If you want to know when the train is coming, you could pull up a webpage on your phone, or walk all the way to the station to look at the displays there. Or, like [eastfamilyreddish], you could build a neat little train info display to decorate your desktop instead.

The build is based on the work of [gadec-uk]—who developed a train information display some time ago. It’s based around an ESP32 D1 Mini, paired with a 256 x 64 OLED screen to display relevant train information. It accesses a National Rail API for train status information—known as the Darwin LDBWS (Live Departure Board Webservice). Configuration is via a web GUI hosted by the ESP32 itself.

[eastfamilyreddish] took the concept further by adapting this hardware into a more pleasing form. The ESP32 and OLED screen are built into a neat little hanging sign setup that apes one you might expect to see at a real railway station. You might expect that 3D printing was involved, but instead, this was achieved with lasercut parts and resin casting to create something with a beautiful finish. They even went so far as to include a wireless phone charging module in the base, making the device extra useful to really earn its place on the desktop.

The fact is, around these parts we love both trains and the displays you find around them. If you’ve got a railway-adjacent project, or you’ve just built your own awesome railway, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!

For those of you who haven’t spent time in North America around this time of year, you may be unaware of two things: one, the obligatory non-stop loop of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” retail workers are subjected to starting November first, and two: there is a strong cultural association between Christmastime and model railroading that may not exist elsewhere. That may down to childhood memories of when we got our first trainsets, or an excellent postwar marketing campaign by Lionel. Either way, now that Mariah Carey is blaring, we’re thinking about our holiday track layouts. Which makes this long presentation on Wiring for Small Layouts by [Chicago Crossing Model Railroad] quite timely.

There are actually three videos in this little course; the first focuses mostly on the tools and hardware used for DCC wiring (that’s Digital Command Control), which will be of less interest to our readers– most of you are well aware how to perform a lineman’s splice, crimp connectors onto a wire, and use terminal blocks.

The second two videos are actually about wiring, in the sense of routing all the wires needed for a modern layout– which is a lot more than “plug the rheostat into the tracks in one spot” that our first Lionel boxed set needed. No, for the different accessories there are multiple busses at 5V, 12V and 24V along with DCC that need to be considered. Unsurprisingly enough given those voltages, he starts with an ATX power supply and breaks out from there.

Even if you’re not into model railroading, you might learn something from these videos if you haven’t done many projects with multiple busses and wire runs before. It’s far, far too easy to end up with a rats nest of wires, be they DCC, I2C or otherwise. A little planning can save some big headaches down the line, and if this is a new skill for you [Chicago Crossing Model Railroad] provides a good starting point for that planning. Just skip ahead a couple minutes for him to actually start talking if you don’t want the musical cliff notes montage at the start of the videos.

If you don’t have any model trains, don’t worry, you can 3D print them.  Lack of room isn’t really an excuse.

The Union Budget has proposed a record budgetary allocation of Rs 2.40 lakh crore to Indian Railways on February 1, 2023. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Railway Budget speech, said the allocation was nine times higher than the amount allocated in the financial year 2013-14.

Order Food on Train 

The government has proposed to boost capital expenditure by 33%, to Rs 10 lakh crore by 2023-24 which is 3.3 percent of the GDP, according to Ms. Sitharaman. Roads and Railways have been essential in the capital spending drive and have seen an increase in capital expenditures over the last few budgets.

Key Takeaways of Railway Budget 2023

“The total cost will be 3.3 percent of GDP, nearly three times more than the expenditure made in 2019-20. This is a significant increase. it is essential to the government’s efforts to boost employment and growth as well as the increased volume of private investment and serves as an insurance against the global headwinds,” she declared when she delivered the Budget speech.

She also announced that 100 essential infrastructure projects in transport for last and first-mile connectivity for fertilizer, coal, and food grain have been identified. They will be implemented in a priority manner with an investment of up to Rs 75,000 crores, with a portion of that coming in private funds.

With increasing expectations from passengers, the Railways are planning to renovate more than 1000 coaches from top trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Humsafar, and Tejas. The interiors of these coaches will be updated with modern designs that will enhance the comfort of passengers.

The Railways was given Rs 1.4 lakh crore as part of the Union Budget for 2022-23, of which Rs 1.37 lakh crore was set aside for capital expenditure, and an amount of Rs 3,267 crore was allocated for revenue expenditure. In 2014, the capital expenditure on the railway was just 45,980 crores per year, and the railway was plagued by a high level of inefficiency as well as highly congestion-ridden routes, unable to handle the ever-growing demand.

Economic Survey 2022-23

The Economic Survey on January 31 stated that the coming 10 years will be characterized by an extremely high amount of capital investment in the railway industry as capacity growth needs to be accelerated to ensure that by 2030, it will be ahead of the demand.

Economic Survey 2023 expects the passengers through Indian Railways to witness growth. During the current financial year, passenger traffic increased by another ten percent, and the number of passengers reached 418.4 crores (up until December 2022). The increased mobility across the country and demand for speedier train services that are more efficient and competitive will help the growth of passengers in the coming years according to the survey.

Also, read: How to Book a Coach in Train?

Question– In which year railway budget was introduced?

Answer– The first Railway Budget was presented by John Matthai for independent India on 20th November 1947 which was the interim Railway Budget.

Vande Bharat in Union Budget

Railroad experts have highlighted the necessity of upgrading major tracks to 160 KMPH speed so that they can run trains like the Vande Bharat trains to their maximum potential.

Indian Railways has been focussing on the introduction of 75 Vande Bharat trains by August 2023. The tender to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains is likely to be announced in the near future. It is expected to be awarded soon. Vande Bharat Express trains are chair car services that are gradually taking over Shatabdi Express trains on the Indian Railways network. These sleeper trains that are part of Vande Bharat Express will look to replace the high-end Rajdhani Express trains.

Furthermore, Economic Survey 2023 has recognized the launch of Vande Bharat trains as an important initiative of Indian Railways. Self-propelled semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Trainsets are developed at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, and incorporated indigenous work. These trains feature modern features such as quick acceleration, a dramatic reduction in time to travel as well as a top velocity of 160 km/h, onboard information and entertainment, as well as a Global Positioning System (GPS) built-in passenger information system as well as other features The Survey states.

Get Free delivery on Your Train Food Order

Ms. Sitharaman, while presenting her Budget for 2023-24 stated that the government hopes to build upon the success of the previous budget as well as the plan for India @ 100.

In an embroidered red saree, with a golden and black border, Ms. Sitharaman stayed true to the custom she started in the year 2019. She carried her Budget Speech in a bahi-khata in the briefcase. She carried a tablet computer in a red bahi-khata pouch.

This Union Budget (railway budget) 2023 is the final full budget of the Modi government during its second term, with the following Lok Sabha election due in April – May 2024.