Religious Cum Railfanning Trip to Shirdi

My mom’s long pending wish was to take her daughter (that’s how she likes to address my wife) to Shirdi and my wish was to traverse the journey by train. As my wife isn’t comfortable with long bus journeys, trains were the automatic choice. The onus of booking tickets was on yours truly. I booked for 12131 Dadar - Sainagar Shirdi (SNSI) which departs on Saturday night of 28th Sept at 21:45 from Dadar and reaches SNSI at 03:51 on Sunday morning. To those who are familiar to my blogs, might recollect my previous journey by this wonderful train 2 years back by the title, 'A chilly trip to Shirdi'.

Booking for return journey was a problem as 12131 is now having a Rake sharing with SNSI-Pandharpur and hence 12131's counterpart doesn’t depart at 10:00 am as 12132,instead leaves at 22:35 and  thus 12132 has also become a night train to Mumbai. We didn’t want to spend the whole day at SNSI, so I booked our return journey in 2 parts. I booked for a new train, the SNSI-Puri Weekly Express which departs at 13:00 from SNSI till Manmad (MMR) and change to Tapovan Express at MMR for Mumbai at 16:50 with a gap of 1 hr 30 min at MMR.

Since my in-laws from Borivali were to accompany us, they were to board from Dadar at 21:45 with my wife, who has now become a veteran of CR and WR combo travel as we stay in Dombivli (DI) and she commutes to work daily at Goregaon. I decided to board from Kalyan (KYN) with my parents. Our tickets were in RAC, but it got confirmed and 6 of our travelling members were adjusted in one compartment in S3 and I was confirmed in S1 at seat 10. As decided, my wife, her parents and brother boarded 12131 from Dadar Platform 7. I took a 21:31 slow local to KYN from DI. The local terminated on Pf 2 and that made it easy for us to reach PF 5 of KYN taking the North end FOB which has a ramp. The usual parade of EMUs and Mail/Expresses was on. The station was full of commuters and there was hardly any space for free movement. It is high time that more platforms are built to the east of the station to disperse the crowds and make commuting easier.

First spotting of the night was KYN WDM3X with 22107 CSTM-Latur Express on Platform 5, which brought in a lot of local passengers. In the meanwhile, KYN WCAM3 brought in 11072 Kamayani Express on Platform 6. As Latur Express departed, 17057 Devgiri Express to Secundrabad arrived on Pf 4. Kolhapur-Ahmedabad Express sneaked in stealthily into Platform 7 and decided to rest there for a few minutes. Soon, 11021 Dadar-Tirunelveli Express arrived on platform 5. In the meanwhile, my wife updated that 12131 had left Dadar, dot on time and the rake was clean. I replied,” It’s a CR rake, has to be clean. J ”

Deccan Odyssey liveried KYN WDM3A # 18926R was doing the honours of hauling our train. It was late by 2 minutes in entering KYN, but I knew that 12131 reaches SNSI on time. After exchanging pleasantries with my in-laws and getting my tickets checked, I decided to check the rake myself. The floor, berths and toilets were indeed clean. I had done a morning shift at work and with a night train and parents accompanying, door plating was out of question and so was the Lower Berth. I decided to go to my Middle Berth (MB) in S1 and sleep it off and do my railfanning in the return trip in broad daylight. Our Alco was chugging hard and even though I lied down on my MB, my mind was constantly trying to note the stoppages we make enroute. Luckily for me, every time, I woke up from my slumber, we were halted and a quick look at the watch ensured that I noted the timings.  12131 was running to the schedule. I had kept an alarm for 03:30am to return back to my family in S3 before we reach SNSI. The sight of a town, which is otherwise sleepy through the day, was gleaming with lights in the horizon at 3:30 am in the morning. We reached Sainagar Shirdi (SNSI) at 3:40am on the lone platform, 10 minutes before scheduled time. This was my third visit by train to SNSI and station building was still looking good.

