What do you do when your meticulously planned rail fanning trip washes away due to incessant rains? Immediately plan a new rail trip to some other location and find solace. A few rail fans from in and around Kalyan had planned a Shiradi Ghat trip during the 1st weekend of August 2010, but the amount of rainfall that had battered the Konkan coast ensured that the timetable goes for a toss as landslides were reported from Adavali and unfortunately the line remained closed for more than 10 days. Even-though transshipment of 6345 Netravati Express was done by Konkan Railways, there was no guarantee of reaching Mangalore right in time to catch the outgoing 6516 Mangalore-Yeshwantpur Express. We decided to dissolve the plan and opt for a Metre Gauge (MG) trip from Akola to Ratlam. Unfortunately, many of our group members couldn't muster enough time for this trip, so yours truly and Shantanu kulkarni teamed up to do this trip and enjoy the scenic MG section before it is taken up for gauge conversion.
All the tickets were booked in hush-hush. Shantanu managed to book twin berths for 2111 Amravati Express from Kalyan to Akola Jn and 458B Akola-Ratlam passenger. We had planned to return back from Ratlam by 2472 Swaraj Express after an overnight stay in Ratlam. But as this was not a preplanned trip, we had to rely on tatkal bookings for this section. By the time, we managed to reach the counter, tatkal quota had exhausted and the only other alternative readily available was the super crawler 9024 Firozpur-Janata Express. We decided to tweak our plan to get down at Indore (INDM) and catch the 9310 Indore(INDB)-Gandhinagar Express for an overnight journey and then catch 9116 Bhuj-Bandra Terminus(BDTS) express from Vadodara(BRC). These last minute discussions meant we were booking tickets online on 5th August at 23:00 hrs over the Irctc website, when our journey was to commence on 6th August 2010.
This was going to be my first overnight trip with a rail fan, a trip which was spanning over 3 days, but I had a wonderful person for company in Shantanu Kulkarni. Not only did he share his immense knowledge with me, he also corrected me whenever I was wrong. Kudos to you boss for making my trip a memorable affair to remember.
As we were boarding the 2111 Amravati express from Kalyan at 21:03hrs, I left my home (Dombivli) at 19:30. Took a share auto to the station and reached platform No. 1 by 19:45.I knew that there was a Kalyan Semi fast departing Dadar at 19:01, hence decided to wait for its arrival in Dombivli at 19:52 as any other local train would have been difficult to board, for that time of the day. As I was approaching Kalyan (KYN), 2 expresses, one with WDM3D and the other with a WCAM3 sped past me in the opposite direction. As the train was very crowded I could not peep out to note the train name/numbers. After slowly negotiating the turnouts, my EMU came to a halt on Platform No. 1 at KYN. The skywalk being built by MMRDA was nearing completion and was already being used by commuters. It was 20:05 and I had an hour to spend at the station, so decided to venture out on the Skywalk network. I climbed the FOB and walked a few meters towards the south end and few meters towards the north end of the KYN West Skywalk and was amazed to see the whole network of the skywalk. I became sure that a complete study of the skywalk would easily take an hour, so decided to ditch the idea and return back to the station to observe more interesting trains. While I was getting down on Platform No 4, I saw the 2128 Pune-Mumbai Intercity Express glide pass the edge of Platform No 7 silently behind a WCAM3. Below the newly built FOB is the place where reservation charts for outgoing trains is pasted. There were four rows of reservation boards placed perpendicular to the platform edge. The reservation charts for 2105 Mumbai-Gondia Vidharbha Express and 2137 Punjab Mail were already put up. At 20:15, Vidharbha express entered pf 4 behind KYN 21951 WCAM3 and 2860 Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali Express arrived on pf 5 behind KYN 21963 WCAM3 at 20:20.
