Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
{IRFCA} Interior of now Extinct MG 2A of Nainital Express
When I got the News That this line would be closed for gauge Conversion on 15th May 2016, me and my Friend, Kedar Joshi decided to have a ride in the Legendary train. Nainital Express and experience AC travel in MG. It was 9th May 2016 and all set for the ride, The start wasn't good as the rake was shunted late onto the pf and the Staff didn't have enough time to charge the AC batteries. So as it, the AC too took time to charge up and it was hot inside at the time the train departed from Aishbagh. Thankfully, The AC was up and running just in time for us to have a comfortable sleep. In Fact the chill became a bit too much :p Further more we got down at Banbasa to give ourselves time to fresh up and have something for our tummies before we catch our train back to Aishbagh. It was a fun filled ride, a unforgettable one to say the least, and finally happy that we were able to do it and experience the trip
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Trip By Himsagar Express
trip by himsagar express:
Hello Everyone, well as a railfan, one of the questions a person might face is, "Have you travelled from Kanniyakumari to Jammu?” In my case, I can proudly say YES.
So, Here's how the Journey Went.
DAY-1:
It was 6th march 2015. My brother and I reached Kanniyakumari by noon in the Jayanti Janata express, all geared up for the ride in India’s 2nd longest running train- The Himsagar Express, End to End
The Scheduled departure time was 1410 hrs and hence the two of us went out to have some lunch and by the time we returned, our rake was waiting on pf2 with AJJ WAP-1 #22011 in the lead to haul us till New Delhi.
When we boarded our coach and settled down for the Journey of a lifetime, i realized something was wrong. We were perspiring more than normal, and it was at that moment i found out that the Fan was not working despite the switch being put on. We immediately complained to the TTE about it, who assured us that it would be fixed at NCJ. And it was indeed fixed at NCJ, one of those rare good deeds in IR.
We went in and occupied our seats and it was a longer wait as the starter didn't go green till 1420 hrs. As the starter went off, the Loco pilot honked and the ALP waved the flag for a Flag exchange, with the guard. My excitement knew no bounds. We cruised through the Kerala backwaters, all halts were Scheduled ones, except for one at Kalamassery where the Kochuveli - Bangalore express overtook us. At around 1900 hrs, we had a cup of soup and, that by far was the best soup I had ever tasted during my travels in IR. Later at around 2000 hrs, we had our dinner from pantry, the same IRCTC Menu. Taste was good.
And a few links observed on day1 were as follows:
1) RPM WAP-4 #22888 with CAPE bound Island exp
2) ED WAP-4 #22270 with MS bound Anantapuri exp
3) ED WAP-4 #22890 with TVC bound Sabari Express
At Kanniyakumari
22890 with TVC bound Sabari express
DAY-2:
I woke up at Erode to check out the slip coaches from Tirunelveli that were to be attached to our rake and also to see if the link will change or remain the same. Meanwhile, Cheran Express overtook us and it was followed by TVC - MAS SF led by RPM WAP-7 #30349. Luckily, we were given the starter soon enough. After a brief nap, I woke up at around 0700 hrs to find ourselves entering JTJ more than an Hour late. As I freshened up, the pantry served us Breakfast. The food was above average. We overtook the Ahemadabad bound Navjeevan express just before Warangal. The whole day continued with us maintaining that 1 hr delay, we slept after Ramagundam.
Following Spottings were made on Day-2
1) RPM WAP-4 led Navjeevan and AJJ WAM-4 led KGP-VM near Nellore at 1150 hrs
2) LGD WAP-7 #30312 led MAS raj near Bapatla at around 1400 hrs
3) ED WAP-4 #22713 led Raptisagar SF (GKP-TVC) at Vijayawada
4) Overtook Navjeevan just before Warangal
5) LGD WAP-4 #30407 led Godavari at Warangal
6) ET WAM-4 #21247 led Jabalpur - yesvanthpur express.
7) Overtook 17233 Bhagyanagar Express after Ramagundem
30312 with MAS raj
Barrage at Vijayawada
22713 led Raptisagar watches as we enter Vijayawada
Day-3:
On Day 3, I woke up at around 0730 hrs to find ourselves at Itarsi, running late by 20 mins. We had covered up some part of the delay, as usual, the pantry staff served us our breakfast, the menu being Bread with butter and cutlets with sauce. I tried to finish it in a hurry as 1 of South India's important trains and also considered a legend of SWR, Karnataka express was to cross us at any moment. As I completed the breakfast and took my camera and stood up, Boom, Karnataka Express Crossed. It would have been 1 hell of a pic but was a missed chance instead.
