A train journey after a tiring and busy phase of day to day life is the most refreshing and soothing experience for a rail enthusiast and this is especially true if the journey is to be through some of the most picturesque routes that the Indian Railways network offers to the common man.
Here is my experience of one such trip, covering three of the most acclaimed ghat sections of Indian Railways and the ever-so-popular Konkan Railway, with a couple of footplate rides and a short railfanning session in Mumbai with two Mumbaikars as an added bonus. The write up is a bit long, so please bear with me and try getting through till the concluding part, if possible...:P
The...
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Plan:
After my 6th Sem. Exams concluded, I was busy planning a trip to a region where I hadn't been to before. Planning for a Railfanning trip is an adventure in itself and this was especially true in my case wherein the final plan took almost half a day to come by. A few messages exchanged with my friend and fellow railfan from Mumbai, Pratik Shetty and the plan started taking shape. I zeroed in on the follwing plan:
16th July 2013: Mangalore Junction(MAJN) to Pune in 11098 Purna Express.
17th July 2013: Pune to Panvel(PNVL) in 12126 Pragati Superfast.
17th July 2013: Mumbai Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus(CSTM) to Mangalore Junction(MAJN) in 12133 Mangaluru Superfast.
Pratik had planned a tour of the Mumbai Suburban network for me and a few surprises as well, which shall be revealed at a later stage.
The intent of this trip should be clear by now. The Purna Express would take the Konkan Railway line upto Madgaon(MAO) followed by a reversal onto the South Western Railway line through the Braganza Ghats, giving me a glimpse of the magnificent Dudhsagar Falls and then reverse yet again at Londa to traverse the Shindawane Ghats before finally reaching Pune. From Pune, I would get to enjoy the picturesque Bhor Ghats onboard the Pragati Superfast and while returning, it would be my all time favourite “Konkan Shinkansen”, 12133 Mangalore Superfast.
The next part was the most critical one. To get confirmed tickets in all the trains. However, this being the lean season, getting my preferred tickets was a cakewalk as availability was in excess of 200 in 12133, 100 in 11098 and 300 in 12126. I was alotted berth 48 SUB S7 in 11098, 23 SLB S3 in 12133 and 103 WS D2 in 12126. All planning done, the trip was set in stone and thus began the count down for the trip to commence...
The Trip:
Part 1: To Pune via the “dual” Ghats...
Insomnia began to set in on the eve of D-day and I found myself checking the status of 11098 at 00:30 hours. Tried to get some sleep and dozed off only to wake up again at 04:00. Finally got up at 06:00 and after finishing the daily morning chores, as I was getting ready to leave for the station at 07:00, I heard the Purna Express entering Mangalore Junction, a full 50 minutes ahead of schedule against the scheduled arrival of 07:50! After a short 5 minute walk, I was on Patform #2, where the Purna Express was sun-bathing while the maintainence guys were busy refilling the coaches and cleaning the toilets with power-sprayers. The loco was being refuelled and on closer inspection I realized that it was a Pune WDG3A. My coach was manufactured in 1993 and had seen decent maintainence. Occupancy was quite decent as well, with a majority of the occupants bound to intermediate stations such as Udupi and Kundapura. My berth was vacant and so was the SLB. I plonked myself on the SLB and as usual had a quick scan of the interiors and familiarized myself with all the faces. Meanwhile, the 4 hours late running 12618 Mangala Lakshadweep Superfast arrived on Platform #1 with an ALCo in lead. A freight was blocking my view and thus couldn't note the shed or the road number. Mangala left after a 15 minute halt and the 16523/16517 Yeshwanthpur(YPR)-Karwar(KAWR)/Kannur(CAN) Express made its way into Platform #1. The clock had ticked past 08:15, well past the scheduled departure time of 08:00 and we were still waiting at Mangalore. Finally, at 08:20 we were given the starter after a long halt of 80 minutes and the new crew of Konkan Railway wasted no time in accelerating out of Mangalore Junction and after parting ways with the SWR line to Hassan(HAS)/Bangalore(SBC), we passed through the last tunnel of Southern Railway. Entry into KR territory was marked by a sedate run through Thokur, the first station of KR from the South and at the very next station, Surathkal, we ground to a halt on the mainline to allow the 12619 Down Matsyagandha Superfast to enter the only Platform line. A RORO rake was being unloaded here and this aroused some excitement among quite a few passengers in our coach. 