The Rajdhani atmosphere is entirely different. India being the land of vast diversity; you get a good preference if you travel by any prestigious train. But if you travel in the Rajdhani, you get the utmost preference. It’s obvious that you get a majestic feeling when you travel such a train.
******************
Speaking about Majestic, upper case “m” intended, one fine day, I’ll probably make it in time to the major railhead of the Garden City, “Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru,” popularly known as “City Station” or simply “Majestic,” and ask the auto driver to drop me at “Madras Gate.” As I usually do, I’ll definitely read the station name "Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru" thrice- in all three languages, get the goosebumps, and head to my designated coach by completing the security check, which definitely wouldn’t be as strict as what they will be, if I’d fly to the national capital. I’m sure I’ll be spending more than what it would probably take to fly, and flying will be an option which will take me to my destination 7 times faster than the rail journey, but I’d still travel in the confines of a coach which will fight with rails for almost 1500 miles, giving gentle jerks along over a period of 34 hours; almost a day and half.
After safely locking my belongings, I’ll walk the length of the platform to check the locomotive which would date my train. I sincerely hope that it would be a diesel link until my hometown’s major railhead, Secunderabad. I’ll click a picture with the destination board which would proudly say “Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru - Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express” written in three languages, with the picture of the beautiful Mysore Neo Dravidian structure, the state legislature, Vidhana Soudha, and the ever prestigious Indian Parliament stickers on it.
Once the 1500 mile journey takes off, I’ll probably bid bye to my friends who might show up to see me off from my favourite city, and then will settle in my seat to sip the piping hot Rasam with butter and breadstick, with the train rushing past the local station where I have seen this very train skip, Malleshwaram. Then we’ll decelerate and make a nonstop dawdle past the second major railhead of the Bengaluru, Yeshwantpur, before taking on a right curve whose embankment angle can be felt from the confines of the coach and then later on pull up for some speedy run, before making a final slowdown in the city limits to skip the last junction point within Bangalore, Yelahanka, post which I’ll have my dinner, the run still speedy and I’m sure I’ll be rushing to finish it before the train enters Makali ghats.
Piping hot paneer curry with not so good chapaties, and rice with dal and curd would probably be my dinner, trust IR to not change the menu even after ages. I’ll make sure I’ll gulp down the food as soon as possible and stand on the left hand side door, probably by changing the coaches through vestibules because the most of the doors would be blocked by the catering staff. I’ll experience the train completely ignore a growing town’s only railhead, Doddaballapur, on the platform road, at full 115 KMPH, with the breeze blowing into my hair (hopefully I will have some left) and the diesel locomotive will be shooting successive proceeds at full tilt.
I’ll feel the deceleration and I’ll probably visualize the loco pilot’s actions in the cab, shifting the throttle lever down to reduce the speed and follow the speed restriction for considerable amount of distance between the railheads of two hamlets - Oddarahalli and Thondebhavi. This time, I’ll find a door on the right hand side, so that I’ll get a nice view of the ever beautiful Makalidurga range and probably peep out to gaze the mighty range with my train curving on its edge. I’ll visualise the pictures before the Makalidurga stretch was electrified, and probably will Google for the pictures of the King Karnataka Express with the mighty Itarsi twin diesels, which probably will have passed by this stretch an hour before us and eventually will be chased down and overtaken before we separate the ways. I’ll recall the memories of various trainspotting outings at Makalidurga, and once we skip Thondebhavi, I’ll head back into the confines of the coach, and call it a day.
I probably won’t be able to help myself, but I’ll definitely wake up when our train is halted at Raichur, an important city and district headquarters in North Karnataka; at the wee hours of the next morning. I’ll surely stand by the right side door for better part of coming 25 miles, recalling my childhood. Once we depart Raichur, I’ll keep searching for the towering structures of Raichur Thermal Power Station, and the moment they come into the visible range, nostalgia will hit me hard; goosebumps will come along, and I’ll cherish those moments for a lifetime. After all, it’s this place where I grew up, and it’s this place where my romance with railways began.
