4 days, 2 trains, 1 rake and 1 faithful loco

Dear Friends,
Have been very busy in the office lately, so couldn’t blog my journey properly. I have tried to note down all the points of my journey. Some pictures have been uploaded on the Openline.

The plan was to board the 2201 LTT-KCVL Garib-rath from LTT and travel till Trichur(TCR) and return back by 2202 on the very next day with my aunt. I start with the afternoon shift in office the previous night.


On 9th Dec left office late @ 23.00hrs.Reached Cstm by 2315.The last Ambarnath fast was late,came in at 2325, and left at 2328.
Crawled from Parel 2 Dadar behind the Konkan Kanya Express.
We were put on slow track from Thane.
Reached Dombivali at 00.30 and managed to reach home at 0040 and went to sleep at 0200 after packing bags.
Got up at 0445 & left at 0545 for office again !
Abhishek Tamhankar smsed me about a ACDC local getting stuck at Nahur.
I took the 0611 local and got down at Thane.Crossed to platform No 1, and boarded 6.52 slow to cstsm, reached at
0750.
Saw the cylinder blast site near the concourse.
Reached office by 0810.
Work was normal.
Copied some movies to my new cell for watching during my night travel in Garib-rath..
Had lunch and left at 1420.
Took the 1451 Karjat fast to Kurla.
Saw some slewing and alignment work near platform 5,6 at CSTM.
Reached Kurla at 1510, decided to walk to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus
Took 15 minutes to do so.
Saw the erstwhile pf 9 and the still existing phatak near Kurla startion on the way.
Saw the first double decker flyover in India under construction.
Bought platform ticket 4 my colleague, who accompanied me to LTT.
2201 LTT-Kochuveli Garib Rath was on pf 1.
Wdm3a 17894 alongwith a Wcam3 was seen idling on pf 3.
We walked the entire length of pf to see coach configuration.
Messaged the details of coach configuration to Shantanu Kulkarni.
My Dad was supposed to give me a 2nd bag @ Thane.
Mom was also supposed to come to Thane by commuting by the 0430 fast from Cstm bound for Badlapur.
The real scare was of Dad not picking up his phone even after more than 10 calls.
In the meanwhile Mom called up my neighbour to check the lock on our door.
It was locked. Then finally Dad called up to say that he was at Thane and coulnt hear the phone as it was in his pants
pockets and in a silent mode.
We left at 0459pm and came to a halt at the outskirts of Vidyavihar.
After a halt of 5 minutes, we soon joined the mainline and speeded up.
Reached Thane at 5.25pm.Finally, met mom and dad.
After a good lesson on safe travelling, and then I boarded the train back.
The next shocker was awaiting me. While shifting my clothes from office bag to travel bag, I recollect seeing my e-ticket but somehow it got misplaced.
I was of the opinion that I had a bad omen to start with.
After searching for more than 15 minutes,i gave up and decided to reproduce only my id card and pay a fine of Rs.50.
I had never done such a thing in my life.
I was sweating in an AC compartment.
Finally after sitting on my window seat, i just decided to resign to my fate.
Then out of the blue, i decided to look on the side of my seat.and there i found it, finally bringing some peace to my mind.
I couldn’t bother doing railfanning during this period.
I did see the DMU at Diva Jn.
Also when we reached Panvel, saw Trivandrum-Nizamuddin Rajdhani arriving on pf 7.
We were berthed on pf 6 and stayed put from 1825 to 1840.
Reached Pen at 1910 for a crossing. I think it could have been Mandovi Express. Left Pen at 1920 and again came to a stop @ 1940 for an overtake by unknown express.
Came to halt at Kolad at 20.30 for 2052 Madgaon-Mumbai Janshatabdi crossing.
Getting blankets was a task as people had already ventured to G1 to collect it as it was chilly in the Ac compartments.
By the time i could procure one, only bedsheet was available,rented it for Rs.10.
Had my dinner of Chicken biryani and gave my lower berth to an elderly couple.
Chill was acceptable as AC temperature was kept high on request of passengers.
We were continously hitting good speeds on the KR section in the night.
Could fainty here tunnels and viaducts passing by.
Finally after 4-5 fake waking ups from sleep, finally my alarm rang at 0530.
Got up and saw Bhatkal going through without stoppage.