12619 was headed by GOC WDP4B #40067 and after it cleared the mainline, we were given the starter to depart. At Padubidri, we had to endure a long halt to let the 12201 Garib Rath to roar past at 100+Kmph. The Thokur-Udupi section of KR is certified for 110Kmph operations throughout the year irrespective of the Monsoon Timetable being in effect and trains towards Mangalore just blast through this section to recover lost time. At Udupi, we were diverted to Platform #2 as the 16516 Karwar-Yeshwanthpur Tri-Weekly Inter City was expected on Platform #1. It arrived, with some coaches completely devoid of any passengers and we were off again. The speeds now hovered in the 70-90Kmph range and quick halts at Kundapura, Bhatkal, Murudeshwar and Honnavar were dealt with. Meanwhile, I munched on a plate of Bread-Cutlet, which was piping hot and the overall quality of the serving was above average. At Kumta, the 16337 Okha-Ernakulam Express was waiting on the mainline and our train pulled into Platform #1. The initial delay at Mangalore had been nullified and we were about 4-5 minutes ahead of schedule forcing us to halt for a prolonged duration to allow the late running 12133 Mangalore Superfast to pull into Platform #2. It was led by a KYN WDM3D #11409 and as per Konkan Railway's Current Train Position Site(KRCTPS), the 16337 was held up at Honnavar for 12133 to overtake it. 12133 and 11098 departed simultaneously from Kumta and we were ambling along at the restricted sectional MPS of 75Kmph for the Kumta-Madgaon stretch. Orders for lunch were taken by the Pantry Car Staff and I ordered a Veg-Thali. At Gokarna, a few passengers boarded our coach and we were quickly back on the mainline, cruising at sedate speeds. Lunch was served here, consisting of 2 Chapatis, Veg Pulao, Dal, Pickle and Sambhar. The overall quality of the food was pretty good. Ankola saw us making an unscheduled stop for a twin GY WDG4 hauled BCNA to rattle past and as the skies darkened for another round of a typical monsoon downpour, we were galloping towards our next scheduled halt, Karwar. A lot of unreserved passengers alighted here and an equal number of them boarded in return and after a couple of minutes, we resumed the sedate run towards the first technical halt in KR, Madgaon. This train has a sufficient amount of slack in between Karwar and Madgaon and this ensured that we were pretty much before time at Madgaon. The 56641 Madgaon- Mangalore “Superfast” Passenger was ready to depart from Platform #1 as we crawled into the customary Platform #2 for a loco reversal.
A huge group of urchins, with the majority of them being small kids, descended upon our train and started their tactics to extract money from the unsuspecting passengers. It didn't take me long to realize that they were all part of a major begging mafia and I dissuaded myself from offering them anything. Meanwhile, the loco quickly reversed and attached itself to the Mangalore/Londa end of the rake to haul the train through the SWR track to Londa. A delayed departure was again on the cards as the scheduled departure time of 15:10 was long gone and we were dangerously close to the scheduled arrival of the legendary 12779 Goa “Super” Express, which enjoys unparalled priority in SWR. Finally at 15:25, the starter turned green and before we could start off, the 12449 Goa “Sampark Kranti” Express arrived on Platform #3. At first glance, I sighted only the “Goa” part on the name boards on the front SLR and was flabbergasted as I was sure that our weekly train was no match for the Goa Express in terms of priority and we would be overtaken right at the next halt station enroute. But a Ratlam WDM3A at the helm was a tell-tale sign that indicated otherwise and after a thorough look at the boards, I was relieved to learn that it was indeed the Goa Sampark Kranti and not the Goa Express. We parted ways with the KR line to Mangalore, which veered off to the right and started rumbling at 65-70 Kmph. Some people in our coach who were fast asleep when the loco reversal had taken place, were now quite confused as to which direction the train was moving and the reason behind the change in direction of motion. Some tiny halt stations were dismissed with utter disregard for their presence and the new SWR-based crew were just gunning the throttle to make up lost time. The first scheduled halt in SWR territory was dealt with at Sanvordem Churchorem and we were back at cruising speeds. There were a few Speed Restrictions en route and we made it to Kulem(QLM) pretty much on time. Twin GY WDG3A bankers were ready to attach themselves to our train and push the rake up the Ghats up to Castle Rock(CLR). I alighted onto the Platform and the first thing I get to see is a man slipping and landing on his rear bumper. He was followed in quick succession by a few others as well and no willing to take any chances, I decided to stay put near my coach and shelved the idea of walking all the way to the rear GSLR to witness Banker attachment. The Platform was a nightmare in itself as it was extremely slippery and one would slip and have a fall from grace before he could even say “Jack Sparrow”. Bankers attached, we started ascending the daunting Braganza Ghats with the trailing WDG3As screaming their way to glory. The Purna Express doesn't stop anywhere in the Ghats as it leads the Goa Express which stops at all the stations enroute. Inspite of the non-stop run that the Purna enjoys, it has a scheduled overtake by the Goa Express near Belgaum and the latter arrives more than an hour ahead of Purna at Pune.
