Trip in between Derailments - 1

4th June 2014

5:00 am - Almost ready to leave home for Bangalore city station. Decided to sit in front of the computer for quick round up of things. A shock, Yesvantpur - Howrah Express has derailed at Kuppam ( details ). Reached Bangalore city around 6, ED ALCO twins 16465 & 16672 were ready with the train.

6:15 am - My train departed dot on time and we moved towards the raising sun. The first surprise catch due to the derailment was waiting at the home signal of Bangalore city with a WAP7 from RPM

Yes, it is the first train to arrive in the morning from Chennai, Chennai Mysore Kaveri Express. Nearly 10 minutes after departure, we reach Bangalore cant and ED WDM3D is waiting there with Tuticorin - Mysore Express. On departing, the empty rake of Golden chariot was seen.

We then skip Bangalore east and head towards Baiyapanahalli, the sleep spoiler Chennai - Bangalore mail hurries towards Bangalore city on the opposite line. A through run is given through BYPL and we climb the ramp and join the Salem line. It was a steady run  upto Karmelaram where we stopped for a scheduled halt. After a quick 2 minute halt, we depart again, we blast past Dharmapuri - Bangalore passenger waiting at Hellalige. Ankel road is skipped at MPS as well and we enter into Tamil Nadu. Hosur is reached with a delay of 10 minutes and Salem Yesvantpur passenger is seen waiting for us. Departed from platform 2 after a 3 minute halt. The Alco twins started to show its true colors now as it smoked and chugged quickly out of Hosur. The mountains started appearing as we headed towards Dharmapuri indicating the changing landscape.

Well this is for people who are yet to guess the train in which i am traveling, it is Bangalore Ernakulam intercity Express.

To be continued..

Train Spotting at Guntakal Junction

As soon as we ( Me and Bose ) arrived at Guntakal by Bangalore Nanded Express. Mumbai Chennai Express gets a line clear and the trains departed towards the rising sun.

          11041 Mumbai CST - Chennai Express with AJJ WAP-1 #22023 departs Guntakal Jnction

We then tired our luck at a dormitory / retiring room and to our luck we got one. The blue building on the right in the above picture is the place. It cost us only 55rs for 24 hours. Our my plan was to get refreshed and take a small break before boarding the Super around 11 hrs to continue our journey. The view from the dormitory was one of the best. Both the line towards Chennai / Dhone and the line Line towards Bangalore was clearly visible which means we will not miss any train going in this direction. The number of freight trains in this route is very high. Almost every 15 minutes, a freight passes this station. A view from the room is shown below. One of the special spotting was a NMG train with 4 WDG3A's from Erode . We had a wonderful time upto 10:45 from this place spotting various trains. We finally moved out to catch the Super. Have shared few pictures below.

                                   VTA WDM3D departs with Tuticorin bound Vivek Express.

                                                                     Continuous freight Action..

                       KJM WDP4 getting ready to take over Haripriya Express,  a new link in KJM's cycle.

         The Ever Late running Vijaywada - Bangalore Cantt passenger arrives Guntakal late by 2 hours.

                De-rated GTL WDM2 shunts a dead KJM WDP4, this line appears to close to the building..

                                                                Electric Locos at Guntakal..

                   12163 Mumbai - Chennai Egmore Super arrives Guntakal with Pune WDM3D..

                                 The Old beauty from RPM takes over the Super from here.

     Diesel to electric Loco change for Jayanthi janta Express 

Hope you liked the pictures. Do leave your comments and suggestions below. 

Ride to Makali Ghats

Pictures taken in and around Makali ghats from 2 separate days.

      Beautiful view from the Hebbal - Yelahanka flyover. This location is just before Yelahanka..

     Pic 1/2 MLY WDM3A twins with Yesvantpur - Gorakpur Weekly Express near Makalidurga.

       Pic 1/2 MLY WDM3A twins with Yesvantpur - Gorakpur Weekly Express near Makalidurga.

       UBL WDP4 with Bagalkot - Mysore Basava Express exits out of Makalidurga station..

               ED WDM3D with Mumbai - Nagercoil Express over a bridge, Makalidurga..

                                                              The EYE Contact

                                                   One of my Partner's in Crime

                          Guntakal WDG3A with Gorakhpur - Yesvantpur Express, Makalidurga.

                                                               Odd one out. :)

                      spot choosen to capture the late running Rajdhani Express, Gauribidnaur.

                                                  Clouds add so much to this picture.

                                                       One more beautiful cloud formation.

                GY WDM3D with Yesvantpur - Machilipatnam Kondavedu Express, Thoindebhavi.

                                            The Long walk back home after collecting water...

                     GTL WDG3A with Vijaywada - Bangalore Cantt Passenger, Thondebhavi.

                                Sunset indicating the end of the road trip to capture train..

Hope you enjoyed the video and Pics.. :)

Do post your comments and suggestions below.

First Day First Show : Palani - Pollachi Broad Gauge

5 years ago, Palghat / Podanur - Dindigul meter gauge line was closed for gauge conversion. 3 years later the strech between Dindigul and Palani opened. 

9th January 2015 saw the opening of Palani - Pollachi section. I tired my best to cover the event. Pictures and video from the event can be seen below.

    02651 Palani - Pollachi Express with GOC WDM2A #16885 waits to start its journey from Palani.

   The first train on this route 06769 Pollachi - Palani Passenger with ED WDM3D #11103 arrives Palani.

          All the Level Crossing's along the route had people waiting for watch the train pass by..

                              The Old meter gauge alignment over the Amaravathi river..

                                            

                                        Kids going to school were seen through out this stretch..

                                               The crowd at Udumalaipettai Station.

                         The Express to Pollachi gets ready to depart from Udumalaipettai..

                  Things get back to normal once the train started to move out of sight....

   The second train from Palani, 06709 Palani - Pollachi passenger with ED WDM2 #18787 enters Udumalaipettai.

                                                      Same train view towards Palani.

                                                   

         Common scene along the route, Look at the size difference. Onboard the Passenger to Pollachi,

                                                                         Wind Power..

             ED WDM2 undergoing Loco reversal to take the Passenger back to Palani. 

               Line on the right will go to Podanur and the one on the left to Palghat Town.

                                     View of Pollachi station from Palghat Line..

                                    RAJARAJAN, the meter gauge crane at Pollachi.

                                     The meter gauge remains at Pollachi Junction..

                                   Mechanical & Muscular power at work, Pollachi.

     The Evening Express and the Passenger taking a break before starting their journey back to Palani.

                                                     Resting time for men and the machine...

              The Curious young girl walking towards Pollachi station to have a look at the trains..

                                    Udumalaipettai had the biggest crowd for the day..

                                     Most of the people had come just to watch the train..

                                           The sad state of meter gauge era at Palani..

Hope you all enjoyed the video and the pictures. Do post your comments and suggestions below.