We hopped into an auto, checked into a room, finished our morning chores and set out to visit the temple. Darshan was over in an hour’s time. After spending a few hours at the hotel we came back to SNSI to board 18408 SNSI –Puri Weekly Express to Manmad. We reached the station at 12:15 and with 45 minutes to go, the train was yet to be berthed.  I decided to take my wife and brother in law on a Darshan of a different kind. I dragged them to the Puntumba end of the lone platform for snaps. The 2 siding lines parallel to the platform line had an SC rake of SNSI-Kakinada Town Express behind a Pune WDM3A 18975 and ECoR rake of SNSI-Puri behind another Pune WDG3A #14646. The additional siding line at SNSI outer was also occupied with Pune Alco 13559 with the rake of CSTM-SNSI Fast passenger. It seems, in years to come, SNSI will have to be expanded for more siding lines as the number of trains to SNSI keep getting added every subsequent budget. Thankfully, railways own a lot of land here and up gradation of infrastructure should not be a problem for them.

The platform line and a short loco stabling platform have washable apron. We went out of the station for a brief period to click snaps of the Multi Functional Complex (MFC) and the panorama of SNSI Station building. When we returned back, our rake was seen moving off the siding line, only to reverse back into the platform. The first look of the rake gave us a very nasty feeling. The ECoR Rake was very shabbily maintained. It was very dirty from the exterior as well as interior. The occupancy of our coach was very low and I secured an emergency window for myself. This train was inaugurated only a few weeks back and it pains a lot to see a shabby and old rake for a train dedicated to pilgrims from Puri to SNSI and vice versa. The starter was given at 13:00 and we set out on our return journey. SNSI is fully set to go electric as all the OHE and catenaries works are in place. In fact, I observed that MMR-SNSI section’s electrification work is complete and might be thrown open to electric locos soon. We were given a schedule of 2 hour and 25 minutes from SNSI to MMR, which meant that the run was going to be a sedate one. Not that I was complaining.

As we were approaching Puntumba, we made a parallel entry with the Twin Diesel hauled Karnataka Express bound to NDLS. It was no surprise that we were sidelined at Puntumba, in spite of no scheduled halt there to make way for one of the prestigious trains on this route. We were given a pamphlet of ‘La Festa Food Plaza’ of Kopargaon with options of ordering over Phone. The menu consisted of a variety of South Indian, Chinese, Thalis, Combo Meals, Rice and Vegetables. We were told that food will be delivered at our seat at Kopargaon. We ordered for a Maharaja Thali which consisted of Shahi Paneer, Alloo Mutter, Yellow Dal Chole, Veg Pulao, 2 Naan, Pickle, Papad, Raita and Salad costing Rs.163, Paneer Butter Masala costing Rs. 105 and 2 Butter Naans costing Rs. 20 each. Though the cost was slightly on a higher side, the food was delicious and I would recommend it, given the paltry food items available in the pantry car of most non descript expresses.

After a halt of few minutes at Puntumba, we started on our journey again and at Kanhegaon came across a dirty looking Pune WDM2 # 17991 which was hauling the Nizamabad-Pune passenger. We reached Kopargaon, our first scheduled halt, late by 8 minutes. But there was no reason to worry as there was enough slack built in before MMR. I spotted an OHE van at Kopargaon. Our food was loaded and delivered to our seat as promised and as we went on munching spree, from far off the Aurangabad single line came and joined us in the backdrop of the magnificent Ankai Killa. We entered MMR from the CR line on platform 1 at 15:05, almost 20 minutes before time. I was expecting a loco change for our train from Diesel to electric. To my surprise, Karnataka Express was still on platform 2. Not liking that we played catch up with the legend, it moved out as soon as we came to a standstill. I am told, Karnataka Express also has a loco change here, but I couldn’t capture it as I was travelling with family and any attempt of getting down from the train and trying to run ahead to check the loco would have been reprimanded. Railfanning is best done with rail fans around. I try to subdue my RF instincts when with my family.

