Break Journey of a Suburban kind

I have an obsession with being punctual, as I am scared of being late. What this invariably means is that in most scenarios, I leave home early to compensate for the delays in commuting( if any). It was a Saturday and I had a First Aid Training session lined up for me in Office at 9:00. A colleague of mine was also scheduled to attend the session. On Friday night we mutually agreed to meet at the Main Concourse of CST at 8:15 and then proceed to office in one of the best refreshing bus rides available in South Mumbai, the BEST Route 138 from CST to Backbay Depot.

She stays at Dockyard and coming down to CST is a literal cakewalk for her, but I had to meticulously plan this journey as I ain't accustomed to traveling to office for a 9 o'clock Shift. After doing some back-end calculation, I decided to take the 6:56 slow local from Dombivali, which had a scheduled arrival of 8:14 at CST.

Accordingly, I got up at 6:00 , completed the morning chores and after a sumptuous breakfast, took a share auto to the station. The auto driver spent an extra 10 minutes of my precious time as he wanted to fill up all the seats before reaching the station. I ended up missing the 6:56 train and the next scheduled slow local was at 7:04. I wanted to compensate for the 10 minute delay and looked at the Platform No. 5 for a possible fast train. It was scheduled at 7:21. I didn't want to risk getting delayed further as there is a lot of Mail/Express train traffic on the fast tracks in the morning, which sometimes delays the fast trains.

7:04 local is a DC EMU starting from Kalyan with a few empty seats in First Class for the few who manage to plunge into the local before it comes to a halt at Dombivali. I decided to try my luck and jumped onto the foot-board and managed to get a respectable second seat in the opposite direction of travel. I was bound to reach CST by 8:22 and didn't want to irritate my colleague by making her wait at the station, early in the morning. I kept a constant vigil on the fast track to gauge the traffic congestion on them. My DC EMU was a recently POHed(Periodic Overhauled) rake and seemed to be in a pretty good condition. As we were approaching Thane, I saw a Lokmanya Tilak Terminus(LTT) bound express crossing over from the UP Fast tracks to the new lines laid on the Platform No.8 at Thane. This meant the 7:21 fast train with a scheduled arrival at Thane of 7:34 would get a smooth passage after Thane, with no trains ahead of it.

Since my train reached Thane at 7:26 and I was comfortably seated, I didn't think of changing over at Thane. I decided to play the waiting game. My DC EMU was performing beautifully and between Bhandup and KanjurMarg, Latur-CST Express with a WCAM3 at its helm rushed past us in a parallel action on the fast tracks. In all probability the fast train would have been tailing this express. I had an option of getting down at Ghatkopar or Kurla to change platforms to catch the fast train.

The scheduled arrival for my DC emu at Ghatkopar and Kurla would have been 7:46 and 7:52 respectively, whereas for the fast train would have been 7:49 and 7:54 respectively. There was so little time difference between the two, making it difficult for me to decide the place to break my journey. Again the fact that I was seated comfortably dissuaded me from alighting at Ghatkopar as there would have been no scope for sitting in the fast train.

As we came to a halt at Platform 2 of Ghatkopar at 7:45, the fast train, an MRVC 2221-2 Series entered platform 4.My slow local had an extra stop at Vidyavihar before reaching Kurla, but one thing I had keenly observed in the past few days was that there was a long 20Kmph TSR( Temporary Speed Restriction) on the fast tracks at Vidyavihar as the track connection for the new 5th - 6th lines to fast tracks was underway. The fast train had arrived at Ghatkopar 4 minutes before its scheduled departure, hence the motorman would be under the obligation to spend an extra minute at the platform before he could proceed, to adhere to the 3 minute pre-departure rule at intermediate stations. All these nuances helped me to break the journey at Kurla. Accordingly, I got down at Platform 4, ran back to the FOB, and alighted on Platform no 6 and waited with baited breath for the fast train. When the fast train finally arrived, it wasn't crowded and since I had already given myself a fair bit of rest, I decided to stand by the foot-board and see action on the slow tracks. I wanted to see the fast train burn the tracks and overtake as many slow locals as possible to recover my lost 10 minutes.

We had a good run till Matunga and managed to overtake my DC emu on the fly at Sion. I was confident that the MRVC local would help me reach CST on time(8:15). At Dadar, we were made to wait an extra minute as we were again running before time. An added bonanza awaiting me on the slow track at Currey Road was the brand new retrofitted rake of CR, the 9 car 3004-06. I decided to capture its video on my Nokia X6.

After a customary halt at Byculla, and an overtake of a slow local on the fly at Masjid, we entered CST Platform 6 at 8:15. When we halted at Byculla, my colleague called to say that she was delayed and would reach CST late by 10 minutes. I could have very well traveled in the slow local and met her at CST at 8:25, but the break in the journey helped me capture the retrofitted rake and remain punctual for my inner conscience. I didn't tell her that I was running late too, but with some back-end calculations, knowledge of Suburban Timetable and TSR I could successfully recover the lost time.

I walked patiently to the Main Concourse,and repeatedly played the hot new video till she got down from her DC emu and walked towards me with an apologetic face for being late. I don't mind waiting for people but had I been late the reaction on her face could have been much worse and I would have had to come up with explanation, which wouldn't have been expected from a railfan...LOL...