Soon, a huge crowd gathered near the reservation charts and I found that the board was being updated and reservations charts for 2111,2322,8029,7057,2163,1011,2527 and 1017 were put up filling up all the four rows. After the crowd became manageable, I ventured to confirm our berth nos to be S4, 35(Upper berth,UB) and 40(Side Upper berth, SUB). Interestingly, the chart also mentioned our coach to be 5th from the engine and was a CR00026 coach. Having confirmed our reservation, I decided to walk up the length of the platform and found a black board mentioning the departure of 2101, 2151 and 2809 from their respective terminals (CSTM/LTT) at 04:00am till 11th August 2010. Post Gitanjali Express' departure came the 1068 Faizabad-Mumbai Saket Express behind another KYN WCAM3. In the meanwhile, 2137 Punjab Mail made its presence felt on pf 4 with KYN WCAM3 21981.
I called up Shantanu to know his whereabouts and he mentioned that he had reached the station complex and was getting down from the FOB. He also mentioned that a railfan, Karthik Gopalan from Chembur was waiting to meet us on the same platform. Soon we managed to meet him and exchange tit-bits about the Mumbai Suburban sections, MRVC locals and many other things, which typically make us railfans passionate about railways. He seemed to be very happy to finally have the lone 9 car MRVC 1041-42 rake back on track on the harbour line. It was taken off service for a few days and was spotted by yours truly and many others at Matunga sidings. After a few MRVC locals bound for the south-east lines used pf 4 for their scheduled halts at KYN came our 2111 Mumbai-Amravati Express, hauled by KYN WCAM3, 21894. We had to walk back as the train halted at least one coach earlier than its normal position. We managed to keep our bags on our berth and bid good-bye to Karthik. We left within 5 minutes and slowly criss-crossed the South-East bound lines and negotiated the DC-AC neutral zone outside Kalyan North. Shantanu pointed out the Electric loco shed and the many WCG2s waiting inside the shed for scrapping. We decided to stand by the door of our coach, though not much was visible outside, discussing how Bhor ghats were longer and more interesting than Thull ghats to watch during day time. We reached Kasara, a technical halt for our train at 22:15 and KYN WAG7 triplets were attached at the rear end as bankers. Then started the slow and steady ascend up the Thull ghats to reach our first commercial halt at 22:45. We were berthed on pf 2 and pf 1 was occupied by 2137 Punjab mail. It had got twin bankers in KYN WAG5, which was detached by now. We decided to venture to the front of our train to see WCAM3 detachment and WAP4 attachment. As our WCAM3 was detached and moved into the loco escape line ahead, Punjab Mail with Ghaziabad WAP1 22072 was given the go ahead at 22:50. It had waist level head lamps. After wait of 5 more minutes, a Bhusaval (BSL) WAP4 22680 came to take charge of our train. Both of us returned back to our berths and our train left at 23:08. We decided to hit the sack as we had a wonderful MG journey awaiting us in the morning.We had reached Nasik Road at 23:50 in a matter of 42 minutes. As we had to alight at Akola Jn(AK) at 6:05, I kept an alarm of 05:00 hrs and went to sleep on the SUB, Stantanu being taller decided to occupy UB. Whenever I woke up in the night, I found our train to be running, so safely assumed that we would reach Akola on time and went back to sleep again. Our coach was a well maintained one, the mirrors had markings of 2010-11, but one of the fans in our section was making a loud noise, which was put off later by one of the fellow commuters. As it was drizzling outside, temperature inside the coach was cold enough to stay put without a fan. I noticed that Shantanu had woke up at 4:40 and spotted Malkapur, 8 minutes before time. I woke up at 5:00 am, freshened up and spotted Shegaon at 5:30. As we were approaching Akola Jn, we spotted Maharashtra's oldest Thermal Power Plant, Paras in the distance. There were freight lines running away from the mainlines to the power plant. It was drizzling and the twin cooling towers of the plant were surrounded by clouds. It was truly a wonderful scene to start the day with. We reached Akola Jn at 6:15 and even though it was raining, I ran towards the loco to catch a glimpse of our WAP4. As I was taking a snap of our loco, the LP said, “ Arre hum ne kya paap kiya...hamaari bhi photo lona yaar.” (Why don't you take our snaps, we haven't committed any sins). I was thrilled to hear this and obliged them by taking their snap. I wished them a good day ahead walked back into the platform shelter.