I’ll probably get a good glimpse of the building named “Outdoor yard” in the RTPS site, and I’ll recall the days when I used to hop into my mama’s scooter and learn computer in the very same building. Soon after it, lines from Raichur Thermal Power Station will join us, and it’ll remind me of the tipping yard, which would still leave me awestruck for the engineering concept they follow- the entire wagon is tilted to empty the coal.
Shortly following this; the mighty Krishna would give me darshan; which will take this experience to the next level. We’ll slow down to 75 KMPH, and cross the mighty river bridge across the Krishna, which happens to be the first place where I saw a train in my life. I’ll turn my gaze backward to get the complete glimpse of the Raichur Thermal Power Station and the view will definitely make me rethink about my life in the hamlet on the other bank of the river - Shaktinagar. After skipping the Krishna Station, which by then, could be a junction, I’ll head back and sleep again.
It’ll definitely be difficult, in the berth with cozy blanket and tonnes of memories in mind from childhood. Somehow I’ll manage to get some sleep, and the next morning when I wake up, we’ll be trashing the last station of Karnataka in the journey, Kurugunta. I’ll rush to the door to take in the atmosphere of Karnataka for one last time, and I’m sure whatever is present around; that belongs to Karnataka, will give a good send off to Karnataka’s most prestigious train while it exits the state for one last time in its journey.
We’ll enter Telangana for the second time, and then after trashing Tandur at a speed of one hundred and ten kilometers an hour, we’ll slow down to the sharp curves laid in foothills of the Ananthagiri Range. I’ll recall our cab ride in a train across this stretch and also my quick ride to Ananthagiri to capture the trains in the S- Curve. I’ll also recall my team outings to Hills and Valley resort, which lies right beside the railway line.
I’ll wait for Vikarabad, and I’ll stay on the left side door, and before we approach Vikarabad, I’ll peep out and see the tail lamp of Rayalaseema Express, which probably will be running with electric loco by then, and probably with more stops added to its list, it’ll still be awaiting to get overtaken by the Rajdhani. After overtaking Rayalaseema Express, we’ll rush and skip Ravulapalli Kalan, which will take me back to the trainspotting outings to capture the golden ICF days of Secunderabad Pune Shatabdi, which used to run with old Butter Scotch- Navy blue Shatabdi livery before getting shiny and monotonous LHB cars.
In all probability, we would still be competing with MMTS (local service in Hyderabad) as soon as we enter Lingampally, and as usual, I’ll be hoping that we are in front of a local train, instead of trailing one, which will screw up the run, but eventually end up trailing one. I’ll recall my engineering days when I used to bunk the college and take some rides in MMTS locals between Falaknuma and Lingampally. I’ll recall my 2014 days, where occasionally I used to miss the cab at work, hop into my colleague’s two wheeler; who would drop me at Hi Tech City station and I used to return home by catching MMTS local. We’ll skip Begumpet and by this time, passengers who are to alight at Secunderabad will come out and stand by the corridors, and for once, I’ll be the guy without any luggage, and will be standing at the door as the train would block all the westbound lines of headquarters of South Central Railway, Secunderabad and majestically enter the platform 10. I’ll definitely recall the Sundays when I used to stand by the platform and see Rajdhani depart with my fellow railfans.
I’ll make a quick dash to the locomotive, and witness the locomotive change. The best locomotive class from Lallaguda electric loco shed will be handed the responsibilities of taking the Rajdhani forward, and the crew will continue to perform their checks, during which time I’ll rush back to my coach.
We’ll depart Secunderabad, hopefully on time, and then we’ll have a crazy run at one twenty Kilometers per hour.
I’ll definitely recall the memories of my trainspotting days along this route; places from where I spotted trains- Secunderabad Outer, Lalaguda fly over, Moula Ali, Moula Ali C Cabin, Charlapalli, Infosys, Yamnampet flyover, Ghatkesar, Aushapur, Bibinagar, Pagidipalli, Bhongir- Raigir and more; by which time the train will have gone ahead of Konark Express to Bhubaneshwar, which would have got looped in one of the stations mentioned above. I’ll recall my journey in Konark Express and why I’ll need to do it again. By this time I would finish my breakfast, we’ll be rushing past Pindial, and the intercity to Guntur will be looped at Pindial, waiting for us to overtake.