A Visit to Western Railway Exhibition on Indian Railways' 158th Birthday

A week full of hectic work had just come to an end. I was doing an 8.30 am shift in office. When I reached Dombivali station to catch a CST Mumbai Slow local of 06:52 hrs, accidentally met Abhishek Tamhankar waiting for the same train. While we were commuting to work, we discussed the normal stuff a Railfan is known to do. That’s when we decided to go & visit the Western Railway (WR) exhibition on the 158th Birthday of Indian Railways (IR). Accordingly, we informed other Railfans. Many of them had prior commitments, so couldn’t make it except, Karthik Gopalan, Mohit Tandel & Sekharan Sir.

Yours truly and Abhishek Tamhankar were supposed to take the 10.57 CSTM local from Pf 2 at Dombivali. The 10:57 local was a 9 car Jessop rake. We occupied a window seat facing the fast tracks. We saw the Howrah-Mumbai Mail speeding past us on fast tracks behind a WCAM3. We had a close look at the earthwork on the Kalva Side of the twin tunnels of the slow tracks. As we were joining the fast tracks near Thane outer, saw a WCAM3 with Sewagram Express grinding to halt. It was made to halt at Thane outer as Chhapra Express from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) was negotiating a 10kmph turnout out of Thane Pf 7. As we came to a halt on Pf 4, we saw a fast MRVC EMU waiting on Pf 5, followed by another fast MRVC EMU on the south end of the station on the down fast line.

The simple inference out of these observations is that, Central Railway (CR) has managed to shift the traffic congestion from Vidyavihar(VVH) to Thane(TNA), because the benefits of commissioning of the 5th-6th lines haven’t accrued as exit of Pf 7 still continues to be a painful 10kmph. We had a parallel run with Gyaneshwari Express on 6th line. We also spotted the LHB SG coaches bound for Gorakhpur from LTT on 5th line between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup. As we were about to reach VVH, a WDM3D hauled Netravathi Express was making its way out of LTT on 5th line. A lot of rail personnel were working on connecting the freight lines to the new 5th-6th lines. Then between Sion & Dadar we had parallel run with incoming Jabalpur Garibrath, which had 15 3-Tier AC coaches with 78 seat configuration and 2 EOGs. We won the race as it was made to wait at Dadar outer.

As we were approaching Byculla, we saw Sahyadri Express negotiating a turnout from a loop line of Chinchpokli sidings to enter up fast UP line, which meant, it was put on the loop for an overtake. There were 2 AC pantry cars of Northern Railway, just behind the WCAM3 loco. One of the pantry cars was in the standard Yellow-Red Livery, whereas the other one had the Chalo-Kerala Livery. What was it doing here, is a question we will have to investigate. Maybe a replacement or spare for the LTT-Haridwar AC Superfast! As we got down at CSTM on Pf 5, we ran towards the Pf 7 to capture the twin AC pantry cars. There were a lot of RPF personnel waiting near the entrance of Pf7, so we had to point and shoot from a point near the ATM stalls. The Train Management System (TMS) was supposed to be inaugurated on 16th April, so there were a few rail officials making their way in and out of the new TMS building constructed on Pf 7.

I had to renew by Season ticket, so made by way to the ticket counter. Surprisingly, there was no line and I managed to buy the season ticket in 2 minutes. We ventured out and took a BEST BUS 138 to Churchgate. Got down at the EROS Cinema Signal, took the subway to reach the Main Concourse. That’s where we met Karthik Gopalan, Mohit Tandel and Sekharan Sir. The exhibition area wasn’t very big. There were 2 LCD screens at the entrance and 2 vertical sliders depicting the glorious years of Indian railways. The focus certainly was on BB & CI railways. Then, there were many old B & W pictures of WP and WG steam locos hauling passengers & freights. Bassein Bridge, Mahalaxmi Station, Mumbai Central, Bandra and Churchgate station pictures were also on display. Then the 6 car, 8 car , 12 car & finally 15 car rake pictures were on display. A replica of the Bandra Terminus & Churchgate with glass façade was on display.

The most important part of the exhibition was a model train loop with miniature working models of Plasser, Rajdhani , Duranto, etc along with a TGV France rake. It operated on 12 V DC current and landscaping included 2 platforms, a dual track tunnel, siding lines and two 180 deg curves. The kids watching the models were all gung-ho about the action on the miniature section. I did manage to capture a few videos and finally decided to call it a day. As I was doing an afternoon shift at office, took a cab and reached office, whereas Abhishek left for Dombivali.

In Pursuit Of Realization Of A Dream On A Hot Summer Day

Inauguration and Commissioning of the New 5th-6th Lines between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus(LTT) and Thane(TNA) was scheduled for 10th April 2011 and the Railfan in me ensured that I had timed my weekly off to be a witness to it. There 's hardly been a day in the past decade where I hadn't thought of this day when Central Railway(CR) finally segregates Mail/Express and Fast Local trains.

The megablock was initially announced for 3rd April 2011 which eventually got postponed to 10th April 2011 due to varied reasons like Vikhroli agitation for FOB, World Cup Security, modifications to correct the Loop line End Buffers.(Some true stories and some not so true stories). Anyways, on Friday, the 8th, traffic block was announced in all the leading newspapers for 10th April between 00:30 and 15:30 hrs. I coaxed my colleague in office to come to work so that I could take an Off and be witness to the inauguration. I decided to do an Afternoon shift in office based at CST Mumbai, so that while returning back from work, I could take a peek at the start of the traffic block at Vidyavihar(VVH) in the early morning hours.

