Tuesday 31 December 2013

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 honkingUmroli 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. 

Saturday 28 December 2013

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.