India is huge! The whole subcontinent is nearly as large as Europe and that is why the fastest way to cross it is by plane. The only problem with this way of transportation is, that even modern planes can’t handle the huge quantity of steel, ore, coal or wood which has to be carried every day. For transporting these heavy goods, one still must rely on the railway system. This Tuesday our ten German exchange students from Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium Straubing and their Indian partners from LVIS explored on a trip to Modern Industries in Sahibabad how weight wagons for this railway systems are built.
The bus navigates through the busy roads of Sahibabad and stops in front of a modern looking building with a well-maintained garden. We are standing on the ground of Modern Industries one of the of the largest manufacturers of Railway Wagons in India, but nothing reveals about the heavy work that is going on behind the gate.
Before the children got to see the building process the administration team showed the twenty students and the two accompanying teachers a small presentation about the history and the development of the company. Immediately afterwards the interested students started asking many questions about workers’ training, steel prizes or the competitors on the international market.
After all these questions are answered the exchange group went into the actual manufacturing facility. There workers welded together heavy steel plates, bended huge metal pieces or painted the wagons in a bright green colour. Standing next to the cutting area one could feel the vibration in the ground when the cutting machines sliced the huge steel plates. It was also astonishing to see the sparks when the plasma cutter just went through steel like a hot knife through butter. Continue reading “Roll Wagon Roll”