Left office at 23:30, took a delayed running 23:40 Ambarnath Slow local which left at 23:50.I placed myself besides a window facing the east in a Kalyan End 1st Class Coach. We started crawling after Dadar. I could spot the Dadar-Sawantwadi Special waiting for departure on platform no 4. The crawl continued till Ghatkopar. As we approached Vidyavihar, I was glued to the window as the whole of India was on the 2nd of April to M S Dhoni's mesmerizing innings in the World Cup Final. As we halted at VVH, the last train out of LTT, the LTT-Hatia Express was negotiating the turnouts to enter the down fast lines at a sedate speed. The complete area was brightly lit up like a stadium with almost 300 railway personnel awaiting orders to commence work. I reached home by 01:15 and decided to hit the sack ASAP in anticipation of a eventful day ahead.

At 10:00 am, Vijay Aravamudhan, informed that Deep Soni was witnessing the presence of a lot of Media men at VVH and track work seemed to be in final stages. After a few consultations, we were informed that the first train out of LTT would certainly be Godan Express which was rescheduled for a 15:40 Departure. I decided to catch up with Vijay at TNA by 14:20 and then proceed to VVH. Accordingly left home at 13:20 and took a delayed 13:28 slow to CSTM from platform 3. At Kopar spotted the Push-Pull DMU hauled by a KYN WDM in the middle. The DMU and my MRVC AC-DC local had a short parallel run upto Diva. Eventually, we won as the DMU had to negotiate a few turnouts. I got down at Thane pf 4 at 14:00. I had another 20 minutes to spare, hence decided to venture to the island platforms 7 & 8 to see if anything was happening on the platform, which would soon see a lot of traffic. As I went down the stairs of the FOB, 13201 Rajendra Nagar -LTT express was languishing on Pf 8. I walked the length of the platform to see WCAM3 #21961 as its power. The presence of a lot of RPF personnel meant, I couldn't take snaps. In all probability, this would have been the first train to take the 6th New line to LTT. When I was at the Mulund end of the platform, a Vishakapatnam bound Express hauled by the offlink WDG4 12126 was coming to a dual halt on Pf 5 at Thane.It had started from Dadar today and given a special halt at Thane for the convenience of passengers.

There were repetitive announcement of Mangalore bound Matsyagandha Express being rescheduled to depart from Panvel. Passengers were urged to take a local to Panvel using their long distance tickets. There was also an announcement of Ratnagiri-Dadar passenger being short terminated at a Diva and rescheduled to depart for Ratnagiri from Diva. Vijay asked me to check the Speed Restrictions on the turnouts of Pf7,8 at the KYN end. Pf 7 had a 10 kmph exit and a 20 kmph entry. While pf 8 had a 30 kmph entry. This 10 kmph exit out of pf 7 has to be upgraded to 30 kmph to ensure a smooth exit from new lines into the down fast track ahead of thane to avoid bottleneck situations in future. In the meanwhile, Mahanagari Express bound for CSTM hauled by a WCAM3 # 21934 entered pf 7 and left after 5 minutes.

Finally met Vijay and we boarded the last coach of a CST bound MRVC AC-DC rake. After Mulund, we spotted as many as 4 empty rakes stabled with WCAM3's and WCAG1. In a split second decision, we decided to get down at Nahur and capture this rarity. We got down and ran towards the empty rakes in the Mulund yard as if there was no tomorrow. On display were 3 WCAM3's and 1WCAG1 with Haridwar-LTT, Holiday Spl, and 2 unknown expresses. After sufficing ourselves with the snaps we marched back to Nahur to catch the next CST bound DC EMU and finally got down at VVH at 15:00. We did spot the Sinhagad to Pune in between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli. Met with the Video-man of IRFCA, Arzan Kotwal. This was my first meeting with him and was equally pleased to meet Deep Soni, Sriram S and Tushar Dhake. The sun was blazing down with all its prowess. We saw a freight negotiating turnouts out of the VVH freight yard into the mainline, which meant, the goods trains will have to continue using the mainlines for now and only the mail/express trains bound for LTT would use the new lines. As it was very hot, Arzan and yours truly volunteered to backpack 6 bottles of mineral water for the gruesome afternoon ahead. After the freight train cleared the points, we went straight to the new lines. Deep and others explained that new lines will open shortly as there was an announcement over the Public Address System(PAS) to all railways personnel to clear the tracks. At 15:10, the same train which I had spotted at TNA , the 13201 Rajendra-nagar -LTT approached VVH on the 6th new lines, slowly and steadily. Coincidentally, we witnessed the Rajendra Nagar-CST Superfast doing a parallel run on the UP fast lines. What a moment!!
The Loco Pilot of Rajendra Nagar-LTT honked in all glory as the WCAM3 came to a halt near the new Section controlling cabin at VVH. After a short ceremony which included garlanding, coconut breaking and photo-ops with media-men, it slowly crawled up the 6th line into LTT. Next to follow was Coimbatore-LTT hauled by the majestic WDP4 #20031. This train waited at the outer for an eternity. Now we were all waiting with baited breath for the first train out of LTT on the new lines as it was scheduled to leave at 15:40. At 15:50 arrived the WCAM3 #21897 hauling Godan Express out of LTT.