After 2111 left Akola, we strolled down the Pf 2 towards Bhusaval to have our first look of the MG on offer. In the meanwhile SRC WAP4 22272 arrived on platform 1 with 2810 Howrah Mumbai Express. On the through lines was Jhansi based BHEL WAG5 24098 waiting with a long BCNHS rake in blue livery. As we didn’t find any tea vendor in 2111, we approached the refreshment stall on PF2 for 2 cups of tea. Even though the tea offered was nothing great to write home about, I must admit, it was the sweetest tea I had in my whole life. It was hot sugar water. As both of us wanted some change, we decided to offer Rs 100 to the refreshment stall personnel. Surprisingly, he did not object and happily returned Rs 90 back.
One look towards the North West side of the station gave us a clear glance of the MG yard at Akola. There were a few red liveried Accident relief wagons, a crane on flat bed and a few passenger coaches. We also spotted an inspection car in blue livery. Our 458B Akola-Ratlam Fast passenger was berthed on pf 5, though without an engine. It had markings of Western Railway (WR) and only 3 reserved coaches (S1-S3) and the rest of the train had Unreserved (UR) coaches totaling 11 in all. Some of the coaches had a rebuild marking of 1998 and 2004. We moved into our coach S2, where we had booked berths 29 and 30. To the uninitiated, a typical MG sleeper coach has a seating capacity of just 48 with 3 doors on one side and lavatories at both ends. The middle door forms the median of the coach, splitting it into 2 sections of 1-24 and 25-48, with 6 seats in a bay and 4 compartments in each section. As it is smaller in width and height as compared to a conventional Broad Gauge (BG) coach, there is no space for side seats and the corridor is on the side. The coaches were non-vestibuled, but the berths had satisfactory cushioning, contrary to our perception. The UR coaches were of course without any cushions. Soon a YDM4 started chugging from the adjacent pf and moved ahead to reverse back into our pf line. This was my first sighting of an MG loco and it impressed me with its chugging. It had a sweet honking sound and was doing so while reversing back to couple with the rake. Shantanu educated me that Ratlam based BG diesel locos and Mhow based MG diesel locos shared similar liveries of Red-White-Black. The loco doing the honors for the day was MHOW 6300 YDM4.
The coupling procedure looked so simple to the naked eyes. The hook got entangled to the rake automatically as the loco reversed back. The couplers were CBS styled. I must admit that I don’t know the technical name for such coupling. Railway personnel moved in to connect the vacuum pipe. That’s it, we were ready to depart. There was scanty rainfall, since the time we had arrived at Akola and the rake was soon filling up with people. By the time we left there were about 25 commuters in our coach. The UR coaches too were sparsely populated. We were feeling hungry and the only eating options available on MG platforms were kachoris, being sold by an old man limping along the platform. We decided to buy a plate of kachoris and, they were delicious. We couldn’t resist buying another plate. They were crisp, inspite of the misty weather. The masala inside the kachoris seemed to have a blend of garlic and a few unknown spices. It tickled our taste buds for sure.
We saw a TTE waiting under the asbestos roofed portion of the platform. Shantanu began discussing with him the intricacies of an MG journey and the TTE believed that the MG route might go on for another year, inspite of the guage conversion news doing the rounds. When we told him that we were here to only enjoy the MG ride, he discussed the Neral-Matheran and other NG routes. He seemed to be very passionate about steam engines. Further on our journey, we found him to connect well with the passengers as well as the railway personnel on the varied stations enroute.
In the meanwhile, we spotted 8410 Ahmedabad-Puri Express with ED WAP4 22555. At 7:31, with a long hoot, our Mhow 6300 started chugging out of Akola on my maiden journey of MG. Awaiting us were one of the best hinterlands in the heart of Incredible India. Akola Jn had electric signals, but the entire route ahead had semaphore signals. The MG lines move away from the BG lines at Akola with a 90 deg curve facing Bhusaval. As our coach was sparsely populated, both of us were at the luxury of peeping out from any of the 6 doors. But it was drizzling and we were trying to soak in the romance of MG trains. Enroute we saw 3 small stations, Ugwe, Gandhi Smarak and Patsul. Even though, these stations weren’t on the list of scheduled halts, our train did make brief halts and the TTE did use this opportunity to hop into the next coach to verify the passengers’ tickets. He also warned us that some UR passengers might try to enter the SL coaches, so we were better off keeping the doors locked at stations. But the railfans in us never missed the opportunity of getting out in the open whenever we halted at stations. The route was full of green vegetation. Very few human habitats could be seen. The only people who could survive here were farmers as there are no industries or the infrastructure to support them.