We’ll reach Kazipet and hour and half, against the scheduled 1 hour 40 minutes, which calls for an extended halt. NIT Warangal students from Bengaluru will alight with their luggage and the few students travelling to New Delhi will probably join us. We’ll depart Kazipet, and enter the Grand Trunk route. Lakes on either side of tracks will give Rajdhani a warm welcome into the Grand Trunk route, and then we’ll ignore some hamlets like Bisugir Sharief and Odela. We’ll skip Ramagundam; the nearest Railhead to National Thermal Power Station, Ramagundam, at full 120 KMPH and people waiting on platform will stare at the train speeding through the station, most of them envious ones.
We’ll then cross the mighty bridge across river Godavari, and probably by then, the third bridge would be commissioned. Soon after we cross the mighty Godavari, we’ll skip Mancheryal at the same speed and this time, we’ll be overtaking the Gorakhpur express. Soon after we skip Mancheryal, we’ll cross the longest running daily superfast train, Kerala Express to Trivandrum Central.
We’ll overtake one more weekly service just before bidding adieu to Telangana, and we’ll enter Maharashtra, cross the bridge over river Wardha, and finally enter Balharshah, a good 5-10 minutes ahead of our schedule. We’ll be greeted by our counterpart and the Telangana Express bound for Hyderabad. I’ll take the tea at the station vendor, which is probably one of the best of the kind I’ve ever had. I’ll probably take an extra cup of tea and have it as well. We’ll depart Balharshah, and start chasing the Telangana Express bound for New Delhi. In our chase, we’ll overtake the Nandigram Express to Nagpur, but the target remains - Telangana Express. We’ll cross trains like Grand Trunk Express to Chennai Central, Howrah Mumbai Mail to Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus Mumbai, Tamil Nadu Express bound for Chennai Central etc. In the meantime, the prestigious Telangana Express will be looped at Majri or Hinganghat or Sonegaon, to make way for the Primo Supremo Rajdhani, and the railfans in Telangana (if any) will definitely not miss out to capture the moment.
By then, we’ll be nearing the city of Oranges- Nagpur. We’ll cross the Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium, and I’ll definitely recall the Indian World Cup losses to the Proteas (in 2011 Cricket World Cup) and to the Kiwis (in 2016 T20 Cricket World Cup), and definitely I’ll recall those days, the way India won the 2011 World Cup, and lost to West Indies in 2016 T20 World Cup.
We’ll depart Nagpur and the catering staff will serve us with the evening snacks- the delicious samosas, Haldirams namkeen, vegetable sandwich, and a Frooty.
I’ll watch the Rajdhani skip a remote station, Kohli, and then we’ll enter the Satpura Range. I’ll be at the door to witness the red snake amidst these ranges, and will participate in the hide and seek which both the up and down lines play. We’ll cross the Dakshin to Hyderabad and Sanghamitra to KSR Bengaluru here, and I’ll hope that I get a glimpse of those trains, considering the two lines are laid in different alignments, which meet occasionally.
We’ll have yet another bout of speedy run on the plains and we’ll skip some stations like Amla, Betul, before we enter another range of mountains, called Mahadeo Hills, between Maramjhiri and Darakhoh. This one, I’ll stand by door, considering that it’ll probably be the last stretch crossed in daylight in the journey to New Delhi, and after we skip Darakhoh, I’ll keep waiting for the next station on the line- Ghoradongari, the place from which there are numerous videos on YouTube.