Again the ceremony was repeated and we congratulated each other on the successful commisioning of the new lines. We were gulping down water every few minutes as the sun was very strong and dehyrdating us. We were also sweating profusely but nobody really cared.

The freight lines will have to be connected to the new lines in a few weeks from now, to free up the 3rd-4th line between TNA-CST of freights. At 16:00 we saw Sainagar-Shirdi passing on the Up fast lines. Sewagram Express to Nagpur also sped past us in full glory at VVH. Now we decided to catch up with some high speed action on the new lines. It was time to meet Rajendra Aklekkar at Bhandup. We went back to VVH pf 1 and took an EMU to Bhandup. The forced ventilation provided us with much needed respite from heat. As we were returning to Bhandup, a steady stream of Expresses and empty rakes started on the 6th Line. Empty rakes of Kushinagar Express, Haridwar-LTT AC S/F, followed by Shalimar and Hatia Express with a lot of commuters inside. This was followed by Samrasta Express from Howrah. Rajendra showed us a fantastic spot to catch high speed action. As the signal on the 5th line turned green we took over the vantage positions to capture the LTT- Darbhanga Express raising a dust storm as it went past us at a good speed.

Next on the agenda was Nandigram Express on the 3rd line, but we were pleasantly surprised to see a WCAM3 hauled Holiday Special blasting past us, prior to it. In the meanwhile Chappra-LTT hauled by yet another WCAM3 crawled and grind-ed to a halt on the 6th lines. As we were expecting the Udyog Nagari(Sultanpur) express on 5th line and our view being blocked, we decided to stand on the safer loop line between 6th and 5th line at Bhandup. Now with no more trains expected on the new lines we decided to meet Harshad Joshi and Abhishek Rishbud at Mulund yard. Again a first time for me. After alighting at Mulund pf 1 , we walked all the way towards the yard on the new lines with enough safety precautions. As we met them and exchanged pleasantries, Deccan Queen hauled by WCAM3 sped past us at 17:35. The new line again saw some action with Muzaffarpur-LTT special. An RPF warned us to stay away from the tracks, hence we went up the Apna Bazaar FOB and captured 06346 Netravathi Express from Trivandrum bound for LTT going at a relatively slow speed and coming to a halt further behind a Erode WDM3D 11110.

Abhishek dropped us at Mulund Station East in his new Maruti Alto, rechristened as WAG9C. He showed us a white label in his car with a Tagline ' MPS=80kmph', much to our amusement...so..like a railfan... We got down at Mulund pf 3 and took a Semifast to Kalyan. Thus bringing to an end to a wonderful day of railfanning. My long cherished dream of spotting the inuagural run was accomplished. Next on the agenda is 5th-6th lines between Diva and Thane. I hope, I don't have to wait for another decade to see that.

Thanks a lot for the patient reading.

Lucky Escape from a Train Jam

I had a lucky escape yesterday night. I was doing a 14:00 -22:30 hrs second shift in office. Normally, I leave office by 22:55 as we have a BEST bus at 23:00 from Backbay Depot to CSTM which drops me at the station in merely 7-8 minutes.( The rash driving in the night is sometimes entertaining for people like us as the roads are empty), so other than the MRVC train's acceleration, I get the additional adrenaline from BEST buses.



I was feeling tired so, I left at 22:35 and took a BEST bus which dropped me at CSTM by 22:48. I had a minute to catch the 22:49 slow to Titwala, so ran through the Main concourse and found that the 22:44 Thane slow was still awaiting departure so I took my time in walking all the way to the Kalyan End First Class. Settled down on a Fast track facing window seat. Plugged into my phone and my favourite playlist. I knew that in all probability my train would be overtaken by Shirdi Fast passenger, Konkan Kanya Express and 23:18 Ambarnath fast(Last fast of the day). But as I wasnt in a mood to stay put at CSTM till 23:18, I took the slow train.



After the 22:44 BHEL rake to Thane left platform 3, we left from PF 4 at 22:55 delayed by 6 minutes.
Before we could reach Masjid, Shirdi Passenger made its way out and overtook us. As there was no DC rake ahead of me, BHEL rake must have accelerated fast, thus clearing the line for use, my train which was easily gaining the delayed time at departure.


At Kanjurmarg, I saw a furious WDP4 2003X hauling the Konkan Kanya Express overtake us. The next train in line on the down fast track to overtake my slow train was the 23:18 fast to Ambarnath.I was keeping a close watch on the Signal aspect for the Down fast track line to see if we had an impending overtake or would my slow train make it to Thane before that.



The Ambarnath Fast has stoppages at Byculla, Dadar, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Thane, Dombivli and Kalyan before slowing down till Ambarnath.Often the fast train struggles between Mulund and Thane as the Konkan Kanya takes time to get into the loop platform 7 at Thane.





I had 3 options in my mind..
a> stay put in slow train and go on till Dombivli, but the Temperory Speed Restriction on the Slow track between Kalva and Mumbra was too boring.
b> changeover to fast train at Mulund.
c> changeover to fast train at Thane.



I wanted to add some excitement to my commute so decide to finally take the plan C.
As we had left Mulund, the fast train was still to reach there. In all probability, I would have made it first to Thane station provided the BHEL Thane rake had successfully come to a halt on Platform no 3 at Thane.



