20th December 2013…
I was counting my days in
Pune and it was decided that i should visit the Shindawane ghats once more before i
move out of Pune. I decided to do this plan alone as the date decided was 21st.
The weather forecast indicated a very humid day but that did not stop me. It
was time for me to return back home and as i started moving out from office, got a
call from my friend asking about my weekend plans. I explained about this plan
and he immediately volunteered to join. I agreed and we decided to meet at a
common point Hinjewadi circle the next day at 7am. With everything ready for
the exciting day, I hit the bed after a good dinner.
Trip teaser can be seen below..
21st December 2013…
Woke up at 5 and got ready by 6. Still plenty
of time left, I decided to track the current position of trains that I will be catching
up at Shindawane. With one final check of all the things needed, I left my
place at 6:45am. I met my friend as planned at Hinjewadi circle. After 30 minutes
of wait, we finally catch a bus to Pune station. The bus journey turns out to
be one of the slowest journeys that I have done on this stretch. We finally
reach Pune station by 8:45 am. With very little time left for our train’s
departure. We decided to have a simple street breakfast, Fruit salad and vada
pavs. Station is reached at 9:00am and luckily the signal is not cleared for
our train. I ask my friend to wait on the platform number 2 and ran to get our
tickets. Time was 09:05am by the time I returned, still no signs of line clear.
We finally settle down on the 2nd coach. At 09:15 am, Pune Alco
blows its horns and we start moving. Next 30 minutes is spent on details of the
location with my friend. Exactly at 10:00am, we reach Shindawane ghats. I got
down and ran a bit to get a picture of the loco of our train. The train moves
out with lovely chugging. I then explain my friend the details about the place
and we finally start moving towards the longest viaduct of Shindawane ghats. It’s
a 6km walk from the station via the tracks and around a km less if walked along
the plains. We decided to walk along the plains as I have done the walk on the
tracks before and my friend is not comfortable walking on the tracks. The
temperature is bit high as expected, it starts showing on us. Almost an hour
into our walk we hear our first train sound. Twin EMD's from Raipur shed running
light towards Pune. We then walk past the area where the first tunnel on this section
is located. We decided to climb this hill to have a look from the top. Chug
chug sounds start up again and it is starting to increase indicating a freight
is on the move and its climbing the hills. Soon Twin Alco’s from Kazipet roars
past us. We then decide to go through tunnel number 2 to reach the viaduct. It
was very hot when we reached the viaduct. It was decided to explore the
surrounding and have a view of the viaduct from various angles. Time was 12:00
where we heard a distinct EMD roar indicating the arrival of a long metal
snake, Karnataka Samapark Kranti, it passed the viaduct without any troubles. If observed closely one will also be able to
see the Solapur Pune railway line from here, we did see a train rushing towards
Pune. By 2pm, 3 more trains passed and we decided to go to the base of the
viaduct. While we were moving, a localite came running to us to know what we
were doing here. I seriously don’t know whether I was able to convey what I was
doing all this time. I and my friend were speaking in half boiled Hindi and the
localite was mostly responding in Marathi. Nevertheless we smiled at each other
before moving away. As we were moving down Koyna Express bound to Mumbai gave
us a silent attack. I was never in a proper position to capture it on my
camera. By 3:00pm we reached the base and soon a rebuilt Alco passed the
viaduct with Swarna Jayanthi Express. Our base started making wired sounds
indicating that we are starving and with only water in hand we had no choice
but to start moving towards the station for our return journey. A derated Alco
with Hopper rakes crossed us as we were returning. I had a very good lunch when
I had visited this place in March. Hoping for the same, we started towards the
hotel which was near to the station. Every step closer got us excited as we
were about to enjoy some north Indian food. Fate had other ideas, the hotel was
completely demolished and the same happened to our hopes. Luckily a 4 wheeler
was going towards Uruli, we jumped in and jumped out at Uruli in 30 minutes at
Rs20 per head. Our mind had only food at that time and we soon entered the
nearest hotel that we saw. We had a good puri bhaji and then dosa to finish our
lunch. Time was around 5:00pm so it was decided to take the Solapur passenger
train back to Pune from here. As we were entering Uruli station, I saw the
latest sensation of Indian railways WDP4D entering with a train. Assuming it to
be passenger train, I ran to the counter to get the tickets. I gave Rs.20 and
reply came that ticket is Rs.60, then i soon realized that it was the late running
Jhelum Express. With no option, we
boarded the first coach rather should i say that i made my friend to board the
first coach so that i can enjoy the loco sounds. We soon departed from Uruli to
mark my first run behind WDP4D’s. Run was wonderful and we finally reached Pune
at 06:25pm. One of our friends who was near Pune station at that time picked us up
to Hinjewadi to end this exciting, amazing ( only for me ) and tiring ( both of
us ) day. Video and Pictures can be seen below..
.
View of the Viaduct from ground level..
My friend’s name is Sam kumar, we work at the same place. A special thanks to him without which trip would have been a different story. The title is mainly taken from my friend’s reaction after the trip. A good amount of Wildlife can be seen as well..
brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ben.. :)
DeleteLovely trip. A stupendous effort.
ReplyDeleteApurva
Thank you very much sir.. :)
DeleteMate, once I get a job and have fixed myself up, I'm gonna consider donating a better camcorder, so that you can upload in higher quality. Till then, consider getting something like a GH4 or something similar which can do 4k and look decent in low light, right now, most of your vids seem to be shot during the day but a lot of train action also happens at night. Also something like the P900 would do wonders since you zoom around a lot.
ReplyDelete