Next stop was at Bhopal. We had our scheduled halt and departed just when a tragedy struck. A co-passenger in my coach was trying to do some stunts at the door and before he realized it, he hit a Signal post and fell down and his foot went under the wheels. Luckily, his head was just inches away from the approaching Jaipur - Secunderabad Express and Chain was pulled immediately. The MCO of Bhopal attended him and his foot heavily bandaged, his luggage was taken out of train and he was taken to a hospital.
Next up, at Agra Cantt., we met the Goa Express which was standing on Pf1 and it was followed by Sachkhand exp which arrived on pf2. My brother and I were wondering what the reason for this might be, I was thinking in all possible directions, including Sachkhand being given preference over Goa but this is I.R and anything is possible. My friend Adithya Vaidyanathan pinged us about the crossing with Secunderabad Rajdhani and we immediately got ready to capture it and after capturing it, we realized what might have happened, A double overtake for the Rajdhani. Both Goa and Sachkhand were looped at AGC for the SC Rajdhani to overtake, which skipped through the mainline. This again, highlighted the Importance of Rajdhani class trains, be it ICF or LHB.
At Mathura, we crossed the Krantikari, August Kranti Rajdhani Express, a lucky crossing, because had we been delayed this train would have veered off into the MTJ-KOTA line before our train pulled into MTJ, but that day, the crossing was meant to be. After skipping Mathura, we were cruising through rural UP and Haryana, and also managed to get back on schedule. The WAP-1 was indeed doing a terrific job hauling 23 coaches at MPS. According to schedule, we had a 30min halt at Nizamuddin and a 2:30 hrs halt at New Delhi. We knew we might start suffering from Faridabad and that's what exactly happened, because it was worse than crawling. We reached New Delhi at 2200 hrs, a good Half hour late but our Scheduled departure was at 0010 hrs and we had 2 hrs in our hands, so my brother and I went out to have dinner and of course, in a station as big as NDLS, what do you do if you have 2hrs in your kitty? A bit of Railfanning? Exactly, we explored New Delhi before boarding our train at 0005 hrs.
Some Spottings on Day-3:
1) ET WAM-4 #21357 with LTT bound kamayani at BPL
2) GZB WAP-5 30'007' with KING, 12002 Habibganj Shatabdi at 1317 hrs
3) 12138 Punjab mail at 1330 hrs
4) LGD WAP-7 #30258 with 12708\A.P.S.K at JHS at 14:10 hrs
5) RTM WDM3A #16170 with ASR-INDB express at GWL
6) LDH WAP-4 #22723 with PUNE bound Jhelum Express
7) TKD WAP-7 #30373 with Kalinga Utkal Express bound to PURI
8) GZB WAP-7 #30210 with VSG bound Goa Express
9) GZB WAP-4 #22706 with Sachkhand Express
10) LGD WAP-7 #30240 with SC Rajdhani
11) GZB WAP-4 #22689 with 12137 Punjab mail
21357 with Kamayani express
30'007' with KING, Bhopal Shatabdi
meeting 12708 A.P.S.K at Jhansi
RTM s 16170 with ASR-INDB express
TKD WAP-7 with kalinga Utkal
30240 with Secunderabad Rajdhani
Day-4:
Next day, Day-4, the last and Final Day of our Journey, I woke up to find myself in Ludhiana where the 13049 Howrah-Amritsar Express was given preference over us and the 12358 ASR-KOAA Durgiana SF Express crossed us.
I was waiting for the Himgiri express to overtake us which unfortunately never happened. It was freezing cold and a hot Tea was needed to warm myself up a bit. And the sweaters, coats, Gloves etc. were out and apart from the cold, the beauty of Haryana& Punjab was more than worth watching. I just loved it.
As our journey was approaching the finish line, those moments were more of a mixed feelings, on one side we were happy that unthinkable journey was about to be done and dusted, and on the other side we were sad that it was coming to an end. But, that's life, everything has an ending, right?
My brother kept count of the distance and time left, example- 35kms to go and 30mins left, 30kms to go and 24mins left etc. Oh, those moments!!!!
Finally we had reached JAT home bang on time only to be stopped and received onto the pf about 25 mins late. And, the long dream journey had come to an end; a Journey which will be cherished forever.
18610 Vatva WDM3A with JAT-BDTS Vivek Express
Thank you for taking time out and reading this. Hope you'll liked it. comments are wel come. :)
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