Dudhsagar Falls, which is the primary reason for the popularity of the Braganza Ghats, was in full flow as monsoon was at its peak. Fortunately, the heavens held up their desire to open up and it didn't rain while we were around Dudhsagar. At the first instance of sighting the magnificent flow from the Dudhsagar Falls, passengers onboard turned shutter happy and the view was clear as luck was on our side. Just as we were about to exit the Ghats at Caranzol, the clouds burst open and it started raining cats and dogs. At Castle Rock, I decided to hit the sack for sometime, since a searing headache was making me feel unwell. The rains continued lashing all the way upto Londa, where we pulled in for yet another loco reversal. The Hubli-Nizammuddin Goa Link pulled into Platform #1 led by twin Pune WDM3Ds. Vendors selling all kinds of eatables flocked our train here and the atmosphere inside the train was cacophonic. Meanwhile, the Nizamuddin- Mysore Swarna Jayanthi Superfast raced through the mainline led by a KJM WDM2.
Departure from Londa was followed by some high speed runs through complete wilderness and small halt stations were dismissed, with the fury of the WDG3A clearly felt, as we tried to escape from the Goa Express which was hot in pursuit. By the time we pulled into Belgaum, we were running close to an hour behind schedule. We were taken in on Platform #2 and on Platform #3, the Miraj-Castle Rock Passenger merrily chugged in behind a KJM WDM3A. The famous “Kunda” sweet of Belgaum origin was being sold by local vendors and many curious passengers were eager to try it out. The clock ticked past 20:30 and we were still at Belgaum. A local vendor finally broke the news that the Goa “Super” would be overtaking us here. I bought a veg biriyani from the Pantry for Rs.50 and it was below average at best. Tried a couple of Vada-Pavs from a local vendor and they tasted better. Soon the “Super” pulled in, led by the same Pune WDM3D twins which had towed the Hubli Link to Londa. It left after a short halt and the acceleration was terrific. About 15 minutes after the “Super” had departed, our loco let out a long hoot of the LHF horn and we started pulling out, much to everyone's relief. This was short-lived though, as we screeched to a halt within 5-10 seconds. There was some problem with the Brakes of one of the AC coaches and for the next one hour or so, we stood there, helpless. Finally, the problem was rectified and as we rolled out of Belgaum, the delay had mounted to 2 hours 40 minutes. The chief was desperately trying to recover the time that was lost at Belgaum, and the section controllers were keen on letting us through. This meant that we were riding a series of greens, one after the other. I climbed onto my Side Upper berth and dozed off only to wake up on the approach to Miraj, where most of the Passengers in our coach were to alight. An extended halt at Miraj and we were off again, the delay now reduced to less than 2 hours. The TTE hadn't showed up yet and just as we were picking up speed, a TTE appeared. But he was interested only in alotting seats to waitlisted passengers and since there were none in our coach, he left without checking anyone's tickets. I dozed off again and this time when I woke up, we were blasting through the mighty Shindawane Ghats. While I was fast asleep, scheduled stops at Sangli, Satara and Karad had seen the occupancy of our coach drop to less than 25%. There were several trains waiting at intermediate stations to give way for our late-running Purna and this ensured that we didn't have to make even a single unscheduled stop in between. Shindawane Ghats looked mesmerizing even in the darkness of the dawn and after a superb run, we pulled into Pune Junction at 06:10, 65 minutes behind schedule. This ends Part 1 of the trip....