A glance at the indicators told me that Tapovan Express was expected at 16:50 on platform 4. We took the lone FOB of MMR station and moved to a spot with enough space for all 7 of us to sit. MMR is not the typical junction station with lot of passengers, instead it is very desolate, had more urchins and railway employees than passengers. I could spot a WAP4 hauled passenger (probably the late running, MMR-IGP passenger) on Platform 6 which left towards Mumbai. There was announcement of a train expected to run through Platform 2 and in the horizon, I could see an Itarsi WAM4 hauling the 11055 LTT-Gorakhpur, Godan Express approaching MMR. The amount of dust and rubble it raised while running nonstop through the station was a sight to behold. It was a mesmerizing feeling to see it vanish in a matter of few seconds. The siding lines between platform 4 and 5 received a huge consignment of Sonalika Tractors on Flatbeds behind a WDG4 12107. ‘Trial Loco’ was stenciled below the cab of 12107. A surprise unscheduled halt on platform 2 was given to 12542 LTT-Gorakhpur LHB Hybrid rake. 12715 Nanded-Amritsar Sachkhand Express arrived on Platform 5 at 16:45 with twin diesels from SCR line. Twin diesels after de-coupling at Mumbai End was replaced by WAP4 at Howrah end for its onward journey to ASR. 22845, Pune –Hatia express sneaked into Platform 1 while the Sachkhand loco changes were happening. We tasted hot Vadapavs from the vendor on platform 4 and took a stroll along the length of the platform. My wife is a reluctant walker, but strolled around with me as I was juggling between answering her queries and railfanning at the same time.

It was 16:35 and Alco had already brought in Tapovan from Nanded, a full 15 minutes before time. There were many passengers alighting and an equal number waiting to board our train. We had sequential seats from 50-56 in D4. I made a few eyebrows rise by asking the illegal occupants of our seats to move out of their comfort. No one retaliated, but the anguish was clearly visible on their faces. After settling into our seats, I could observe that there were many passengers without reservations in our coach. The TTE came and checked our tickets and turned a blind eye to the unauthorized commuters of our coach. We left at 17:05 and crossed Barbie Doll livery hauled freight near Summit. The KYN WCAM3 was moving swiftly and we were hitting MPS very often. Niphad and Lasalgaon halts were negotiated on time. In between, we managed to cross a few trains, I suspect them to be Darbhanga, Kamayani and Mangala Lakshadweep Express. One of them was with twin WAP4 (trailing loco dead). Next to cross us was Aurangabad Janshatabdi which is easy to recognize even at high speeds because of its distinct JS livery coaches.

With an ON time arrival at Nasik, we crossed 11026 Pune-Bhusaval Express and at Devlali shook hands with 12117 LTT-Manmad Godavari Express. Sewagram Express crossed us after Devlali and 12143 LTT-Sultanpur was waiting on platform 1 at Igatpuri (IGP) to welcome us as it was getting the bankers detached at 19:00. Our loco was doing a tremendous job of running in before time at all stations enroute. At 19:20, Nandigram was seen being pushed up the Ghats by triplets of WAG7 (all of them in WAP4 shells)

Our scheduled arrival at Kalyan was 20:50 but we had crossed Titwala by 20:25 and that meant, KYN outer had the privilege of holding on to Tapovan for a few minutes. Between IGP and KYN we crossed a few trains and I had to budge to the request from my brother –in-law for a window seat, I couldn’t note the exact locations of each crossing, but with backend knowledge of trains departing Mumbai, they must have been Panchavati, Rajyarani and Vidharbha expresses. We were allowed into Kalyan Platform 5 at 20:45. To give it company, Indrayani Express from Pune behind an Alco arrived on Platform 7, though; Tapovan was allowed to leave first. We took the middle FOB and took a fast train from Platform 6 to Dombivli, thus bringing to an end to a Religious cum Railfanning trip to Shirdi.

Nikhil P Karunakaran