Adventurous Ride to Capture trains…….

          

       I am on my way to Hebbal in a bus. I get a message from the loco pilot that he has already arrived Hebbal and he is ready with his loco 978. Without any further delays, I make it in time. Our journey goes smooth until we stopped at Yelahanka home to let 2 trains pass. First up was the Yesvantpur bound Kacheguda Express led by an EMD locomotive. Then it was the turn of the smoke bomb, yes you got that right. An Alco with Indore - Yesvantpur Express. We then made through Yelahanka without any slow down. Next stop was near Rajankunte to let the King pass and also to finish our Lunch. King Karnataka Express blasted past us at nearly 100kph and the clouds were becoming thick indicating heavy rains. I ate Idly Vada while the Loco Pilot had Puri’s. As soon as we finished our lunch it started to rain which meant that our stay here was longer. We waited for nearly an hour before departing again. We stopped again just a km from where we started to let a freight train overtake us. It was a short mixture of BCNHL and BCN led by 9000 horses from Gooty. It started to rain again and we were waiting for the rain to go away. Finally we departed again after another long break from Rajankunte, then slowly entered Dodballapur to find the main line cleared which meant we had to stop again to let a train overtake us. This time it was the return journey of Yesvantpur – Indore Express which had crossed us at Yelahanka before. With no trains in sight for the next 1 hour, we were assured that our next stop will be at railfan's paradise, Makalidurga. We reached our next destination where many trains will overtake us before we change direction towards Bangalore, totally 6 trains overtook us here. It was getting dark by the time the last train overtook us so we reversed direction and did a non-stop run from Makalidurga to Malleswaram. This was one of my best rides resulting in seeing trains at different location.

The details of trains are

.           

      At Yelahanka Home, 

            We crossed 2 trains. First one was Kacheguda - Yesvantpur Express led by KJM WDP4 #20042. then RTM WDM3A #18626 with Indore – Yesvantpur Express at the same spot. 

      Near Rajankunte, 

            Bangalore bound Karnataka Express led by MLY WDM3A twins #16658R and #14035.Mixed freight train with Gooty WDG4 twins.

 

          At Dodballapur, 

               RTM WDM3A #18626 with Yesvantpur - Indore Express. 

         At Makali ghats, 

            Bangalore - Bhubaneswar Prasanthi Express led by KJM WDP4B #40015. Yesvantpur - Machilipatnam Kondavedu Express led by GY WDM3D #11339. Yesvantpur – Kacheguda Express led by KJM WDP4 #20057. KZJ WDG3A twins #14842 & #14573 with BTPN / BTFLN. Coimbatore – Lokmanya Tilak Express led by KJM WDP4 #20041. GY WDG4 twins #12605 & #12318 light.

      Video Compilations from this trip can be seen below..

                                        Kacheguda - Bangalore Express led by KJM WDP4 #20042

                               A special thanks to the friendly loco pilot Dheeraj rao and his loco Bajaj discover... :)

Hope you all enjoyed...

Race against Time to meet visitors…

                 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….

                                              KJM WDG4 with Shimoga Bangalore Intercity Express

                                                    Arrakonam WAM4's taking rest at Yesvantpur

   

The Amazing Race : Indian Railways Style...

          Well, Its always a dream for rail-fans to see two trains racing each other. I had a similar dream of seeing two trains at a special place during one night. It turned into reality when i was traveling to Khandawa on the Karnataka Express along with Bangalore rail-fans to cover the Akola Ujjain Meter gauge section. We were approaching Manmad, running late by 1 hour. I remembered about my dream and soon took out Samit's atlas to get an idea about the track layout just before Manmad and looked at the small section of parallel lines just before Manmad. I understood the complete layout of Manmad only then, went to the door with my camera hoping for the best. The SCR line was visible and we slowed down as we approached Ankai to take the loop line. The culprit being the freight on the main line. As the end of the freight was approaching, i closed my eyes on fear of seeing a red on the SCR line ( we were on the CR line ). I slowly opened my eyes to find it green. Got very excited and at the same time started wondering which train could it be.The Alco twins for my train wasted no time after clearing the loop and accelerated madly. We were almost approaching Ankai killa, still no signs of the other train.Out of nowhere, a honk and twins WDM3A curved towards my train........................................................................................................