At KM Marker 698, we reached our first commercial stop, Akot at 8:45. We left at 8:57. The route had many TSR and PSR of 15kmph and 20kmph. We never ran at MPS. The condition of the track under SCR left a lot to be desired. At Hiakhed, we spotted “CR” markings on the iron window grills of the waiting room. All the stations had the typical look of being the epicenter of the village it sustained. The common features at all the stations were the station master’s office, booking counters, a namesake waiting hall, a token wielding railway personnel waiting to handle over the badminton racket shaped token exchanger to the Loco Pilot(LP), semaphore signals and its controlling levers. We did notice a few BCNA styled MG goods wagons, Flatbeds and cabooses’ rusting in the siding lines of few stations. In all probability, freight is no longer being hauled in this section, even though T/G and caution signs for Goods as well as Passenger traffic existed all along the track. Some stations had 1957 engraved in Devnagri script just below the station name. It was really worth noting that all stations enroute were using solar panels for lighting. Its food for thought for major stations in metros where we have so much of electricity being used for lighting up the platforms in the night.
MG crossing at Wan road from nikhil on Vimeo.
After Hiakhed, started the ghat section, we were slowly going up the hills and YDM4 was showing no signs of fatigue. It was pulling the rake amazingly well but for the many speed restrictions imposed in the section. We reached ‘Wan Road’ at 10:00 and confirmed with the LP that the wait was going to be a long one for a crossing. We kept ourselves busy by capturing the pictures of our train from various angles. We also saw the manually operated levers to change the tracks and signals. It was indeed engrossing to see all of these happening as we don’t get to see such operations in Mumbai suburban network. One might need special permission to reach the RRI cabins at stations in Mumbai. Here everything was happening in public domain. We gathered enough courage and decided to ask our LP the permission for foot plating on the locomotive. He understandably denied it as we were totally strangers to him. We appreciated his sense of responsibility and decided to go back and not bother him anymore. After another Mhow YDM4 with Ratlam-Akola passenger crossed us, we started the journey again into the hilly terrain. After KM Marker 655 started the famous ‘Wan Loop’, we managed to capture a video of the same. The entire loop was covered in little over 4 minutes. It’s a marvelous piece of engineering and a must watch. Only once you reach exactly below from where you started on the ‘Wan loop’ does it sink in. Back home we do see trains going up and down the Kopar loop, but this was something special.
WAN Loop on Akola-Ratlam Metre Gauge Section from nikhil on Vimeo.
After Wan loop, Shantanu decided to take a break and rest for sometime on the UB. It was a slow paced journey through, Dabka, Thuthikad and Ratnapur. There is an iron girder bridge across an unknown river before Ratnapur, which we crossed at 11:55. We left Gurhi at 12:35 delayed by more than an hour and 15 minutes. We reached Takal at 12:50 and Khandwa(KNW) at 13:40. We had reached KNW, late by 40 minutes and we had a crew change here. As we were approaching KNW, the BG double electrified lines from Mumbai passed below our tracks to come back and join us at KNW. The BG station though visible from MG side of the station is separated by a few stabling lines. The station was chaotic. There were many people loitering on the platform. There were cows relieving themselves on the platform and vendors selling food. It resembled a market place. It was lunch time and we were travelling light hence we decided to munch on some Puri Subzi and AluWada-Sabzi. The Puris and Aluwadas were just about okay. The subzi again was a watery/oily affair with Potatoes and green peas. We left within 15 minutes and were now travelling in WR territory. We reached the next three stations, Ajanti at 14:10, Attar at 14:30 and Koltakheri at 14:50. We crossed RTM-AK passenger at Ajanti. The train was touching 60-70 KMPH speeds in WR territory but never MPS of 75, though, it was much better than SCR section. Shantanu remembers spotting a few metres of a new bridge with ballast laid. We reached Omkareshwar road at 15:30 and it was pouring cats and dogs by then. There were many passengers awaiting our train at this station. There was an information board on the station asking the pilgrims to alight there for the famous Shiv temple.
crossing narmada river in heavy rains at omkareshwar road from nikhil on Vimeo.