I decided to freshen up and by the time I was ready to hit the door,it was 0600.
By that time,Shiroor and Byndoor must have passed.
We were slowing down to halt at Bijoor for a 2 minute halt.
My coach was 12th from the engine, so I rushed in through the vestibules right upto the J2 coach, which was 2nd from the engine.
Scenary inside J2 was like a refugee camp.
People were sleeping, rather trying to sleep in all possible positions.
We saw a freight with twin WDG4 crossing us at Bijoor.
We passed blasting through the first station after Bijoor, Senapura in all glory.
At Kundapura, Ernakulam-Rajkot express was waiting for our crossing on the platform line behind an Ernakulam WDM3A.
As the expected crossing was already negotiated, we were not expected to halt at Barkur.
Both LPs were showing flasher lights to stations passing by.
The crossing was for Trivandrum-Nizamuddin Rajdhani hauled by the dual cab green WDP3A.
Again the rake was mixed livery of red,cream and BSNL3G Ads.
There were a lot of student crowd waiting at Udupi to board the Rajdhani.
We had reached Udupi late by 45 minutes and we were made to overtake a double headed bcna rake with WDG4
through a loop line.
By the time we reached kankanadi, we were almost on time reaching there by 0810.
After crew change we left at 0830.
We were made to wait as an unknown express had left before us.
Before the netravathi river we were made to stop and then proceed at slow speed, its still a single line.
Trusses are ready on the banks, waiting deployment. Soon we passed the triangle to Mangalore Central.
Now there was no stopping as we overtaked the rake which had proceeded before us as we were in a bouble line
section by now.
Reached Kasargod late only by 10minutes.
At Nileshwar saw BCNA-HS rake.
We reached Kannur delayed by only 15 minutes.
At Kannur, I had 3 Medu vadas at Rs18. the only options inside the train was Bread omlette and Upma. I dont like both
of them.
We were on platform no 1 and Yeshwantpur-Kannur rake was stabled on pf 2.
We left in 5 minutes.
At Etakkot, again saw blue liveried BCNA-HS rake.
Saw many freight rakes at West Hill
And we slowed down to enter Kozhikode to enter pf1 on right time at 1150.
Ordered for Chicken Biryani which came in as early as 1115.Food items sold at Kozhikode included parotha, egg curry.
Kozhikode had the Kannur_Kozhikode_Charavattur passenger in one of the pf lines.
We were made to travel at 20kmph over the infamous Kadalundi bridge.
Reached Tirur before time at 1235 and left at 1240.
Saw Trivandrum-Kozhikode janshatabdi coaches entering Tirur and they were vinyl warapped with Joy-Alukkas
Jewellary
I was sure of reaching Shornur before time as our line was clear ahead and only Karakad to Shornur was predominantly
single line.
We were made to slow down near Pallipuram and halt at Karakad as we were running before time.
I managed to click some wonderful pictures of trains on the curve.
we have Bharatapuzha for company on side and paddy fields on the other side.
After a halt of 5 min we were allowed to proceed on the single line.
Some sleepers have been laid near Shornur for the incomplete doubling work.
As we were entering Shornur, saw the Nilambur line joining us from the left.
On the right was a coach maintenance facility.
As we entered the pf, adjacent track had Venad express scheduled for departure towards Trivandrum from Shornur
after us.
The other pf had Mangalore_Chennai Egmore express which shared rake with Chennai Egmore_ Thiruchirapalli Express.
We had reached 10 minutes before time.
Food times were sold like hot cakes at 1330.
At Shornur saw a First Class coach and Janshatabdi styled AC ChairCar in Venad express.
We were welcomed by rains in Shornur which continued till Vallatol nagar.
Bharatapuzha had more sand that water as always.
Chennai egmore must have had a loco change as it left before us.
We had a crew change at Shornur and left late by 10 minutes.
The windows had a lot of dirt on them.
I did try to clean my window but there was moisture between the two glasses, making it impossible to have a clear
view.
We passed Wadakancheri at good speed and reached Trichur late only by 5 minutes.
I alighted right in front of the Station entrance, made my way out and took an auto to my place and in 10minutes
I was at home. Auto fares are very high in Kerala.



