Bangalore Rajdhani was running later by 5 hours and a plan was made by railfans to capture it at Makali. I and Santhosh started around 7 by bus to Dodballapur ( DBU ). We were expected to reach DBU by 8 but as luck would have it, we reached there only by 8:45. Main reasons for the delay were the bus driver taking his own time for the run and Hindupur Passenger at Dodballapur Level crossing. Around the same time, Nikhil who had just reached Bangalore in the morning after returning from IRFCA convention and Shashank decided to join us in the bike so we decided to have breakfast at DBU and waited for them. We spotted Secunderabad - Yesvantpur Garib Rath, Gorakpur - Yesvantpur Express, Bangalore Cantt - Vijayawada Passenger and a BCNA during the wait. We started from DBU around 9:30 and reached Makali just in to time to witness Raj roaring through the ghats. We then spent roaming around the location for the next 4 hours. I and Santhosh decide to stay near the bridge. Nikhil and Shashank decide to climb. Harris decided to stay near the station itself, he had come by Vijayawada Passenger. We all met around 14:30 for lunch. After lunch we returned back and caught few trains as well. A last minute planning made us enjoy the day with some good captures which can be seen below. Hope you all enjoy it..
Road over bridge work near Dodballapur
GTL WDG3A twins take the loop line at Dodballapur
Reflection seen at the start of our 4 hour session at Makalidurga
After capturing the late running Rajdhani Express
We sat next to these tree's for our next catch
Shashank can be seen capturing Prasanthi Express, this loco had a funny honk
Some random shots in between trains - 1
Some random shots in between trains -2
A small flowing water path crossed en-route to the bridge
ALCO twins with Mysore bound Jaipur Express
Light running KJM WDG3A
Some random shots in between trains -3
Santhosh gives a pose while taking a rest under the tree
Some random shots in between trains - 4
Santhosh thinking about something - I was on top of a tree :)
My video partner..
Shot from the tree : Yesvantpur - Indore Express with RTM WDM3D
Well deserved Lunch break to these hard working women
KJM WDP4D with late running Delhi - Yesvantpur Duronto Express
Wide angle shot of KJM WDP4D with late running Delhi - Yesvantpur Duronto Express
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..
