JMP steam locomotive

Monday October 19, 2015:  I felt compelled to
see the this steam locomotive again and was
surprised to find that the tender was also present and
under repair, scraping off old paint and thick rust.
A private contractor, it seems, has been given
the job. I have also come to know that the
Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav plans
to bring in another engine for the
Lohia Park.

The tender placed on a short strip of railway track and
the engine still on the transport trailer that
brought it from Rajasthan. The YG series of
steam locomotives were finally phased out
from Gujarat and Rajasthan by the year 2000

There were also YP engines

Janeshwar Mishra Park, Lucknow

(Pic taken on 11th July 2016)

THE Janeshwar Mishra Park in Lucknow has taken three years

to develop and has cost, according to to Wikipedia, Rs 168 crores.

The Samajwadi Party which is in power in Uttar Pradesh with

Akhilesh Yadav as the chief Minister in commemoration  

Janeshwar Mishra, a party stalwart and Parliamentarian

who passed away in 2010.

This morning I decided to take a cycle ride to see for myself!

The Samajwadi Party election symbol is the bicycle, the

common man's mode of transport. Shunned till recently by 

most people who could afford other means of transport, it

has been making a come back over the last few years. Media

 houses, with an axe to grind, and supported by cycle 

manufacturers, have been organising cycle rallies that have 

ignited the interest in a large section of young people, 

including many who otherwise eye all the latest motor 

cycles that crowd city roads today.

 Akhilesh Yadav, the youngest chief minister ever, himself

a cycling enthusiast, has had miles of cycling 

tracks constructed in the hope that people, young and

old, can continue using this old, non polluting mode

of transport safely. 

Still miles to go: I noticed hundreds of saplings
 yet to be planted

Vast area will need massive maintenance work, especially
during the summer months

I was happy to see an engine that is to be installed at
the park. On closer examination I noticed that this
 YG series steam locomotive is in very poor condition.
All the metal 'skin' that covers the bolts and
rivets on the boiler is missing. I hope the railway
keeps its image and long service to the
nation in mind and makes this old iron horse
presentable for visitors and the younger
generations that never saw them pull
their load.
Most people never knew that locomotives
remained steamed up for a week at a time
before fire would be dropped for the
weekly wash-out!
This engine has come from Gujarat, according
to the name and phone no on the trailer rig.
Seeing that it is a YG I checked the net and
found a blog post by John Smith who spent
considerable time in 1997 photographing steam
locomotives in Gujarat shortly before
they were to be retired forever!

To show this old faithful respect it needs to get
more than mere paint and polish 

The steam engine ready for display
 (Pic taken on 11th July 2012) 

CM Akhilesh Yadav visits newspaper office in Lucknow

The whole area, thousands of people that traverse
 this spot, were put to hardship because of
the chief minister's security.  He spent
around 1 1/2 hours at the paper during
 which dozens of cops and at least two
dozen vehicles belonging
to the CM's entourage hung around!
This blogger who works at this newspaper
was kept standing outside.
When the young politician, formerly a member
of Parliament was chosen to head Uttar Pradesh
as chief minister, he had promised to
cut down on unnecessary expenditure by
restricting the vehicles that follow him
to between 12 to 15. It seems he also
succumbed to sycophancy.  

The Chief Minister, Mr Akhlesh Yadav leaving
the Dinik Jagran newspaper building,
situation at the Jopling Road-Rana Pratap Singh Marg
crossing

The family here had to put up with the presence
of a policeman

I took these pics while I was kept standing outside.
This type of security only proves lack of confidence
and low standards!!

Lal Baradari Bhawan under repair

The red building, known as the Lal Baradari

 Bhawan, has historical value and presently

 houses the Lalit Kala Akademi.

Before the museum shifted to its present
location within the zoo it was housed
here. 

Under repair as of September 2015

The High Court wall on the left. The Lucknow
Residency is up ahead

Leonard Fernandez Nov 6, 1924--Sept 12, 2009

Lenny the Aviator 

Leonard Timothy Fernandez
Nov 6, 1924  -- Sept 12, 2009

Add caption

"COME ON LEN... SHOOT!" HE
heard his left-out junior team-mate
urge him on, but Lenny disregarded
this desperate cry in the last minute
of this crucial game for Loyola College
against Madras Christian College. His
eyes were on the ball but he was
cautious of the beefy back smack
ahead, so he pushed the ball to his
inner-right wingman. The shot
connected and was deflected into the
goal past the MCC defence and Loyola
were victors that year because Leonard
Timothy Fernandez heeded better
sense and his Captain's judgement.
That January, Leonard (or Lenny,
as he was known affectionately) was
just months away from his graduation
in 1947. Hockey was his passion,
among the many games. he played.
But he played to win and he played
fair. Above all he was Captain of the
team from his school days to Loyola
and beyond when he took his
university colours for the game.
He graduated, entered the Indian
Military Academy, Dehra Dun, and
was commissioned in December 1948
into the Royal Indian Artillery at
Devlali. On completing the young
officer course there he found himself
posted into an Air Defence Regiment
stationed on the border of the everturbulent
Jammu and Kashmir. Soon
he found himself moving into another
passion-flying. He earned his    (Brian sorry got to find the rest of the article)

Memories by Brian Fernandez

The Prime Minister, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru signing
Army pilot, Capt Leonard T Fernandez's
autograph book while the Captain's two small
sons  watch in awe

       Memories!

 By  Brian Fernandez 

This image has my three year old brother Bruce on my left, and I, four years old, gazing with awe and wonder at the unmistakable icon, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru signing my father’s autograph book. And it has several fond and sad memories attached with it. Nehru had arrived at Adampur, on a whistle-stop election tour, in an Illyushin aircraft of the IAF (Indian Air Force). I can still vividly remember the twin-engine, grey aircraft with its distinctive, clipped wings. I believe these aircrafts were in service for many years after that, into the 70s. The IAF also had a squadron ofVampire aircrafts ( plywood, twin-rudder, jet- fighter aircrafts ). Our family – my Dad, Mum, and younger brothers Bruce & Barry used to live by the airstrip, in a huge canvas tent which was the standard Officers’ accommodation in those days, before we moved to Adampur village.My father Captain L. T. Fernandez, an Army pilot, was posted to an Air Observation Post (AOP) Flight, based in Adampur and flying the propeller driven Harvard. He retired in 1981 as a Colonel in the Regiment of Artillery and passed away a year after my mother, in 2009. Somewhere along the way we misplaced my late father’s autograph book on which Pandit Ji’s signature was taken. But what I do remember is that Jawaharlal Nehru signed his name in Devanagari (hindi) script. This photograph is special to me, because it also reminds me of Bruce, my younger brother who suddenly died at a very young age of five, on September 7, 1957, of an incurable tumour in the Jullundur Military Hospital. He would have been 59 this year. I am now a 61 year old retired school teacher.

Courtesy:http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/121/

James family, Lucknow circa 1950

Stamding Left: Elsie James, 2. ? 3&4. Ivy and Ken Hourigan  5. Dorothy
 James holding Allan (baptised), 6. Glenna James, infant's mother
 (nee Nestor) and 7. Noreen James Kneeling Left Dennis James with Leslie, 
infant's elder sister and Maurice James, Glenna's husband. Elsie's 
husband and  the infant's,  Thomas grandfather is not present

Pic taken outside Christ Church in Lucknow
 From L Elsie James nee Shepherd 3rd L Ivy Hourigan nee Shepherd
Dorothy James, Glenna James nee Nestor and Noreen Vincent nee James
Sitting centre is Maurice James