The halt at Omkareshwar was a small one, and since it was raining heavily, many UR passengers tried to barge inside the SL coaches. We did try to stop them from entering the reserved coaches by directing them to the other UR coaches, but a few unrelenting passengers barged in and tried occupying our berths. Luckily, the new TTE who had boarded at KNW was still in our coach. As soon as we left Onkareshwar road in drizzling rain, we could capture the gorgeous Narmada River flowing under the bridge. Soon the TTE came asking the UR passengers for their tickets and a travelling party of 2 tall and sturdy gentlemen and a lady who had forcibly occupied our seats, tried to intimidate the TTE by saying that they were from the army. Our TTE too was equal to the task and he said in no uncertain terms that they will have to get down at the next stop and board another coach as being a military personnel they should understand discipline better and should behave themselves. TTE also retaliated by saying that if they did not intend to get down then he will have to take action against them and that he was quite a disciplinarian. TTE was impressive in his way of tackling unruly passengers and he deserved special praise.
The next thing on our agenda was the Ghat section of the Vindhyas. It started 2 stations before Kalakund. We were slowly going up the incline. The rains had subsided by now and as we were approaching Kalakund, we could spot another YDM4 from the Mhow stables warming up for banker duties on the adjacent track. Kalakund was a scenic station on the curve. As the banker loco had went to reverse into our track. Many passengers had climbed up on the roof of the UR coaches. They were perched on top in spite of enough space available in the train. After successful banker coupling, we started on the fantastic climb up the Vindhya Range. The next 30 minutes were the best part of the journey. We encountered the picturesque ghat section, with mountains, valleys, viaducts, four tunnels, many rock cuttings, rivers and one breathtaking waterfall to end the section at Patalpani. Now we know why the station was named so. I would recommend this Ghat section for any rail and nature lover alike. There is so much on offer, especially in the rains. We could see many love birds (couples) perched atop the mountains facing this breathtaking waterfall and discussing their future. The banker was detached and we reached Mhow, the biggest MG station on offer at 18:00, one hour late by now. Mhow had a huge MG passenger yard and diesel loco shed. Water filling and crew change was scheduled at Mhow. We had ‘Poha’, recommended by Dombivli based IRFCAN, Abhishek Tamhankar. It was indeed good to taste. We saw a Ratlam-Mhow passenger on pf 1; we were put on Pf 2. Pf 3 was empty but, soon there was an announcement of Mhow-Ujjain being shunted into Pf 3 by yet another YDM4. We were given the go-ahead at 17:50.
We were expecting time recovery of about half an hour between Mhow and Indore Metre Guage(INDM); but again we had to stay put for more than 30 minutes at Rajendra Nagar to allow a INDM-Mhow Local to cross us. At Rajendra Nagar we spotted MG on concrete sleepers. We expected the concrete sleepers to be designed for dual guage for the impending BG conversion but they could only sustain MG rails. The scenery outside was slowly and steadily resembling the outskirts of a city. Soon we were entering Indore MG station, late by 45 minutes. We contacted Ruchir Sharma, IRFCAN from INDB, but he couldn’t meet us due to heavy rains.
YDM4 6605 at rajendra nagar with mhow local from indore from nikhil on Vimeo.
Indore BG and MG co-exist on Pf 1-3 and Pf 4-5 respectively. We decide to venture out as the next train we were supposed to catch had a scheduled departure of 22:45. The INDB station complex looked good from the exterior. YP 4028 is plinthed right in front of the station complex. We were dumb-struck by the grandeur of the steam engine. As the RPF guys were standing right next to it, we did not take a chance in photographing the steam loco. Outside the station, there was enough space for private vehicles to drop in and pick-up passengers. There were CNG autos and Tata Magic pick-up vans awaiting commuters. As it was raining incessantly and we were short of an umbrella we couldn’t venture out much. Shantanu’s shoes had given away after the whole day doorplating on the MG trains and we were desperately searching for a shop selling sandals. After a few random enquiries he did manage to settle for a nice pair of sandals. The next thing on our mind was to buy some Kalakund for Abhishek Tamhankar. All the eateries we enquired, were selling everything other than Kalakund.