Thank god, we did not lose any precious moments and our MRVC rake reached Thane on PF 2. One look at pf7 meant Konkan kanya had already departed from Thane making it impossible to allow the Ambarnath fast leave on time from pf 5 as Konkankanya does take some time in clearing the points ahead of Thane station.

With a clear agenda, I got down and rushed to the Kalyan End FOB and as crowd at this point of time was manageable, I could easily make it to PF 5 at Thane before the Fast train could come to a halt. As expected we were made to stay put on the station for 2 minutes before we were allowed to proceed at sedate speed as Konkankanya was

ahead of us.

We had a brief halt before the Parsik Tunnel before being allowed inside. again at a sedate speed. As soon as we came out of the Tunnel, I got a call from one of my colleague who had left office at 21:15 asking about my whereabouts.I told him that I was crossing the Mumbra creek BridgeHe mentioned that he had just touched down at Kalyan at 00:15 and explained that some technical problem being faced on the North -East line had delayed all slow trains and this had led to a mob attack on Platform no 2.( We need some clarity on this as the person was a non-railfan and I didnt want to bother him after his tough journey back home)


Then I decided to hit the Door facing the slow tracks and was amazed to see almost 5 trains standing one behind each other. Had I stayed put in the slow train beyond Thane, I would have certainly rued my fate for catching a slow train....
Fortune favors the brave...
Though my fast train was delayed by 5-7 minutes, I didnt complaint...

A chilly trip to Shirdi and back.

I had planned a family trip to Sainagar Shirdi (SNSI) after we railfans had visited the brand new station in 2009/10 as a special Janshatabdi was run by CR during the day time. After 2131 and 2132 were announced, in the recent budget, it was introduced as a Superfast with excellent arrival and departure timings at SNSI.

The beauty of the timings of 2131 was that one could go to office and then board a train late in the night, have a sound sleep and then get down at SNSI , have darshan and come back by 2132 and reach home well before evening the very next day. So effectively, it meant only one weekly off needed to be spared. Of course having a Sleeper accommodation helped as one could rest while returning back too. Plus the excitement of a day journey added to my interest.

I had booked tickets for a Monday night departure by 2131(Dadar-Sainagar Express) on 20th Dec 2010 and return by 2132 on the very next day for my mom, dad, aunty and yours truly between Kalyan Junction and SNSI. As the scheduled departure of our train from Kalyan was 22:25, we left home at 21:00 and boarded a Kalyan Slow local which terminated on Platform no 1 at Kalyan. I asked Shantanu Kulkarni for the expected platform and he messaged me back by saying that in all probability it will be pf no 5. I decided to take his advice and came down the steps of the Brand new Wide FOB at KYN. This FOB has truly done wonders in terms of crowd management and dispersal. I wonder when Thane will get something like this!

As I was accompanied by my family, the chances of doorplating were next to impossible. I very well knew this at the outset and hence had booked tickets for 2LB, 1MB and 1UB berths so that railfanning continues unhindered. I checked the reservation charts for our names and the coach position. We were in S3 which was 11th from the engine. There were announcements of Saket Express and CSTM UP local from Kasara being regulated for some time in the North-East line as there was some technical glitch in the UP line towards CSTM. Thank God, down line was clear!
There was a continuous stream of Locals arriving and departing from the platforms 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Platform no 4, 5, 6 and 7 were additionally handling Mail/Express trains. The section controllers were doing a fantastic job of maneuvering each train to their respective platforms. The station was swarming with commuters of all kinds.

Though 5 digit numbering was supposed to start from the morning of 20th Dec 2010, KYN was still using the old 4 digit system. 2527, CSTM –Latur Express came behind a KYN WDM on platform no 5. Next in line to enter was 7057 CSTM-Secundrabad Devigiri Express behind a WCAM3 on pf no 4. After 2527 departed, 7057 made its way out. The next parade of M/E trains started with 1017 Chalukya Express arriving on Pf 5 and 2322 Kolkatta Mail arriving on Pf 4 behind a customary WCAM3. The CR rake of Chalukya was extremely dirty. I was having apprehensions about the cleanliness my train 2131 will have as it was commencing its journey from Dadar too. Again, 1017 was cleared first followed by 2322.

Finally, the coach position indicators on pf 5 indicated that 2131 was indeed scheduled to arrive albeit late by 10 minutes. Surprisingly, Pune WDM3D 11176 was doing the honors of hauling our train. It was indeed heartening to see that the coach was extremely clean. We boarded the S3 coach and settled down peacefully. The train did not move till 22:47 after which we were cleared for departure. They late night food options available on the train were Veg-biryani and non-veg biryani. The TTE came and checked our e-ticket and didn’t even bother looking at the Photo-ID proof. In the meanwhile our WDM3D cleared the points out of KYN station and started speeding up really fast with our rake. As my parents were all set to sleep, I had no options, but to go to the UB and try sleeping. None of us wanted the fans working as it were very cold inside the coach. We shut the glass panes of our window as it was increasingly becoming chilly in the compartment. We were carrying enough sweaters and blankets to protect ourselves. I had dared not to wear any sweater and just lie on the UB with a blanket. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sustain myself for too long in that condition, I disturbed my mom to bring out the sweater. At 2:30 am, we came to a halt at Manmad Junction on pf no 6.

