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
Half
asleep, I search for my phone. I click on the home button to get a rude shock,
its 8:30 and am still in bed. My plans have gone haywire, am starting to wonder
whether I will make it in time to meet the visitors. Cursing the IPL, i start
moving. Time is 9:30 and I am finally ready but still behind the schedule that
I had planned the previous day by a long way. With only hopes on my side, I
plan to catch a bus to Malleswaram from my place.
09:40 – Reached Malleswaram,
walked for 5 minutes for the connecting bus to the destination which I had
planned.
10:10 – Still no signs of
the buses which I was supposed to take. With no hopes of making it in time I
change my plans and board a bus to a place which is around 5km from the
original place. My mind is just saying don’t
worry, you will make it time. A quick check on my phones confirms me that I am
bound to miss one of the visitors for sure.
10:30 – At this place, you
will get to see metal men and women dressed up beautifully in different colors,
the one which impressed me a lot was the lady in yellow and green.
10:40 – I am still 20
minutes away and it looks like I am bound to miss everyone whom I was supposed
to meet.
11:00 – I reached the place
to find one of the visitors is waiting for me. I never expected this and well
guess what the second visitor is yet to arrive. Well everything going my way
upto to now.
I guess it’s about time that
I mention who the visitors are and where exactly I am at the moment. The visitors are Etarsi Alco twins
and second one, you will find out soon. I am at a place called
Chikbanavar which is 5km from Arkavati River where I had initially planned to
catch these 2 visitors. By now, the place mentioned at 10:30 would have been
guessed by few, if not its Yesvantpur Junction. Metal men’s are diesel
locomotives and women’s are the cute electric locomotives. The beauty in yellow
and green is AJJ WAM4. A quick check on my phone, I checked the train status on
the train enquiry site. My original place was to catch Bangalore - Tumkur Passenger
upto Soldevanahalli and then walk from there to Arkavathi River. Then return
back to my place by BMTC.
Coming back to Chikbanavar,
Etarsi twins were in the loop line waiting for line clearance with Vasco
Yesvantpur express. This train had arrived here by 10:25 itself, confirmed by
the train enquiry. I started walking away from the station to capture these
visitors so as to avoid attentions from the staffs. I crossed the station home
signal and waited there for the signal to change from red to green for the
second visitor coming from Yesvantpur. Ten minutes passed and still no signs of
any train moment. Finally the signal goes from red to green but on the line
towards Yesvantpur. ET twins honk loud and start to move, In the meantime, the
home signal turns to amber from red and I hear the ear shattering horn of an
EMD. The second visitor, BGKT WDG4 with Yesvantpur Jaipur Specials enters the
scene and I started recording the video. I guess you all can see what happened
next in the video.
As soon as I turned back
after recording the video, I find another train approaching Chikbanavar from
Tumkur side. The train was coming with an EMD locomotive and I
identified it as Shimoga Bangalore Intercity. He came to a halt at the station
as the line ahead was occupied by Vasco Express. I started moving towards the
station to have a closer look at the loco. It was KJM WDG4, a plasser was
started up on the loop line in the meantime and soon it was given proceed
towards Yesvantpur which meant that the intercity had to wait longer before it
could move out. I decided to move out after taking few pictures. I then took a
bus to yesvantpur just to catch the lady in yellow and green before returning
home. It was good day for me only thing that did not go my way was both the
trains crossed slowly. A high speed crossing between the 2 would have been an
added bonus. Well that ends this short and sweet railfanning trip. Hope you
enjoyed reading this….