Once we skip Ghoradongari, it would be dark, I’ll have my dinner, and I’ll retire for the day, recalling all the events that happened on the day, the way we were given top priority by holding up prestegious trains like Telangana Express. I’ll keep a track of where the Tamil Nadu Express bound for New Delhi is and Goa Super to Nizamuddin is. We’ll have crossed Itarsi, Bhopal and I’ll wake up for the alarm I would have set for at 01.00 hours, disturbing my co passengers. I’ll hit the door, and watch the train depart Jhansi. I’ll watch the Bengaluru Rajdhani cross the Mighty Karnataka Express, and I’ll wait until Banmor, where the Big Boss, Tamil Nadu Express will be looped, and will be waiting for the Rajdhani to go ahead.
I’ll count the number of coaches we overtake, and I’ll witness the mighty Big Boss being overtaken by the Primo Supremo, once again. I’ll recall how I happened to capture the moment last time around, and I’ll call up my friend who was tracking the train last time around while I was sleeping and helped me in recording the overtake by waking me up right before the overtake.
The next day morning, I’ll wake up at around Palwal, and I’ll be obviously sad. The journey is coming to an end, and the romance with Rajdhani is all set to end. I’ll still see the Goa Express overtake, if at all it managed to escape until we reach Palwal, and then will go in, take my luggage, and stand at the door. As we skip Asaoti, I’ll imagine how the Bengaluru bound Rajdhani would be skipping the Makali Ranges at the same time. We’ll be clocking 130 KMPH flat though.
Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Tughlakabad, and gradually we’ll slow down, and within blink of an eye, Rajdhani will find itself in concrete jungle and eventually I’ll find myself on the platform of Hazrat Nizamuddin.
While I imagine all this, the announcement for 22692 Hazrat Nizamuddin - Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Rajdhani Express repeats continually in three languages- English, Hindi and Telugu. We head to Rajdhani loco point, the trains pulls in with Lallaguda WAP 7 class loco road no. 30238. After doing a tedious job; the crew head out for some much needed rest, as the locomotive is detached. Rajdhani atmosphere, as I said, is the pristine atmosphere, and I totally sink into it. Diesel locomotive from Krishnarajapuram shed, WDP4D class locomotive, finds itself the charge of the mighty Rajdhani, Road no. 40240.
Secunderabad,
August 6, 2016.
 |
| The mighty Bengaluru Rajdhani Express. |
******************
Speaking about Majestic, upper case “m” intended, one fine day, I’ll probably make it in time to the major railhead of the Garden City, “Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru,” popularly known as “City Station” or simply “Majestic,” and ask the auto driver to drop me at “Madras Gate.” As I usually do, I’ll definitely read the station name "Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru" thrice- in all three languages, get the goosebumps, and head to my designated coach by completing the security check, which definitely wouldn’t be as strict as what they will be, if I’d fly to the national capital. I’m sure I’ll be spending more than what it would probably take to fly, and flying will be an option which will take me to my destination 7 times faster than the rail journey, but I’d still travel in the confines of a coach which will fight with rails for almost 1500 miles, giving gentle jerks along over a period of 34 hours; almost a day and half.
After safely locking my belongings, I’ll walk the length of the platform to check the locomotive which would date my train. I sincerely hope that it would be a diesel link until my hometown’s major railhead, Secunderabad. I’ll click a picture with the destination board which would proudly say “Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru - Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express” written in three languages, with the picture of the beautiful Mysore Neo Dravidian structure, the state legislature, Vidhana Soudha, and the ever prestigious Indian Parliament stickers on it.
Once the 1500 mile journey takes off, I’ll probably bid bye to my friends who might show up to see me off from my favourite city, and then will settle in my seat to sip the piping hot Rasam with butter and breadstick, with the train rushing past the local station where I have seen this very train skip, Malleshwaram. Then we’ll decelerate and make a nonstop dawdle past the second major railhead of the Bengaluru, Yeshwantpur, before taking on a right curve whose embankment angle can be felt from the confines of the coach and then later on pull up for some speedy run, before making a final slowdown in the city limits to skip the last junction point within Bangalore, Yelahanka, post which I’ll have my dinner, the run still speedy and I’m sure I’ll be rushing to finish it before the train enters Makali ghats.