I decided to get down from my Upper berth and take the Side Lower Berth as nobody was occupying it. Also ventured out with my Dad to find the elusive Chaiwalla. Tea was literally a cup of hot sugary syrup. But that was a life saver. I enquired with the station staff, if we will be put on SCR line or sent back with reversal on the old CR line. Nobody was able to give me a clear picture, finally the starter was given and we were allowed to proceed onto the SCR line after a halt of 25 minutes.

The Ankai Killa looked stunning in the moonlight and I was happy that I will be able to catch it soon in the broad daylight again in a matter of few hours. It was freezing cold and felt like temperature was in single digits. For people like me, who has lived all his life in humid conditions of Mumbai, this was a refreshing change. We stopped at Kopargaon for 3 minutes and then a few of our fellow commuters started making a beeline to the loo to freshen up. I saw the Manmad-Daund line moving away from us after Puntumba. The next 21 kms were undertaken at a very slow speed. In all probability we were cruising at speeds below 60kmph and sometimes even 30kmph. Finally, the Night sky was getting brighter over the horizon as we were nearing the temple town of Shirdi. In fact, at 04:20, when we alighted at SNSI, it seemed like the whole city was awake. There were so many neon lights advertising the motels and lodges. We took an 8 seater auto rickshaw to the temple road. The Station is about a Km from the temple. They charge Rs 10 per seat for this 5 minute ride.

As we got down, we were swarmed by a host of sales guys from various motels for accepting their offer for wash and change facility. We decided upon one guy and followed him all the way to a small lodge where we got a decent accommodation for Rs 350 for 7 hrs as we were supposed to return back at 10:00 am to the station after the temple visit. After completing the morning chores, we entered the main decorum of the temple by 05:30 and had a peaceful darshan by 06:15am. As we had nothing else to do, we visited the museum and other related artifacts in the vicinity. We finally returned back to the station after a rather early morning breakfast. The chill in the air was still persistent.

The return journey was what I was waiting for as it was a day journey. We reached Sainagar Shirdi Station which is still clean. I managed to click a few photographs of the station, before entering the lone platform of SNSI. The only train at the station was that the one which we were supposed to board. The loco had reversed and the rake was in one of the two siding lines at the station. The platform line was empty and it had washable apron. I decided to soak in some sun and walked to the loco and clicked a few more pics of our train. One thing I like about this miniscule station is that the signages were all there and the lone canteen served some hot bread patties with branded tomato sauce. They also served batata wadas and veg sandwitches. The owner of the canteen seemed to be very optimistic with the prospects of this station growing in stature over the next few years. He believed that in a few years time, he will have trains coming to SNSI from all major cities in India.

At 09:30 the 2132 stabled on the siding line started moving ahead, only to reverse back with the rake onto the platform line. Some non reservation passengers had already occupied their seats in 2S coaches while it was idling on the siding line. Exactly at 10:00 we departed from SNSI with some devotees chanting Saibaba’s bhajan. We were running at a sedate speed. There were many speed restrictions enroute to Puntumba. A few minor bridges, a RUB had speed restrictions of 30kmph. As we joined the Mainline from Daund to Manmad Jn at Puntumba, the late night CSTM-Shirdi Passenger’s loco Pune WDM2 17987R had reversed and waiting for us to clear the single line. Look at the irony of IR, here we were returning back and there was a train which had almost left from CSTM around the same time we left KYN and it hadn’t yet reached SNSI.

As we came to a halt on the beautifully curved platforms of Kopargaon, the other platform had Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express behind a Pune WDG3A 14810. Both of us departed in the opposite direction simultaneously. At the next unscheduled stop, we were held up for crossing by a Twin Diesel hauling the Nizamuddin-Goa Express with 187XX leading the loco pack. I turned on the GPS on my phone to just check the speeds at which we were running and it was clocking a good speed of 102-105kmph.(let’s not debate the speed as I know GPS are not very accurate in reading out speeds of moving trains). Soon it was time to spot the Ankai Killa. I am simply spell bound by its beauty and monstrous standup in an almost plateau region. I also spotted the single line diverting to Aurangabad. We were again taken on the SCR line to enter Manmad and were berthed on pf 5. Orders were being taken for food on board, but we decided to not buy anything as my mom had carried some fruits and nuts while boarding the train.

As the SCR line joins the CR lines from Bhusaval, one comes across the Passenger yard at Manmad, filled with lot of rakes and blood red liveried accident relief train. I could spot one WAP7 20207 and many WCAM3s, WAP4s and some WAMmies. Tapovan Express was already waiting with a huge load of unreserved passengers to Nanded. My view was blocked by the presence of a Container rake on the adjacent track. It was headed by a twin Diesel pack with the leading loco being the Green beauty, WDG3A 13457. By now we were delayed by 10 minutes. We had vada pav from Manmad which were too salty. I was feeling sleepy so decided to take a power nap before Igatpuri arrived. I woke after an hour to see us waiting at Nasik Road. As we were approaching Igatpuri an emergency chain pulling (ECP) brought our rake to a standstill. I could spot a few men getting down from the coaches and making their way to the adjoining villages. After a halt of 10 more minutes, we entered pf 4 at Igatpuri to see the Rajendranagar Express being cleared ahead of us from pf 3. LTT-Gorakpur 2541/2 arrived on Pf no 2. We waited at Igatpuri for more than 20 minutes and then proceeded slowly down the gradient over the majestic Thull Ghats.