Well its better to see it as an video than in words... 

What more can i say. Dreams do come true. 

Wait a minute this is not the end of Ankai Killa, A new dream was born during that race. The Killa Instinct....

Now coming to the details.

Nanded Amristar Sachkhand SF Express led by Twin MLY WDM3A twins #16476 & #16201 chases my Karnataka Express also led by MLY WDM3A twins #16549 & #16579. 

Layout from Ankai to Manmad

My train Karnataka Express entered Ankai on the CR line while Sachkand entered Ankai on the SCR line. The trains move away from each other after Ankai killa. The advantages of this layout is that a train coming from Nanded side and going to Daund side need not undergo rake reversal. (12729, 57515 etc use this way). Trains coming from Mumbai towards Daund also avoids reversal (12131). Few trains from Pune also use this unique layout to reduce the loco change time at Manmad (Diesel to Electric change,12221 etc). Trains change directions on at Akali. Manmad Ankai is a block section on SCR line while there are 2 blocks on the CR line with Ankai killa in between. Will upload a trip report about my Ankai Killa trip ( The Killa Instinct ) soon. 

Amazing Konkan Railways

26th January 1998.
                      A special day for the people of Karnataka, Goa and Maharastra. Thokur, near Mangalore and Roha in Maharastra were connected by rail through Goa.  Konkan Railways was born. More details
Today it completes 16 years.
Sharing my pictures and videos which i have taken on this beautiful stretch.. :)

                                                          Welcome to Konkan Railway...

                                                                Mangaon , Maharastra.

                                       Bread and Butter of Konkan Railways, RORO ( roll on roll off )

                                               Murudeshwara , Karnataka as seen from a train..

                      One of the important train on this section, Dadar Madgaon Jan shatabdi Express

                                                                   Madgaon, Goa

                                                                        Suravali, Goa

 Hope you all liked the pics. Here is a video compilation from the Konkan Region.

Trains in the video

 1. Superstar of KR, Trivandrum H.Nizammudin Rajdhani Express led by GOC WDP3A #15524. GOC  WDM2 with roro is seen as well. Suratkal, Karnataka.

 2. Coimbatore Bikaner AC Express led by LKO WDM3A #18551. Mangaon, Maharsatra.

 3. Roro led by ED WDG3A twins #14902 & 14795. Suravali, Goa.

 4. Howrah Vasco Amaravati Express led by GY WDM3A twins #14041 & #14032. Suravali, Goa.

 5. H.Nizammudin Trivandrum Rajdhani Express led by GOC WDP3A #15517. Suravali, Goa.

 6. Dadar Madgaon Jan shatabdi Express led by ED WDM3D #11179. Suravali, Goa.

 7. Diva Swantavadi Passeneger led by ERS WDM3A #16457. Mangaon, Maharastra.

 8. BCNA led by UBL WDG4 twins #12004 & # 120xx. Suravali, Goa.

 9. Ratnagiri Diva Passenger led by KYN WDG3A. Mangaon, Maharastra.

10. BCNA led by GOC WDG3A twins #13562 & # 13449. Suravali, Goa.

11. Lokmanya Tilak Kochuveli Garib rath Express led by ERS WDM3A #18536 meets Mangalore  Madgaon Passenger led by GOC WDM2 # Padubidri, Karnataka.