We roamed around the bus-stand and found that it was busy with tour operators shuttling between Indore-Ujjain and Indore-Bhopal. There was a large city map inside the bus-stand. There were many restaurants in and around this area proclaiming to provide vegetarian thalis at reasonable cost. It was too early for us to decide for dinner, and our carry bags were taking its toll on our shoulders, so we decided to keep our bags in the cloak room and venture out on the other side of the station for Kalakund. The cloak room was a nondescript place on the platform no 1. We tried to bring the attention of the cloak room keeper to our bags, but he was busy counting money and was least interested in listening to us. On further insistence, he took out the register and started noting down our tickets details and after the formalities were over, he asked us to lock the bags and keep it in an iron grilled room. This is when we told him that we were not carrying any locks and that he could keep it the way they were. But he said that he will not take the risk for any loss of articles from the bag and hence will not allow us to keep the bags in the room. Dejected, we made our way the other side of the station by crossing the FOB. This side was relatively quiet and instead of restaurants and sweet shops, we came across a large number of hardware stores selling everything from auto parts to concrete mixers. We returned back to the station and took pictures of the BTP wagons, the MG counterpart of BTPN wagons. The MG section of the station was busy with shuttles plying to and fro between Mhow and Indore. Finally we went back to the side where we had seen the YP loco plinthed, to have some dinner.
Dinner was ordinary. Shantanu ordered for a Special Veg Thali and I opted for Veg Pulav. The veg pulav turned out to be veg fried rice. The dessert for the day was gulab jamun. Adjacent to this restaurant we found a sweet shop, where Kalakund was available for Rs. 200 per kg. We went back to the station. We had about 1.5 hours to spare and decided to walk the length of all the BG platforms and study the various BG rakes on display. Habibganj-Indore intercity had just arrived on pf 3. It was hauled by RTM WDM-3A 16159. It had many coaches in Karnavati livery. On the adjacent pf 2, 2973 Indore-Jaipur with a scheduled departure of 22:30 was already berthed, ready to be hauled by BGKT WDM-3A 16276. The day long travel through the hinterland had drained out our mobile batteries and we saw the opportunity of recharging in the AC coaches of INDB-JP. It had a 3 tier AC and a Hybrid 2A/3A combo. That gave us an opportunity to see the interiors of the hybrid coach. After sufficient recharging of the mobiles, we made our way to pf 1, where our train, 9310 Indore-Gandhinagar Express was ready with RTM WDM-3A 18608. In the distant night sky we could see catenary poles reaching INDB. As we had a scheduled departure of 22:45, we knew that we would trail INDB-JP till Ujjain.
We had middle (60) and upper (61) berths allotted in S2 coach. One look at the reservation chart, made it very clear that the coach was full of passengers bound for Vadodara(BRC). As our co-passengers booked on 2 Lower berths got upgraded, we missed no opportunity to occupy them. Later in the night 2 passengers did turn up but they understandably went to sleep on the MB and UB. We left at 22:45. Both of us were on the lookout to see the diamond crossing between BG and MG and were fruitfully rewarded to see that happen after a small station, Laxmi-bai Nagar. We were moving very fast and reached Dewas Jn by 23:25, delayed by only 3 minutes. Shantanu was already asleep by then. After a brief nap, I woke up to the announcement of Indore-Jaipur departing from Ujjain. We too had a loco change here and assumed that we must have left with an AC loco which we were to discover at BRC, to be a BRC WAP4. At 5:40am, I woke up to see our train entering the curved platforms of Godhra Jn. We were delayed by 20 minutes. At BRC outer we spotted a train with coaches in mixed livery of Duranto and Karnavati. It went past us in a relatively high speed and we couldn’t trace its whereabouts, but it was a very short rake. We saw the BRC avoiding bypass lines to Ahmedabad(ADI) and the lines from ADI to BRC forming a triangle. We managed to reach BRC at 6:45 and were berthed on pf 6 which resembled to be a relatively new platform, for being isolated from the rest of the station. It seems to have been built at the northern end of the platform no 1 with a dead end. Fortunately, they have designed a loco escape line for the loco to move ahead, reverse into the escape line and recouple at the other end of the same rake.
