Welcome to Railway Junction

Saturday, December 10, 2005 – Oh God! Its already 1030! I rushed to have a quick bath. Off goes the power supply. I was sad that I would have to bath in cold water in typical Bangalorean weather. But to my rescue the supply was restored immediately. I had a quick bath and gobbled up something and was ready to head to the railway station. We (I and My elder brother) left home at about 1120 with just an hour and 20 minutes to spare for the departure of my train. We slowly walked towards Bannerghatta road while we got an autorickshaw at about half the way to Bannerghatta Road. I was praying that we must not get caught in a traffic block. Soon the Rickshaw reached Bangalore City Junction Railway Station. The time was about 1210 then. My brother purchased a platform ticket and we headed towards the platforms. The TV screens showed that my train would be arriving on Platform 1, much to my relief! We reached the Platform and asked a person as to where the AC coaches usually appear and he replied “Near the stairs”. We reached the stairs. I bought a bottle of water and a weekly magazine. At about 1215 the arrival of my train was announced.

Soon, at 1221, my train – 1014 UP Coimbatore – Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express pulled into the station with WDM3D #11107 from Erode in charge. The General Coaches seemed to be having decent occupancy levels. Soon an unidentified person tried to hop into one of those coaches, but unfortunately missed the steps and he almost fell into the gap between the coach and the platform. Luckily for him, people around him pulled him back and he lost only his footwear. Soon the train came to a halt and I had to walk a bit towards the loco to get into my coach. My coach was AS2 (CR 00119/A, Manufactured by RCF Kapurthala in Aug 2000) homed by CR at LTT yard. My seat was 15, Side lower. I parked by baggage there and immediately locked it up and got down from the coach. As I landed back to the platform, my mobile started to ring. That was Vivek, from IRFCA – Bangalore. He came to meet me and he made it. Soon at about 1245, the loco gave a long horn and I boarded by coach waving to my Brother.

Back at my seat…A waiter from the Pantry came asking if anyone required lunch and I asked for one Veg. Meal. He gave it almost immediately. The lunch consisted of Two Chapattis, One Veg Accompaniment, Rice, Sambar and Curd. The meal was tasty and purely south Indian! I finished my meal by time the train pulled into Bangalore Cantonment and headed to the door to have a look at our train. My coach was the 16 th from the loco and the rake looked marvelous at curves! We were made to stop at Baiyappanahalli for a crossing. After about 5 minutes of waiting, our rake started moving. Soon the monsters arrived…Twin Itarsi WDM2's hauling the Karnataka Express. The locos were #18494 & #18386, both identical WDM2's. We left Baiyappanahalli and joined the line towards Yelahanka. I settled back to my coach. Now Bed-rolls were supplied. They were neatly packed in paper covers and bore the words “Central Railway – Solapur Division. Happy Journey. Thank you!” I was surprised. Bed-rolls being supplied by Solapur division in a train operated by Mumbai Division!!! The occupancy was poor and many seats were empty in my coach alone, while sleeper coaches seemed to be full. We slowed down near Viduraswattha due to speed restriction imposed due to maintenance works. We crossed the Yeshwantpur bound 434 passenger from Guntur. The train was hauled by WDM2 #17351 from Guntakkal and the rake was owned by SWR. We had a good run until Hindupur where we had a scheduled halt. After Hindupur, we resumed our good run and we did it till Dharmavaram. I wanted to check our power and decided to walk to the coach nearest to the Loco. Most sleeper coaches were of the early 90s and a few were of late 80s. Just as the train pulled into Dharmavaram, I got down and checked the power. The loco was WDM3A #14024 ‘Baldie' from Krishnarajapuram working Short-Hood forward. The loco pilots changed here. I slowly walked back to my coach was just surprised to see that our train reached the station at 1608, about 7 minutes before time. I decided to try those famous “Dhal Wada's” from Dharmavaram. They sell 3 pieces for 10 bucks! At about 1620, the Yeshwantpur bound Karnataka Sampark Kranti pulled in with an unidentified WDP4. We left the station at 1625, delayed by 5 minutes. We pulled into Anantapur at 1659, delayed by about 5 minutes. We crossed our pairing train here! The loco hauling the 1013 express was WDM3A #17961 from Krishnarajapuram. The train left sharp at 1700. We had a superb run from here. We pulled into the loop line of a small station called “Garladinne” for a crossing. We crossed a BCN-A rake hauled by WDG4 #12033 here. After the crossing, our train picked speed. We had scheduled halts at Kalluru and Gooty. After Gooty, we stopped at Guntakkal. We reached Guntakkal at 1845. We crossed the Vasco bound Amaravati express here. After a small break, we resumed our journey at 1855.