We halted for the customary brake testing halts. I managed to photograph the catch siding and the famous viaducts enroute. As there were no brakers attached to our trains we were given a run through Kasara, where I could see 2 sets of WAG5 bankers awaiting duties. As we passed Umermalli cabin, saw the ERS –NZM Mangala Express cross us. Next to follow it was an MRVC rake to Kasara. We crossed the Mumbai Jabalpur Garib rath near Vasind behind the customary WCAM3.

Surprise visitor of the North-East line was the Pune-Nizamuddin Duranto Express, as it might have been diverted due to Gujjar agitation on the WR line. (Information courtesy Mumbai IRFCANs) We crossed the Aurangabad Janshatabdi behind a diesel link at Titwala. We entered Pf 6 at KYN at 15:29 delayed by 40 minutes. I was more than happy to arrive on pf 6 as pf 7 had an MRVC local waiting to depart at 15:33 for CSTM.We boarded the local without wasting any more time. After 2132 cleared the points we were given the go-ahead. I could see the Sinhagad Express to Pune arriving on Pf 4 at KYN. Got down at Dombivali and took an auto to reach home.

It was a fulfilling trip and I expect more and more people to chuck the dangerous road trips to Shirdi and take the pleasant journeys to SNSI via the 2131/2. More importantly the timings are excellent for an overnight journey and return back the next day by afternoon.

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.

i love mumbai locals ...i love working for tatas...

Making of a Rail fan

Today, while commuting to work from Dombivli to CST Mumbai, I came across a 5 year old young chap who had all the makings of a rail fan. I had boarded the 11:59 CSTM local from Dombivli and was seated comfortably by the window facing the fast tracks in a near empty 1st Class compartment. It was 12 car DC train. My coach was 3rd from the CSTM end and adjacent to my window was the door of the ladies 1st Class.

We departed at 12:01 and after stopping at Kopar and Diva Jn, we reached Mumbra, where this toddler entered the compartment accompanied by his father. The father came and sat beside me while the toddler, was spoilt for choice of window seat. He had the window seat opposite to mine as well as the West facing window available to him. Without an iota of doubt he decided to sit opposite to me and view the world outside. In fact, he was so small that his feet didn’t touch the ground when he reclined back. That’s when he ditched the seat and decided to stand by the window. As soon as we left Mumbra, we entered one of the two small tunnels on the line. The motorman hadn’t turned on the lights in the compartment and sudden cut-off of natural light meant there was darkness in the compartment for a few seconds as we were traversing the tunnel.

The ignorant kid, Saurabh( that’s his name) was petrified and screamed, “Abu, ye kya tha ?”(What was this?). His dad tried to pacify him by saying that it was just a mountain. The smart kid said, “Abu, ye tho gufa tha naaa….” (Wasn’t it a tunnel?). Saurabh had already made a mark on my mind by this statement. As we entered the next tunnel, Saurabh was more daring and did not seem to be withered by the darkness this time. He asked his dad, why the tunnel was so small, as the last time they had travelled by train, he had seen a long tunnel. His dad told him that, last time they had taken the fast train, hence the tunnel was longer.

As we were approaching Thane, we crossed over the Thane Creek Bridge and this chap was all excited to here the rumbling sound when we went over the iron girder bridge. We spotted a few EMUs bound for Thane and Panvel on the Trans Harbour line and everytime he noted a train, he used to go ballistic and shout, Abu…train…Abu..Train… The dad was having a field day in keeping his ward under control.

Every time we stopped during the journey, he made it a point to ask which station it was. He was too small to read the station name and as soon as we left Thane, we were overtaken by a loud and hard chugging WDM3A Loco from SCR stables of Kazipet pulling the Hyderabad-Mumbai Express. The chugging sound was deafening and we had a short parallel run and Saurabh was all animated. He first tried to close his ears with his tiny hands and finding them to be too small to be effective, he decided to give an ear to the chugging sound of the loco and as it sped past us, he began shouting, “ Abu..Special Train…Abu …Special Train…” . By now, everyone in the compartment was observing this kid’s mannerisms. I was privileged to be sitting just opposite to him. He was almost leaning on me to see the Last coach of the Hyderabad-Mumbai disappear from our visibility.

As we pulled into Mulund, he had both his hands out of gap in the window and screamed at the ladies waiting to board the adjacent 1st class door saying, “Mujhe hath do naa… (Give me your hand or possibly clap my hands). A few college girls who were waiting to board our local were amused by his gesture and were giggling as they board the adjacent door. As we left Mulund, a WCAM3 Loco with an unknown express sped past us from the adjacent track and Saurabh was again shouting at his best, calling it a special train. We halted at Nahur within 3 minutes of our departure from Mulund and saw the Truck-on-rails being stationed on the 5th line and a JCB was filling it with a load of ballast to be transported down south towards Ghatkopar. The truck-on-rails doesn’t fail to amuse even the worst critic of railways for its innovation and I had a kid in front of me who would have been watching it for the first time in his life and he was curious at first and when he noticed that the truck did not have normal wheels, he was all the more excited and was all gung-ho about it. As we reached Bhandup, he repeated his act of asking the ladies to clap his hands. Even though none of them obliged, everyone had a smile for him. His wish was granted by a blind hawker who was trying to locate the door and accidentally touched Saurabh’s palm. As the Over head equipment (OHE) van, Kaveri was visible on the fifth line resting at Bhandup, Saurabh was again seeing something new. He queried his already frustrated father about the new type of train he just saw. I tried to intervene by explaining him the use of such a vehicle for the maintenance of the Over-head cables. After that he stopped looking at the railway tracks and concentrated on the cables over-head. He might have been trying to deduce some logic out of it. At Vikhroli, a furious sounding CSTM-Nagercoil Express behind an Erode based WDM2A went past us blasting on all cylinders.

