaled me with stories about the station she had heard from the long time residents of Castlegar. One anecdote that quite stuck in my head was about an old lady who used to work at the station as a telegraph operator. She used to transmit all the status of the trains to the neighboring stations. After that wonderful conversation with her I bid her adieu and left for one more stop for the day, the Zuckerberg bridge where I just casually strolled for a while before heading back to the hotel. It was a satisfying evening overall. 

A visit to the Railway station with the longest name in India, Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta.

There are things that some people do that makes them look like lunatics to others. For me chasing travel trivia is one such activity. A couple of years back when I went to visit a railway station in Orissa just because it had the smallest railway station name in India my colleagues at work couldn't believe it.  They told me that I was a 'pagal aadmi' (mad guy). I covered 50 kms on bus and 50 more on a train just to see that station so they thought they had every reason to call me pagal.

Well, they should have seen what I did to reach the station with the longest name in India.It is  situated on the Renigunta-Arakkonam section of Southern Railway. I started the night before to catch a 1 am train to Renigunta (from Nellore,where I live presently). From there I caught a morning 5 am passenger to Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta and reached the station at around 6 30am. Though I had the easier option to take the bus route I wanted to make the experience truthful to the purpose of my visit so I stuck with the inconvenient option of train.

The Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta station itself is nothing much. There is a small building housing the waiting area and a small room from where the tickets are issued. It was closed when I got down at the station. Only two trains have a stop here. As it was early morning the surroundings were bathed in the morning glow of the sunlight. On one side of the station a road runs, on the other side of which is a hillock. The sunlight fell on this hillock illuminating its rocky terrain. The other side was the village stuck close to the tracks. I strolled around here, making a rectangular circuit around the station on the opposing two tracks. This place lacked the kind of tranquility I experienced in the station with the smallest name, Ib in Orissa. So I decided to head back as soon as possible but before doing so I wanted to have breakfast. Sometimes you get the most delicious tiffins in remote villages. With this in mind I had a plate of hot Idlis in a tiffin center just in front of the station building. To my disappointment it was horrible.

I decided to head back and first took some pics with the name boards and the building. Luckily for me one train running in the opposing direction was due to arrive and I quickly bought a ticket from the old woman at the ticket counter. The tickets looked ancient. I did not know that cardboard tickets were still in existence. And it cost me only Rs15 which was including some kind of commission that the old woman was muttering about. I did not understand a word of what she spoke. I boarded that train to reach Renigunta Junction in an hour and from there I caught an RTC bus to Nellore to complete my trip by afternoon 1 am. So 12 hours and 320 Kms up and down for a trip to the station with the longest station name in India. Call me a pagal but it was an awesome trip!