12. Madgaon Mumbai CSTM Konan Kanya Express led by KJM WDP4 #20040. Suravali, Goa.

13. Mumbai CSTM Mangalore Express led by KYN WDG3A #13497 meets Mangalore Madgaon  Passenger led by GOC WDM2 #

14. Trivandrum H.Nizammudin Rajdhani Express led by GOC WDP3A #15515 overtakes Madgaon  Mumbai CSTM Mandovi Express led by KZJ WDG3A twins #

15. Vasco Kulem Passeneger led by GY WDG3A #14551 departs Survali, Goa.

16. Madgaon Mumbai CSTM Mandovi Exprees led by KJM WDP4 #20030 meets Madgaon bound  Mandovi Express led by KJM WDP4B #40066. Bhoke, Maharastra.

17. Ernakulam Jaipur Marusagar Express led by BGKT WDP4B #40073. Suravali, Goa.

18. Kochiveli Chandigarh Kerala Sampark Kranti Express led by GOC WDP3A #15524. Mangaon,   Maharastra.

19. ED WDM3D #11105 running light.

20. Madgaon Dadar Jan shatabdi Express led by GOC WDP4D #40105. Suravali, Goa.

21. Eranakulam Lokmanya Tilak Duronto Express led by KYN WDM3D # 11243. Suravali, Goa.

22. Madgaon Dadar Jan shatabdi Express led by ERS WDM3A #16459.

23. BOXN led by Unstopable WDG4 twins #12087 & #12111. Suravali, Goa.

24. Howrah Vasco Amaravati Express led by GY WDM3A twins #14032 & #14023. Suravali, Goa.

25. Madgaon Mumbai CSTM Konan Kanya Express led by KJM WDP4 #20062. Suravali, Goa.

26. H. Nizamuddin Eranakulam mangala Express led by GOC WDM3A #16405. Mangaon, Goa.

27. RORO led by UBL WDG4 #12119 Nataraj. Suravali, Goa.

28. Washing of Konkan Kanya Express with KJM WDP4 #20040 at Madgaon. Onboard Kulem Vasco Express led by GY WDM3A #

29. Mangalore Madgaon Passeneger led by GOC WDM2 # crossing the sharavati river at 110 kph. Honavar, Karnataka.

30. Mumbai CSTM Madgaon Mandovi Express led by KJM WDP4B #40066 crossing the Panvel viaduct. Ratnagiri, Maharastra.

                                             Thank you for travelling on the Konkan railway....            

2013 - Best Moments

                A look back at my rail trips in 2013. Entered the new year as a Punewala for the first time, maiden trip was obviously to my hometown Bangalore. From there, went to my second home Makali to catch trains. A surprise was waiting in the form of EMD triplets for Udyan. The loco of Udyan had some issues and the WDG4 twins were called 

up. The video shows how easily the twins are tackling the ghats. Also spotted GTL Jumbo. After the trip while returning back to Bangalore, spotted VSKP WDG3A twins on full power. After a month, it was time for Mumbai. Had a lovely rf session with the Mumbai railfans. Special catch being the doube decker with WAP5, the humble loco pilots acknowledged my presence by blinking and honking. Umroli provided a lot of variety with   Alco's, ACDC electric and 

AC electrics.Next up was the famous Shindawane ghats, no words for this place. This video will prove why i say so.  

Bangalore called me again to present me back to back EMD triplets action and a rare visitor from SER. It was definitely a day to remember. Well how will i miss a chance to visit my second home if i am at Banaglore, Makali ghats again and this time it was the Indore Pooja special. Pune return saw me experience scissors crossing for the first time. After getting back to Pune, it was time for me enter the high speed diesel section of CR. Manjari Budruk on 

the Pune daund line, a station with a rural touch. Then i got the chance to meet the God Father of WDG4's twice in span of 2 weeks. Karnataka Express, this word is enough to bring smile on many faces. traveled by this train to Bangalore for the first time. ET twins was the power. It was time now for me to meet some special fellows. First up was Ms. Krishnaveni and followed by the Macho Yellow WDG4. The return to Pune this time was special as i would 

take the Bangalore - Goa - Mumbai - Pune route, traveled mainly to capture kutty dippy ( WDP3a ) overtaking the food-king of Indian Railways. Have you ever seen a train celebrate its birthday, It happens on June 1st every year. 