Piping hot paneer curry with not so good chapaties, and rice with dal and curd would probably be my dinner, trust IR to not change the menu even after ages. I’ll make sure I’ll gulp down the food as soon as possible and stand on the left hand side door, probably by changing the coaches through vestibules because the most of the doors would be blocked by the catering staff. I’ll experience the train completely ignore a growing town’s only railhead, Doddaballapur, on the platform road, at full 115 KMPH, with the breeze blowing into my hair (hopefully I will have some left) and the diesel locomotive will be shooting successive proceeds at full tilt.
I’ll feel the deceleration and I’ll probably visualize the loco pilot’s actions in the cab, shifting the throttle lever down to reduce the speed and follow the speed restriction for considerable amount of distance between the railheads of two hamlets - Oddarahalli and Thondebhavi. This time, I’ll find a door on the right hand side, so that I’ll get a nice view of the ever beautiful Makalidurga range and probably peep out to gaze the mighty range with my train curving on its edge. I’ll visualise the pictures before the Makalidurga stretch was electrified, and probably will Google for the pictures of the King Karnataka Express with the mighty Itarsi twin diesels, which probably will have passed by this stretch an hour before us and eventually will be chased down and overtaken before we separate the ways. I’ll recall the memories of various trainspotting outings at Makalidurga, and once we skip Thondebhavi, I’ll head back into the confines of the coach, and call it a day.
I probably won’t be able to help myself, but I’ll definitely wake up when our train is halted at Raichur, an important city and district headquarters in North Karnataka; at the wee hours of the next morning. I’ll surely stand by the right side door for better part of coming 25 miles, recalling my childhood. Once we depart Raichur, I’ll keep searching for the towering structures of Raichur Thermal Power Station, and the moment they come into the visible range, nostalgia will hit me hard; goosebumps will come along, and I’ll cherish those moments for a lifetime. After all, it’s this place where I grew up, and it’s this place where my romance with railways began.
I’ll probably get a good glimpse of the building named “Outdoor yard” in the RTPS site, and I’ll recall the days when I used to hop into my mama’s scooter and learn computer in the very same building. Soon after it, lines from Raichur Thermal Power Station will join us, and it’ll remind me of the tipping yard, which would still leave me awestruck for the engineering concept they follow- the entire wagon is tilted to empty the coal.
 |
| The 12 hour late running Rajdhani Express crossing river Krishna in broad day light. Very rare occurrence. |
Shortly following this; the mighty Krishna would give me darshan; which will take this experience to the next level. We’ll slow down to 75 KMPH, and cross the mighty river bridge across the Krishna, which happens to be the first place where I saw a train in my life. I’ll turn my gaze backward to get the complete glimpse of the Raichur Thermal Power Station and the view will definitely make me rethink about my life in the hamlet on the other bank of the river - Shaktinagar. After skipping the Krishna Station, which by then, could be a junction, I’ll head back and sleep again.
It’ll definitely be difficult, in the berth with cozy blanket and tonnes of memories in mind from childhood. Somehow I’ll manage to get some sleep, and the next morning when I wake up, we’ll be trashing the last station of Karnataka in the journey, Kurugunta. I’ll rush to the door to take in the atmosphere of Karnataka for one last time, and I’m sure whatever is present around; that belongs to Karnataka, will give a good send off to Karnataka’s most prestigious train while it exits the state for one last time in its journey.
We’ll enter Telangana for the second time, and then after trashing Tandur at a speed of one hundred and ten kilometers an hour, we’ll slow down to the sharp curves laid in foothills of the Ananthagiri Range. I’ll recall our cab ride in a train across this stretch and also my quick ride to Ananthagiri to capture the trains in the S- Curve. I’ll also recall my team outings to Hills and Valley resort, which lies right beside the railway line.
I’ll wait for Vikarabad, and I’ll stay on the left side door, and before we approach Vikarabad, I’ll peep out and see the tail lamp of Rayalaseema Express, which probably will be running with electric loco by then, and probably with more stops added to its list, it’ll still be awaiting to get overtaken by the Rajdhani. After overtaking Rayalaseema Express, we’ll rush and skip Ravulapalli Kalan, which will take me back to the trainspotting outings to capture the golden ICF days of Secunderabad Pune Shatabdi, which used to run with old Butter Scotch- Navy blue Shatabdi livery before getting shiny and monotonous LHB cars.