Now its time for plotting the return journey from Trichur to Thane by 2202 KCVL-LTT Garib rath. Here it goes...


I was returning back from Trichur (TCR) by 2202. Though our house is just 2kms away from the station, i insisted on leaving home by 1230pm for a 1415 departure of 2202, so that I could indulge in some railfanning at TCR.
After taking an auto to the station and reaching there by 1240, I saw that our train was scheduled to arrive on pf 2.
I had travelled by 2201 a day back and was fully aware of its coach configuration, yet checked G1 to be 3rd from the engine.
As we ventured on the pf1,6346 Netravathi express from LTT to TVC arrived at TCR behind WAP4 # 22619.
Kollam-Kakinada Spl came behind a WAG5.
Advertisements on stairs existed at TCR, which was introduced in Mumbai region a few months ago.
Washable apron was being made on pf 3 as Guruvayur Shuttles from TCR uses it as a terminal pf.
Parshuram Express came with behind a WAP4.
It had Non AC First Class and ACCCs, C1 & C2.
Next to come in was Sabari express behind another ED WAP4 @1332 and left at 1340.
A Sabarimala Spl bound for Secundrabad came behind a WAG7.Some swamis made last minute scramble to enter the GS coaches as they were caught unawares of the trains as it arrived without any destination boards and announcements.
Our 2202 came behind the same ERS WDM3A 17894, I had footplated a day back while coming by 2201.
It came and left dot on time.
I had booked 2 Lower Berth seats via IRCTC, so eased into them and bid goodbye to TCR.
We had a maharashtrian family of 4 besides us.
They were touring Kerala 2nd time in the last 5 years, it seemed that they had a liking for the God's Own Country.
We have a crew change at Shornur(SRR) and a stoppage time of 25 minutes.
We reached SRR at 1450 and left at 1515.
WDM18600 came to SRR with TVC Janshatabdi. Its got be one of the longest JS in India, if not the longest.
We reached Tirur at 1600 and left after a 2 minute halt.
As we reached Kozhikode(CLT) i ventured out to procure some Halwa and banana chips for office friends.
We were halted at Parapanagadi and Mahe before coming to halt at Kannur delayed by 15 minutes.
We left in 5 minutes.
We had stopped at Kanhagad too. It seemed that the train was not enjoying the priority it enjoyed while coming.
I thought we will be late in reaching Kasargod, but we reached there delayed only by 5min.
Had dinner of chk biryani. Aunty had veg biryani. The only other option available was chappati & korma.
We were ready to sleep as I went to G7 to procure blankets and pillow along with bedsheets.
We reached Mangalore junction at 2030. We have a crew change here.
We had a small mice for company, as it used to run around the coach every now and then.
Went to sleep on Middle berth as we had a older lady in the bay. Offered her my Lower Berth.
This family had a tour of kerala and were distant relatives of Chaitanya Gokhale.
As I was carrying Samit's Latest Atlas, i was doing great in predicting the next stations and the possible crossings. The father of the family was engaging with me in some fruitful conversation about IRFCA, what we do and how i bought this book online. Thats when his son told me that they had a railfan in their family called " Chaitanya" and i completed him by saying, isnt he, Chaitanya Gokhale, Pune. They were amazed.
I got up at 0545 and found myself at Ratnagiri. On the adjacent platform was a passenger. I think it could be the Ratnagiri-Dadar passenger.
We left at 0555 and passed through some fantastic tunnels and bridges on the way.
At savarde we crossed a WDM3D hauled Ro-Ro service.
Came to an unscheduled halt at Kamathe at km marker 138.
Though there was no crossing we left in 5minutes.
Crossed an unknown express at chiplun with 3AC coaches.
We blasted through Khed at 0723. It has a new FOB and a ROB.
I decided to do some prediction in terms of crossing we were supposed to witness before reaching Panvel.
I sticked my neck out and announced ttat we will have atleast 4 crossing before Panvel.
Came to a halt at Vinhere at 0745 for a crossing by WDP3A hauled Nizamuddin-Trivandrum Rajdhani. Soon after that we left at 0755.
Upma and bread omlette were the only options for breakfast.
We came to a halt at Roha at 0850. Saw a WDG4 12265 with BCNA rakes.
After a GOC WDM2A hauled in the Diva-Sawantwadi passenger, we moved ahead on our journey.
We slowed down at Nagothane. Saw some incomplete viaduct, rock cuttings,and then were halted at Kasu for a crossing by 20036 hauled Mandovi express.
There seems to be more work done in Pen- Panvel section than in Pen- Roha section.
We crossed Mangala Express at Apta.
Sleepers have been laid here.we crossed Diva-Roha passenger hauled by Kalyan WDM3G at Somatne.
Reached Panvel at 10.20am and left at 1030. bid fond farewell to Mr. Kulkarni's family with the promise tat they will inform Chaitanya Gokhale about our Journey.
I was ready to get down at Thane after Dativali Curve went past us.
Luckily we were given a run through Diva and managed to join the Mainline as the EMU was delayed.
We were crawling through the entire Parsik tunnel as a TSR of 20KMph existed at the mouth of the tunnel for track work.
By the time we came to a halt on pf 6 at Thane, the 1123 Badlapur fast from Pf 5 left. As we were not carrying a great deal of luggage, i managed to go to pf 2 and take a Kalyan local to Dombivli.
Thus bringing to an end of a whirlwind tour of Kerala in 4 days, 2 trains, 1 rake and ofcourse 1 faithful loco ERS WDM3A 17894.