A Short and Sweet Journey through the Gir Forest

           A chilling breeze through the tinny gaps of the closed window wakes me up, a look at the watch indicates the right time i am supposed to wake. We enter into a place unknown to 3 ( Rohit, Nikhil and me ) of us just 2 weeks back. A look around indicates no sign of what we came for. A quick chat helps us to identify the sole purpose of this visit, the Metre gauge ( MG ). By the way the time was 4:45 am, we decided to head to waiting hall as we came through a reservation but it soon changed after visiting one, crowded and dirty restrooms. With still had around 2 hours left for our metre gauge journey it was then decided that we explore the MG side of ( well here you go, the station name ) Junagadh. 

On inspection we found 2 trains on the MG side with locos to both of them. It was quite dark and soon we returned back to the Broad gauge ( BG ) side after a small shoot.  The next 1 hour was spent chatting. Time was 6 and we headed straight out to explore the place, first surprise was seeing old bikes converted into a local transportation vehicles. Sadar Patel Darwaja was right in front of the station and it looked like an entrance to some place. We just had a close look the structure and returned back to the station to select our seats. 

 

 

The morning rays were getting powerful and activities started one by one. A guy feeding the pigeons, sweeper sweeping the station, hot chai’s and a whole lot of activities. We then decided to board the train to cement our authority on the seats for the next 4 hours. SBI YDM4 #6301 was our power and the coach was a 91 made one. It was almost time for departure and the crowd started building up. A small honk indicated an arrival of a train, it was a train on the BG side.

We depart exactly at 7:15 am, the trains slows crawls out of the narrow path ahead. The houses and roads are so nearby indicating a lot of difficulties for the railways when then plan to convert this section. We go along the Girnar hill for some distance. Seeing our camera at work, localities get friendlier and it results in us getting some information and the request for clicking their pictures. This is a special moment that one generally gets while traveling in a train through rural section of India. There are few stops which do not feature in the time table and in the process we miss identifying the first official stop. 

 

The landscape looked beautiful till we reached Bilkha. A lone coach was found here mostly abandoned for ever. The landscape started becoming dry after Bilkha and we soon arrived at a Junction by the name Visavadar. It was almost 10 minutes after we stopped and there was no sign of us moving, it in turn indicated a crossing which was not there in our records. On having a chat with the LP conformed a train arrival but from the direction we least expected. We also got to know that the trains on these routes are planned in  such a way that they act as connecting trains for the locals. I then decide to roam the station and a surprise, remains of a turntable. As i inspect the turntable the other train to Junagadh arrives silently from Khijadya. The loco undergoes reversal here for taking the train to Junagadh. In the meantime, our path gets cleared and we start off inching closer to the Gir forest. Our next major halt was Satadhar where a decent crowd boarded in. I sensed a burning smell as soon as a beautiful girl sat next to me, obviously the smell was due to my friends sitting opposite to me ( Hope you all got that :D )

It was a beautiful run after that with the density of trees increasing indicting the entry to us into Gir forest. Our eyes were curiously waiting to see lions as this area are famous for. We were not lucky enough to spot lions but we did see trails left by them, a deer, few peacocks / peahens and lot of monkeys.

We then arrived at Sasan gir, the station inside the forest. The station is known to have Lions as visitors and the railway staffs working here have to hide whenever a group of lions come around. We depart after a quick halt and move out of the thick forest area. Arrived at Chitravad, a quiet little halt station where people were selling a fruit ( not sure ) by name jamun ( can someone identify it ). The last departure for us on this train and soon Talala is reached where we get down..

 

 

Video

To be continued!!

Comments and Suggestion Welcomed 

Sand Storm - An Unique Experience !!

14th June 2015

Onboard a passenger bound to Churu, we are entering a quite little station called Ramgarh Shekhawati. A look at the time indicates that we are 5 minutes before time and a 20 minutes stop here. A train is also suppose to cross us here.

12:16 - As soon as we stop, passenger rush towards the natural cooled pot water to have a drink, this was a common scene through out the route and i felt it was nice initiative by the railways over here.