Dinner was served at about 2000. The dinner consisted of 2 chapattis, one Veg. accompaniment, Veg Pulao, Dhal and one papad. The food served by the pantry was simply delicious. The pantry was operated by a company called “KVAC” based at Coimbatore. A huge set of passengers boarded at Mantralayam Road and this filled few seats that were previously empty. I decided to sleep and went to ‘bed' at about 2100.

I got up at about 0430 and then the train was at Kurduvadi and we crossed our pair once again! After Kurduvadi, we stopped at some unidentified station for crossing an express train, which I presume to be the Chennai Mail. Slept for some more time and finally got up at about 0600. I quickly finished my morning chores and by then, the train pulled into Daund. The time was about 0630. We were early by 10 minutes. At this time, there was an announcement that 1034 Darbhanga – Pune Express would be departing soon. There were no signs of that train moving and this ensured that we were delayed! By now the rake of the Daund-Pune passenger was shunted to the platform by its power – WDG3A #13064 from Pune. We finally left at 0700, delayed by 15 minutes. At the yard, I saw WDG3A #13110 from Abu Road! We were trailing the 1034 and this ensured that we were too slow and had to stop at many stations including Loni and Hadapsar. I decided to walk to the coach near the loco once again. As I passed through the pantry, I saw hot Dosas being made for breakfast. We pulled into Pune at 0822, delayed by close to 17 minutes. I was warmly welcomed to Pune by Ashish and Apurva Bahadur – both from IRFCA, Pune. They had another visitor in the form of Gowrishankar from Chennai. Thanks a lot to Pune gang for their hospitality. Our loco changed here and WCAM3 #21951 took charge of our train. While at Pune, a double headed BCCN rake bound to Wadi and a WDG4 hauled Container rake towards JNPT crossed us. Soon the started turned to Yellow and I had to rush back to board the train. At about 0850, we moved out of Pune. I returned back to my coach and settled down to have my breakfast.

The Breakfast consisted of 2 pieces of Masala Dosa and some Chutney and Sambar packed in pouches. Finished by breakfast and had a cup of Tea, which is served readymade in this train. Readymade here means pre-mixed tea directly dispensed into cups instead of serving Milk and Tea Bags separately. We overtook a container rake, which was actually allowed before us, at Khadki. The loco hauling the container train was WDG4 #12049. The run from Khadki to Lonavla was uneventful and we pulled into Lonavla at 0944. The train stopped for about 2 minutes and we left the station soon. As we pulled out of the station, we crossed the Pune bound Deccan Express, hauled by WCAM3 #21888. After Lonavla, the train stopped again, this time at Khandala. After Khandala, the train started it's descend across the bhore ghats. The hissing sounds of the brakes were clear and there was a burning smell emanating from the brake shoes. We stopped for a Mandatory Brake testing halt at Monkey Hill and the train was allowed to proceed down the hill. We crossed the Bangalore bound Udyan Express hauled by WDM3A #14082 from Krishnarajapuram some where between Monkey hill and Karjat. We reached Karjat at 1035. The train did not stop at Karjat, but just crawled through the station. We crossed the Kolhapur bound Koyna Express immediately after the station. I settled at my seat and saw the coach attendant counting and folding bed rolls which he collected from our coach. He confirmed that the bed-roll supply of this train is done by Solapur Division. He was also an employee of Solapur Division. We pulled into Kalyan at 1109, sharp on Time. The platforms were crowded and there was a huge rush waiting to board a local to CST. This surprised me since it was a Sunday! We next stopped at Thane. We pulled into Platform 7 of Thane. A huge rush was waiting at this platform for the Netravati Express to Trivandrum. We left Thane at 1130. We crossed the Netravati Express somewhere near Bhandup. We finally pulled into Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 1217. I rushed out of the station and walked quickly towards Tilak Nagar Suburban station. The queue was long and decided to join it – anyway I had to purchase a ticket! After getting a ticket, I went to the platform, only to find out that the platform was heavily crowded. I waited there for about 30 minutes and then boarded at local towards Panvel at about 1300. I reached my home at about 1345. Had a quick bath, finished my lunch and sat down to upload photographs! A long and exciting trip thus came to an end. Awaiting my next trip to the south!!!!

Hope you all liked my trip report. Please send me your comments about this report to binaiks@gmail.com.