Its the India's first Electric hauled train Deccan Queen's birthday. The monsoon started showing its true strength which made me to visit Khandala, these places have to experienced to get the feeling i got. Special gift for me at    

Khandala was 6 WAG7's banking a freight train.  It was then time for the visit to Heaven on earth, Dudhsagar. Every  

train captured here is special, had my first  caboose ride on this trip. Then it was the SWR KR high speed zone, Suravalli. Special gift here was the unstoppable horn of WDG4. SWR Udyan meets CR Udyan, was lucky enough to ride the last run of Udyan express as a SWR train. August was a very special month as i experienced the best parallel action one could get and a ride behind the Little Kings YDM4. A video cost me 5000 on the MG trip as my  

camera got damaged in rain. This month also marked my second visit to heaven. Then it was time for the beautiful western ghats, a bike trip to Mangaon on the konkan coast just to capture trains resulted in passing one of the most beautiful places on earth. Waterfalls everywhere while going down the ghats. After some break, it was time  for 

Bangalore again. Golgumbaz showed me Golgumbaz and the Almati dam. Was very much excited to enter the Liquor banned state, Bhilad was the location. Wap5 dropped me here, my first run behind this beauty. This place gave me  

some 120 kph action, which is difficult to be see down south. I was also lucky enough to see India's first stainless steel pure AC EMU. I became a bird for few hours at Dehu road. Then it was time to travel again on the Food king of Indian Railways. Had variety of dishes, special spotting was ED WDG4. Vivek Express, not the longets train of India but a train with the same name running between Ohka and Tuticorin. This train gave me few surprises as it took a different route from Guntakal to Kalluru which resulted in me spotting Godfather again. Now was the time for me to enter my home state, Tamil nadu.  Lalgudi near Tiruchy was the location. I decided to end this year with Shindawane again which resulted in me getting my first ride behind WDP4D. A 25 minute video to summarize 2013 for me....

If you have come till here then thank you very much. I know that i am not so good at writing, hence sharing my experience as picture and videos. 

Man Made Snakes

                          Trains appear like snakes when seen from a hill / mountain most of the time. Here is one such example. Train is 12630 Karnataka Sampark kranti Express. Location is Shindawane ghats, its 30 km from Pune on the Pune Miraj line. 

First picture shows the train with KJM WDP4 #20024 ( the loco is under Hubli now) snaking through.

Click here to see the video of the same..

Second picture shows the train led by KJM WDP4 #20045 passing the longest viaduct on this ghat section.

Click here to see the video of the same... 

Video of the same location taken from the same 12630 train.                                                                       

          12630 Karnataka Sampark kranti Express runs between Delhi and Bangalore twice a week. It leaves Nizammudin at 08:50 hr on every Wednesdays & Fridays and arrives Yesvantpur at 06:20 hr on every Fridays & Sundays. The train takes 45 hours 30 minutes to cover 2615 km at an average speed of 57 kph. This is one of the best trains to travel between Pune and Bangalore as it runs through beautiful landscapes of Western ghats.                                    

Black Beauty - First ride behind a Steam Locomotive...

          2002, a year which is very special to India. It was exactly 150 years ago that the first official train from Bombay to Thane ran. It was the month of August when many inter school competitions takes place. I choose to give it a try at drawing which was to be held on 23rd August 2002 at Tata institute, little did i know that i will not participate in that event. Reason being my dream, a run behind a steam locomotive. On that day i came home after giving my name for the competition, i was wondering what topic will i be getting. My Appa* returned home in the mean time and gave me a surprise by saying that Black Beauty will run through Bangalore just like how it ran in Mumbai some time back. I was like wow.... Then i asked him about the date of the run, the answer made me feel like a coin tossed up in the air not knowing on which side i would fall. After getting suggestions from my parents and friends who obviously wanted me to go for the competition, the naughty railfan in me went against all their wishes. My Appa agreed to me as he knew that trains were always my first priority.