                                                      People filling water at Ramgarh Shekhawati

12:20 - I then decide to roam around to get some shots of the train in this desert kind of atmosphere. After i finish clicking, i see a yellow colored clouds with rain approaching. I started back to train to be safe, all of a sudden it stuck my mind that it was not a rain storm but a sand storm. Initially it was bit scary as i had no idea what will happens when it comes near us. It first hit the loco and it was coming towards us. I saw other people around me and they were just like this is nothing and they were least bothered which gave me some confidence to face it. It hit us and it was just like a strong wind on my face. Time passed by seeing the storm, it was almost 13 hrs when the honk of the crossing train was heard

                                                02093 Jaipur - Churu Passenger waiting for crossing

         My Coach was an unreserved sleeper coach based at Bikaner tough it will never go back there again

 

                                                                  The sandstorm approaching us

            This man made a good business                                                   The sandstorm

                                           The storm intensifies but the localities are least bothered by it...

13:00 - The train appears through the storm led by a cute YDM4, people get ready to board the train.

The train stops and in few minutes new faces enter the surrounding. The concept of first in last out in semaphore / token section means the passenger that entered 5 minutes back will leave first and we will continue to wait for some more time. 

                             52086 Churu - Jaipur passenger finally arrives slowly through the storm

                                                           The Train disappears into the storm

13:10 - Finally token is given to us and we start to move, the storm has also moved away from us by this time. 

                                          Token is finally handed over for us to proceed further

It was a first time experience and i have tired my best to put it in words and pictures, hope its good. This happened during the circular trip i undertook recently to capture metre gauge sections in India

To follows updates about this trip in facebook use #circulartrip2

Trains make me visit this place again and again !!

Makalidurga - I can call this my second home, this Diesel heaven ( few more days left ) is one of my favorite spots near Bangalore for train spotting.

10th May 2015

Early morning departure to Makali : 20005, 20008, 20010 and 12119 were the locos involved in this ride with a special loco meeting at Makali. We started around 5:30 from Hebbal.

Rajdhani has arrived Thondabhavi, we can easily reach Dodballapur before it does.

As we are approaching Dodballapur Level Crossing, Kacheguda - Bangalore Express crosses us. Rajdhani still at Thondabhavi, we have lots of time before we meet him. We are skipping Dodballapur and there goes Rajdhani. Oh no... wait, looks like he is slowing down. Yes, he has to as Kacheguda Express would not have cleared the block yet. In nick of time we reach Dodballapur to witness the depature of the Rajdhani Express with a special loco ¯\ 20037 /¯

 Lets break the suspense,

20005 - Santhosh Kumar
20008 - Dheeraj Rao
20010 - Pramath
12119 - Natarajan ( Me )
Rajdhani Updates were seen from Train Enquiry. This journey was done by bikes.

We then resumed our journey to Makali ghats after a tea break at Dodballapur. We reached Makali after 30 minutes and decided to spilt up to capture the first train for the day, Bidar - Yesvantpur Express. I will let the the pictures speak from here.....

Next up was the Udyan Express bound to Bangalore led by KJM WDG4

Exactly 30 minutes after Udyan passed, Hindupur - Bangalore Passenger with KJM WDG4 enters Makalidurga for its Scheduled halt.

It was the time for the purpose on which this trip was planned. The Home of EMD's in India finally got a share of new locos and one of them were on passenger duties. Yes, UBL WDG4 #70073 was the power for Bagalkot - Mysore Basava Express, as the first sounds of EMD roaring were heard. The home signal turned to caution with loop indication. This also confirmed that there is a crossing.

The crossing train is BCNHL led by KYN WDG3A twins...

We then decided to go to Ghati for our breakfas. It was Lemon rice with Nippattu.. :)

As we were getting ready to gulp down the breakfast, KJM WDP4 honked indicating the arrival of Kacheguda - Yesvantpur Express.

After breakfast, we decided to head back to Makalidurga to capture the Alco trio with the Vijaywada bound passenger. Our from friends from Mangalore informed us about this.

The Mangalore Boys - Srivatsa and Akhilesh

Pramath decided to capture Prasanthi Express from a small hill.

Dheeraj gets ready to capture the incoming Prasanthi Express..

Prasanthi Express with KJM WDP4.

Next up was the Cement rake ( BCCN ) with UBL WDG4 twins led by original 12009

We then decided to call it a day at Makali and capture Karnataka Express on the way. The Mangalore boys decided to stay here and capture Karnataka. As we were about to start, KYN WDG4 roars towards us with the car carrier. After capturing, we chased it down at Dodballapur.

After Capturing Karnataka Express near Rajankunte, we headed straight for lunch. As soon as we came out of the hotel, UBL WDG4 twins started accelerating out of Yelahanka with BCNA ending a wonderful day.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. here is a teaser video from the trip

Will share the full version video tomorrow. Do leave your valuable comments and suggestions below..