All this while he was standing and the opposite window was empty. At Vidyavihar, we saw a group of men working on the Over head cables for the new lines between Thane and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. Saurabh kept on studying them till they disappeared into the distance, as we moved away from them on our journey to CSTM. He was exhausted by now and finally decided to rest on the seat available to him. Even though he was feeling drowsy, he had his one hand out of the window to feel the wind. In a matter of seconds, he fell asleep. Soon, his dad sat beside him and made him comfortable, by allowing him to lie down properly. At Dadar, the father-son duo got down and I was left wondering, when would this kid join the growing army of the rail enthusiasts. I would see myself in him.

IRFCA is awaiting you Saurabh….

-Nikhil Padinjaroot Karunakaran
Dombivli East

Section Controlling at its Best

Managing the suburban section of CR is no mean feat. Not only has the section controller have to ensure the punctuality and safety of suburban locals, he has to make sure that the intermittent Mail/Express trains departing from CSTM also manage to glide to glory without a lot of disruption for suburban commuters. Yesterday, when I reached CSTM to board and EMU for Dombivali(DI), I found that all trains were delayed by 10-15 minutes. The actual cause of delay was not known to me.

I had entered the station from the Kalyan (KYN) end FOB at 17:40. The indicators read as follows: 17:36 DI Semifast on Platform (PF) 7, 17:40 Asangaon(AN) on Pf 6. PF 4 and 5 did not have any departures scheduled and Pf 3 had Thane Slow Local with a scheduled departure of 17:43. As locals were yet to arrive on pF 6 and 7, the platform was jam packed with anxious commuters. By the time, I could reach the end of the FOB, 17:36 DI had arrived and the social animals had taken it over. Venturing down the stairs would have been a futile exercise, hence I waited on the FOB to see if anything gets scheduled on Pf 4 and 5 as 17:44 Ambarnath(A) and 17:55 Badlapur(BL) were expected next.

From the corner of my eye, I could see a DC EMU approaching PF 5, so decided to take a chance and came down the stairs, by which it was scheduled as 17:55 BL fast. This was followed by an MRVC rake for the 17:40 AN. As soon as the MRVC entered PF 6, starter for 17:36 DI on Pf 7 was given. In the meanwhile I managed to grab a window seat facing the east side.

As soon as 17:36 DI cleared the points in CSTM yard, 17:44 Ambarnath(A) was scheduled to enter Pf 7. Soon, I saw 17:40 Depart from Pf 6 and 17:44 A enter PF 7 simultaneously. One more thing to be kept in mind was 1023 Sahyadri Express was waiting on Pf 9 ready for its departure at 17:50. The controller decided to allow both, 17:55 BL fast and 1023 Sahyadri Express to leave exactly at 17:55. The Ambarnath fast of 17:44 was held back as it had just entered pf 7 clearing the points for 1023.

We were put on the slow track and I could see the WCAM3 hauled 1023 clearing the 15 kmph PSR on PF 9.We had a short parallel run with 1023 till the iron girder Carnac Bunder Bridge. Eventually we managed to pick up speed, leave behind the WCAM3 and sped past Masjid and Sandhurst Road(SNRD) as there were no slow locals ahead of us. We did slow down at SNRD for the PSR on Pf 1. I was expecting to be held back at Byculla(BY) and lose time as 1023 was nowhere in sight. The signal was green for Pf 3, which meant, any hopes of crossover before 1023 was dashed off. By the time we came to a halt on Pf 1 at Byculla, WCAM3 overtook us from PF 3. The late running 17:44 Ambarnath local with a 17:51 departure at BY was scheduled next on PF 3.

Better sense prevailed and instead of allowing our BL fast to cross-over, we were made to continue on the slow track as the line ahead was still clear. We did good speed at Chinchpokli and Currey road, only to slow down a bit before Parel and coasted through the PF. As we were entering Pf 1 at Dadar (DR), 1023 was nowhere to be seen, which meant that it had already left. A sneak peek at indicators of PF 4 at DR ensured that Amabarnath Fast was scheduled next. We has a brief halt of 2 minutes at DR and departed slowly towards Matunga(MTN). Interestingly, Ambarnath fast, which was nowhere to be seen till now, came out of the blue with 3001C cab and overtook us before MTN, showing the true power of MRVC rakes. We did halt at MTN for a mere 10 seconds and then were allowed to crossover to the fast tracks.

All this meant, everything worked as per plan and all trains 1023, Ambarnath and Badlapur fast were not inordinately delayed and all of them should have managed to gain the lost time. I had been witness to many such situations, and I thought I should share the joy of such adventures with you.

We arrived at DI at 18:51 against a scheduled time of 18:49, which meant the 17:44 Ambarnath must have been a real terror on the tracks, to cover at least 10 minutes of lost time. Comments welcome…

Romancing the Metre Gauge in Monsoon(Akola-Indore MG trip)

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.