           22nd August 2002, A day before the special run. My Appa came early that evening and took me to Bangalore city station to have a look at the WP. After reaching the station, we went to see the WP which was undergoing some decorations. I was shocked at seeing the height of the wheels, they were taller than me. We moved after seeing the loco around only to see her moving tomorrow by herself through Bangalore.

Malleswaram - Yelahanka : The maiden run

           The Magic day arrived, my Appa left early in the morning promising me that he would return by 9:30 hrs to take me for the special ride. I was ready by 9 after finishing all my morning rituals, evry minute after that turned out to be a tense moment. Time was 9:40 and no signs of my Appa, i was like a coin lost in thin air. At 9:45 hrs, my Appa finally came and asked to get moving as it was already late. We reached Malleswaram at 10:00 hrs. The train was supposed to start by 10hrs  from Bangalore city. We went to ticket counter to buy tickets but was surprised to find that tickets will not be issued and the ride is free. We made our way to the center of Platform 2 after getting to know that the train would be arriving there. It was 10:20 and still there we no signs of train, finally i was able to hear the sounds chiku bhku and the whistle as the steam loco curved into Malleswaram. The loco and coaches were neatly painted and there was music on the trains too. We squeezed into the available space, started moving out of Malleswarm, we soon came to halt at Yesvantpur home signal. Here i saw few people taking pictures of the beauty and i was like ' wish i could do that too '. We finally started moving towards Yesvantpur, i was surprised to see that we were taken on the newly build platform 6. We departed after sometime from Yesvantpur, The then minister ( railway minister of state affairs ?) AK Moorthy came and distributed cholocates to everyone and shook hands with everyone. I was like such a big guy shaking hands with everyone. We made few stops in between Yesvantpur and Yelahanka. At Yelahanka, i got the chance of a life time, got into a live steam locomotive. I just remeber seeing the buring coal and shaking hand with the sweating locopilots. ( Hats off to all the loco pilots who worked on these beauties ) Then we saw a diesel loco getting itself atached to the rear of our train. we got to know that it would be taking us till Krishnarajapuram from where the hissing beauty would continue its heritajge journey to Bangalore city. We got into a different coach to try our luck at getting a window seat, but it was not to be. I was so mad that i started crying, an elderly person on seeing me cry asked his sons to give me some space next to the window. Finally watching a steam loco from the window will be achivied.


Yelahanka - Krishnarajapuram : The Mad diesel run

           As we departed from yelahanka, a lady started distributing sweet boxes,it had variety of sweets, being a lover of coconut barfi ( cake ) i went for it. The Diesel loco was showing its might to the WP. The connecting rodes and wheels of WP were moving at very high speed, i got scared that the loco might come apart. We stopped at Chanasandra for few minutes and moved towards Krishnarapuram. Here my Appa asked me to move from that place, but my selfish mind did not agree as i feared that i would loose this golden window seat which is on the action side towards Bangalore.


Krishnarajapuram - Bangalore : The Last run

          After we departed from Krishnarajapuram, i got to know one more thing about steam locos which i was not knowing early. The burnt coal particles are thrown in the air and there are chances that it might land up on our eyes which did happen in my case.The irritation made me difficult to see for some time ( The saying that you should listen to elders came to my mind). Soon Baiyapanahhali and Bangalore East was passed after stopping. My eyes strated getting back to normal by now. We reached Bangalore cantt. After few minutes, the whistle signifiedthe last part of my steam journey. Finally arrived Bangalore. I dont remember much about this part as my mind was more concerned about my eye. 

Pictures from this run can be seen here : http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Steam/heritageruns/WP-Bangalore/

All the pictures taken by IRFCA members..
Hope you all liked it. Forgive me for the mistakes in my English.. :)

Steam Locomotive fans, have a look at this site as well - http://indiansteamrailwaysociety.in/current-steam/steam-locomotives-at-rewari-shed/

*Appa ( South Indian langauge ) means Father .