In all probability, we would still be competing with MMTS (local service in Hyderabad) as soon as we enter Lingampally, and as usual, I’ll be hoping that we are in front of a local train, instead of trailing one, which will screw up the run, but eventually end up trailing one. I’ll recall my engineering days when I used to bunk the college and take some rides in MMTS locals between Falaknuma and Lingampally. I’ll recall my 2014 days, where occasionally I used to miss the cab at work, hop into my colleague’s two wheeler; who would drop me at Hi Tech City station and I used to return home by catching MMTS local. We’ll skip Begumpet and by this time, passengers who are to alight at Secunderabad will come out and stand by the corridors, and for once, I’ll be the guy without any luggage, and will be standing at the door as the train would block all the westbound lines of headquarters of South Central Railway, Secunderabad and majestically enter the platform 10. I’ll definitely recall the Sundays when I used to stand by the platform and see Rajdhani depart with my fellow railfans.
I’ll make a quick dash to the locomotive, and witness the locomotive change. The best locomotive class from Lallaguda electric loco shed will be handed the responsibilities of taking the Rajdhani forward, and the crew will continue to perform their checks, during which time I’ll rush back to my coach.
We’ll depart Secunderabad, hopefully on time, and then we’ll have a crazy run at one twenty Kilometers per hour.
 |
| Rajdhani at Aushapur with Lallaguda beast! |
I’ll definitely recall the memories of my trainspotting days along this route; places from where I spotted trains- Secunderabad Outer, Lalaguda fly over, Moula Ali, Moula Ali C Cabin, Charlapalli, Infosys, Yamnampet flyover, Ghatkesar, Aushapur, Bibinagar, Pagidipalli, Bhongir- Raigir and more; by which time the train will have gone ahead of Konark Express to Bhubaneshwar, which would have got looped in one of the stations mentioned above. I’ll recall my journey in Konark Express and why I’ll need to do it again. By this time I would finish my breakfast, we’ll be rushing past Pindial, and the intercity to Guntur will be looped at Pindial, waiting for us to overtake.
We’ll reach Kazipet and hour and half, against the scheduled 1 hour 40 minutes, which calls for an extended halt. NIT Warangal students from Bengaluru will alight with their luggage and the few students travelling to New Delhi will probably join us. We’ll depart Kazipet, and enter the Grand Trunk route. Lakes on either side of tracks will give Rajdhani a warm welcome into the Grand Trunk route, and then we’ll ignore some hamlets like Bisugir Sharief and Odela. We’ll skip Ramagundam; the nearest Railhead to National Thermal Power Station, Ramagundam, at full 120 KMPH and people waiting on platform will stare at the train speeding through the station, most of them envious ones.
We’ll then cross the mighty bridge across river Godavari, and probably by then, the third bridge would be commissioned. Soon after we cross the mighty Godavari, we’ll skip Mancheryal at the same speed and this time, we’ll be overtaking the Gorakhpur express. Soon after we skip Mancheryal, we’ll cross the longest running daily superfast train, Kerala Express to Trivandrum Central.
 |
| Rajdhani amidst Yadadri Range. |
We’ll overtake one more weekly service just before bidding adieu to Telangana, and we’ll enter Maharashtra, cross the bridge over river Wardha, and finally enter Balharshah, a good 5-10 minutes ahead of our schedule. We’ll be greeted by our counterpart and the Telangana Express bound for Hyderabad. I’ll take the tea at the station vendor, which is probably one of the best of the kind I’ve ever had. I’ll probably take an extra cup of tea and have it as well. We’ll depart Balharshah, and start chasing the Telangana Express bound for New Delhi. In our chase, we’ll overtake the Nandigram Express to Nagpur, but the target remains - Telangana Express. We’ll cross trains like Grand Trunk Express to Chennai Central, Howrah Mumbai Mail to Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus Mumbai, Tamil Nadu Express bound for Chennai Central etc. In the meantime, the prestigious Telangana Express will be looped at Majri or Hinganghat or Sonegaon, to make way for the Primo Supremo Rajdhani, and the railfans in Telangana (if any) will definitely not miss out to capture the moment.
