The passion of steam engines is highlighted very well in the documentary by national geographic. A statement made in the video says that the current engines do not have that muscle in them.
However whatever little muscle is remaining is in the Diesel locos!
Hypothetically if IR is completely electrified, will it remove a major thrill from railfanning and possibly even signal its end? The sound of the ALCOs and EMDs are a major part of railfanning, but it is being lost due to electrification! The chugging and notching up is music...
more... to the years of the railfan. Probably that's why TVC Raj and KK have a major chunk of fan following (Konkan also has great scenery!). Somehow I feel the thrill of railfanning is amplified in diesel lines for eg: in Konkan and Karnataka (mostly diesel) than in routes which are electrified (like BCT-ADI, CBE-MAS-BZA-NGP-NZM).
Electric locos also have their own thrills like speed and acceleration and electrification is definitely required to improve IR.
A discussion on this will be great!
PS: I apologize if I have hurt any fellow railfans, I just wanted to have a healthy discussion. I do not promote any regionalism, the places mentioned are simply because I travel there more frequently.