We walked all the way to Pf 1 and found that our train 9116 Bhuj-Bandra Sayajinagari Express was delayed by half an hour and was expected only by 8:00 am. Pf 1 was full of passengers awaiting various trains heading down south to Mumbai. We approached the refreshment stall and had some ‘Dhokla’ and ‘Puri-Sabzi’ each costing a mere Rs. 10. We went out to see the exteriors of the station complex and it was larger in scale as compared to Indore. We returned back to pf 1 in a few minutes and waited patiently for the arrival of Sayajinagari Express. We noticed a huge fish tank installed in the station premises. It was a welcoming sight. There were a few parents keeping their kids busy by explaining them the different species of fishes on display.
In the meanwhile, we saw a WAG9 slowing coming to a halt on pf 6 with 2948 Patna-ADI Azimabad Express. It was my first time of spotting the monster WAG9. It was in a traditional green livery and belonged to AJNI, numbered 31221. By the time we reached the end of pf 1, a delayed 2934 Karnavati Express arrived behind a WCAM2 at 7:45. The WAG9 on pf 6 detached itself from the rake, moved forward and reversed back into the loco escape line to again re-couple at the other end of the rake for its forward journey to ADI. After 2934 left, PAS announced a 2 hr delay in the arrival of our train 9116 Sayajinagari Express. 9109 Valsad-ADI, Gujarat Queen arrived on pf 2 at 8:05. Another BDTS bound Ajmer/Udaipur Express hauled by BGKT diesel arrived on pf 1. This train had a loco change to WCAM1 at BRC. We were in 2 minds to whether wait for 9116 or board 2996. In the end,it left without us. By now, we understood that trains were reaching ADI late due to heavy rains on the previous night. Finally, we decided to catch the next train out of BRC. At 8:20 Ernakulam-Okha Express hauled by ERS WDM-3A arrived on Pf 4. At 8:40, 9066 Jodhpur-Bandra arrived on pf 2 with a diesel loco. The last few SL coaches, S11-S14 were literally empty. We didn’t want to miss it, so we boarded the train and made ourselves comfortable in side berths having emergency windows facing the trackside. Since, we didn’t possess tickets for 9066, we decided to approach the TTE waiting on the platform to appraise him of our situation. He advised us to board the train and said that he will attend us after the train departs BRC. We were jubilant and returned back to our earmarked seats. There was no loco change for our trains and it was going to be a diesel affair through a Double electrified section.
At 08:55, we left BRC and we had the entire coach at our disposal. There was a petrified stray dog in our coach. It must have boarded the coach to take shelter from the rains. It was trying to look outside from the door, but the train was moving too fast for it to disembark. Not that I am a great animal lover, but felt pity for the creature, which was shivering perhaps in the fear of being relocated. The TTE arrived and he said that tickets of 9116 cannot be considered for travelling in 9066 and we will have to pay the fine and travel or get down at the next stop and wait for 9116. We decided to pay the fine and it worked out to be Rs. 870 for 2 of us. We also relocated to S9 seats 23/24, again side berths with emergency windows facing the track side. Since the travel by 9066 was not on our agenda, we were clueless of its stoppages. But we were in for a pleasant surprise. It had only Surat, Valsad and Borivali as its commercial stops. I must say, it was a complete paisa vasool. Rajdhani styled stoppage pattern for a non-superfast train. Wow….!!!
We were commuting on the BRC-BVI section for the first time, and noticed that it had 4 aspect signaling and tracks ran dead straight for most part of the journey. There were 2 chain pulling instances, one each at Bharuch outer and Udhna outer. We crossed Narmada River once again near Bharuch Jn. This time though it looked far muddier than yesterday. Our co-passengers asked us if we intended to buy some food items at Surat as he was phoning up the ‘Food Express’ based on Pf 1 at Surat. He said that they hand delivery the ordered items right in your coach and the food is delicious. We declined his invitation as both of us were feeling full after our breakfast at BRC. We reached Surat at 10:45 and left within 5 minutes. We crossed the mighty Tapi river, which was also brownish in color. At Surat, the caterer did approach our co-passenger with his order. He provided us with the menu card and the gourmet of food available on the menu did look good. They also have a website: http://www.foodexpresssurat.com/ . You can book order food online too. Interesting isn’t it? The pandrol clips on the washable apron of Surat platforms looked slightly different from the ones used across the IR network.