By then, we’ll be nearing the city of Oranges- Nagpur. We’ll cross the Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium, and I’ll definitely recall the Indian World Cup losses to the Proteas (in 2011 Cricket World Cup) and to the Kiwis (in 2016 T20 Cricket World Cup), and definitely I’ll recall those days, the way India won the 2011 World Cup, and lost to West Indies in 2016 T20 World Cup.
We’ll depart Nagpur and the catering staff will serve us with the evening snacks- the delicious samosas, Haldirams namkeen, vegetable sandwich, and a Frooty.
I’ll watch the Rajdhani skip a remote station, Kohli, and then we’ll enter the Satpura Range. I’ll be at the door to witness the red snake amidst these ranges, and will participate in the hide and seek which both the up and down lines play. We’ll cross the Dakshin to Hyderabad and Sanghamitra to KSR Bengaluru here, and I’ll hope that I get a glimpse of those trains, considering the two lines are laid in different alignments, which meet occasionally.
We’ll have yet another bout of speedy run on the plains and we’ll skip some stations like Amla, Betul, before we enter another range of mountains, called Mahadeo Hills, between Maramjhiri and Darakhoh. This one, I’ll stand by door, considering that it’ll probably be the last stretch crossed in daylight in the journey to New Delhi, and after we skip Darakhoh, I’ll keep waiting for the next station on the line- Ghoradongari, the place from which there are numerous videos on YouTube.
Once we skip Ghoradongari, it would be dark, I’ll have my dinner, and I’ll retire for the day, recalling all the events that happened on the day, the way we were given top priority by holding up prestegious trains like Telangana Express. I’ll keep a track of where the Tamil Nadu Express bound for New Delhi is and Goa Super to Nizamuddin is. We’ll have crossed Itarsi, Bhopal and I’ll wake up for the alarm I would have set for at 01.00 hours, disturbing my co passengers. I’ll hit the door, and watch the train depart Jhansi. I’ll watch the Bengaluru Rajdhani cross the Mighty Karnataka Express, and I’ll wait until Banmor, where the Big Boss, Tamil Nadu Express will be looped, and will be waiting for the Rajdhani to go ahead.
I’ll count the number of coaches we overtake, and I’ll witness the mighty Big Boss being overtaken by the Primo Supremo, once again. I’ll recall how I happened to capture the moment last time around, and I’ll call up my friend who was tracking the train last time around while I was sleeping and helped me in recording the overtake by waking me up right before the overtake.
The next day morning, I’ll wake up at around Palwal, and I’ll be obviously sad. The journey is coming to an end, and the romance with Rajdhani is all set to end. I’ll still see the Goa Express overtake, if at all it managed to escape until we reach Palwal, and then will go in, take my luggage, and stand at the door. As we skip Asaoti, I’ll imagine how the Bengaluru bound Rajdhani would be skipping the Makali Ranges at the same time. We’ll be clocking 130 KMPH flat though.
Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Tughlakabad, and gradually we’ll slow down, and within blink of an eye, Rajdhani will find itself in concrete jungle and eventually I’ll find myself on the platform of Hazrat Nizamuddin.
******************
While I imagine all this, the announcement for 22692 Hazrat Nizamuddin - Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Rajdhani Express repeats continually in three languages- English, Hindi and Telugu. We head to Rajdhani loco point, the trains pulls in with Lallaguda WAP 7 class loco road no. 30238. After doing a tedious job; the crew head out for some much needed rest, as the locomotive is detached. Rajdhani atmosphere, as I said, is the pristine atmosphere, and I totally sink into it. Diesel locomotive from Krishnarajapuram shed, WDP4D class locomotive, finds itself the charge of the mighty Rajdhani, Road no. 40240.
Secunderabad,
August 6, 2016.