On the adjacent track we could see a continuous stream of WAG7/9, WAM4, WCAM1 with freights and passenger trains. We were clocking good speeds as were whizzing past most of the stations at MPS. We had some tea, biscuits and bhel enroute. There was no respite from rains and our decision to board 9066 looked extremely satisfying. We slowed down after a long time near Auranga bridge, where a TSR of 20 kmph was seen. Finally, reached Valsad at 12:00 noon and didn’t bother the section controllers for long, as we departed within 2 minutes. A new-looking ICF-LHB hybrid AC coach shell only; without glass panes, seats at BL side lines were spotted by Shantanu. We crossed the Daman Ganga Bridge near Vapi at 12:20. I was waiting to see the first station across the state border and was fruitfully rewarded to see Bordi (Maharashtra) fly fast us at 12:42.We ran nonstop through Dahanu Road. The areas around Dahanu River, Golvad and Dante were all resembling to be flooded. The next big attraction was the full speed blast across the twin Vaitarna bridges. Shantanu showed me the hillock from where our Mumbai members capture the videos of speeding Mail/Express trains. After entering the EMU section at Virar, where we slowed down, I freshened up to get down at Virar and missed on the opportunity to capture the Vasai creek bridges. Shantanu spotted BDTS-DEE Garib rath with TKD WDM at Bhayander. We slowed down after Dahisar and entered the new platform 6A at 14:05. The entry to Platform 6A was so slow and noisy that at some point we felt that our train might derail, because of sharp turnouts.
Approaching vaitarna north bridge from nikhil on Vimeo.
Vaitarna South Bridge from nikhil on Vimeo.
As we live in the far north eastern suburbs of Mumbai, we decided to catch the Vasai Road (BSR)-Diva Jn DMU departing BSR at 15:35 as the journey could have been much more comforting than the crowded EMUs from BVI to Dadar(DDR) and again Dadar(CR) to Kalyan(KYN). As I was carrying the Mumbai Suburban Smart Card, purchasing tickets for BVI to BSR was a mere ritual. We were about to depart for BSR by slow local at 14:15. At the refreshment stall on the platform, we bought 2 glasses of fresh lime soda to quench our taste. By the time we could finish it, a Virar sllow local was ready to depart. We boarded it and got seated by the time we crossed the DC-AC neutral zone. By 14:35, we reached BSR after crossing the twin Vasai Creek bridges. We waited on the C shaped FOB over the tracks at BSR for sometime as we could see a MEMU, TKD WAG-9#31207 with concor rake waiting in the yard. Aamod Nerurkar and Aadil Sheikh joined us on our journey back home till Kaman Road for railfanning. At 15:10, WAG7 with the freight load moved towards JNPT via Kopar and PNVL. Our DMU arrived at 15:25 and there were equal number of people waiting to alight and board at BSR. But, by the time we were about to leave, there was enough space for everybody. We decided to door plate. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, and Ulhas Creek Bridge are the famous attractions on this route.At Kaman Road, we bid goodbye to both, Aadil and Aamod and continued our journey to Kopar. The DC substations at all the stations enroute had been abandoned and IR is still to demolish them. It seems they will continue to exist for future generations to take note of them. Our KYN WDM2 17492 was smoking very well. At Bhiwandi a hordes of commuters got in, only to get down at Kopar. In the far south, one can see the tall skyline of the emerging New Thane. We alighted at Kopar at 16:30 and Abhishek Tamhankar was waiting to meet us. After a few minutes of chit-chat, he departed and we boarded a Titwala bound MRVC local. I got down at the next stop, Dombivli and Shantanu continued up till Kalyan, thus bringing to end a wonderful round trip. This journey will be etched in our memories for years to come.
Thank you all for being super patient to read the longest trip report I have ever written.
