Bengaluru Rajdhani- The Primo Supremo!

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.

The mighty Bengaluru Rajdhani Express.

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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.

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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.

Flag Exchange

After a confused start to a day, I find myself, well within my train departure time, at Nellore railway station. The confusion and the special mention of "well within my train departure time," I'll leave it for some other time.

I have visited Nellore earlier, and my friend, who now stays in the US of A, had accompanied me back then. I'm well acquainted with the station given that I had visited the same place sometime ago. This time, I had come alone on some other purpose, and there was a flurry of déjà vu while I was walking in the station or around the town.

I give a thought of placing my luggage on the platform, but later conclude that its a bad idea. I instead go to the place my coach is supposed to halt, and I hear a honk from the other side of the line. I take few steps towards the other platform, and hearing the honk and at the pace at which it was coming, I speculate that the train coming is some freight.

File Picture of a Flag Exchange.

I observe the station master and khalasi come out with their green flags, to manually confirm the green signal ahead and reassure that everything was fine to continue their journey and this process is referred as "Flag Exchange" or "Signal Exchange".

Clearing the bridge over river Pennar which is right before the station, the locomotive curves into the platform.

Erode WAG 7 with a Prancing Deer printed on its face- freight, as expected.

The loco pilot and his assistant proudly put their green flags on the either side of the locomotive, a good 200 meters from where the station master and Khalasi were standing. No sooner than the cabin crew put their flags out, than the Station Master and Khalasi raise their right arms with green flag held.

This is a special moment for a railfan, witnessing the exchange of the signals (or flags) of a particular train with the station master of some station the train is passing by or the crew of some other train, and it was after long time I was watching this. In fact, it was the first time I was witnessing the flag exchange from a close quarter.

As the loco was approaching the point of flag exchange, I get more and more edgy, and as soon as I see both the pairs lift the flag in the air while they meet, I tell myself "these are the moments you live for."

[WATCH] What it Feels like to be Inside the Mighty Gatimaan Express.

The way I see train is entirely different. I'm not from the bunch of people who will write it down telling "Indian Railways has poor food," or "Indian Trains are unhygienic," instead I'm a kind of soul who will find for the trains which are maintained well and has good food to travel.

I'm a railfan. You can find more about what it is like to be a railfan by checking the link on the word railfan. As soon as I heard Gatimaan was going to be inaugurated, my feeling was nothing lesser than a fan's heart moments before his favorite hero's movie releases.

I had already traveled in Bhopal Shatabdi Express, which clocks 150 KMPH in the same section, however Gatimaan was something I had to do!

Myself and a friend had a plan to travel in it June, but due to certain changes in my personal life, I know I was going to be busy at that point of time with some other work. So, I roughly made a plan, on Tuesday, and somehow got it materialized.

Thursday: Dakshin Express
Friday: Journey.
Saturday: Arrival at 04:05 hours at Nizamuddin.
Saturday: NZM-AGC Gatimaan.

My mind had only this plan until the time I had booked the tickets.

With some hustle and bustle in office, I managed to book a Tatkal Ticket in Dakshin Express.

After I got it, I reached home, and then I made the return itinerary. It was soon evident that I had to fly back, given the time constrain I was given at home. So I chose 12625 Trivandrum Central-New Delhi Kerala Express between Agra and New Delhi, followed by 18:35 IndiGo to Hyderabad.

Everything got materialized, and at 04.20 hours on April 9, I found myself on Hazrat Nizamuddin Platform 4.

I got ready in the train itself, and I was looking for the option of fast forwarding those 200 odd minutes.

I was roaming around, and trains from destinations across India- Malwa Express, Chattisgarh Express, Bengaluru Rajdhani Express, Goa Express, Pune Duronto Express, Goa Sampark Kranthi Express, Tamil Nadu Express, Thirukkural Express, Karnataka Sampark Kranthi Express, Taj Express were busy.

In the meanwhile, I had some okay-ish Kachoris, washed down with a cup of tea.

The time had finally passed, as Gatimaan was announced on Platform 5. Taj Express was scheduled to depart on Platform 5 by 07:05, so it meant that Gatimaan will follow Taj Express.

I was in dilemma, hoping for no last moment platform changes, but then, the train hostess had already assembled on platform 5 with their heavy kits, which made it evident that there won't be any platform change.

Taj Express departed, and I was surprised to see the platform fully crowded. I asked my friends to check the availability, and Gatimaan was in Waiting list! This wasn't something I was looking for, considering a railfan has certain favorite seats in the coach, which will give the experience of a train ride to the maximum.

Looking at the coach layout, it was evident that I was either going to get the best one (facing the locomotive and the side which has down line) or the worst one (non track side, reverse pulling). I was hoping for the best to happen.

Honk of a train interrupted my thoughts, and BOOM! Gatimaan is here.

GZB WAP 5 #30007 Pulls the Gatimaan on the Platform!

As soon as rake was berthed, I found that my fate was bad and I got the worst possible seat in the coach. I was happy that I was able to get a window, considering there were huge number of people who didn't get even that!

Beautiful rail hostess welcomed us with a water bottle and welcome drink.

There were some selfies taken with the board and I had taken one such too :) .

People settled down with few seat exchanges, and the clock stuck 08.10 and the train departed. Loco pilots made their intention clear- "SMASH!!!"

As soon as the train cleared points- it was like a EMU/Local Train acceleration and we were already cruising at 120 KMPH within 2 KMs. Then there were few speed restrictions imposed near Faridabad, and the mighty Gatimaan was doing what everyone was waiting for- 160 KMPH.

Being a Railfan is always handy. You have all the tools you need!

Before I realized I was living my dream, we overtook a train between Chandigarh-Madgaon, "Goa Sampark Kranthi Express" at a remote station, "Asaoti," which is famous for high speed trains among railfans. I was awestuck at the sight- the way we overtook.

And in the very next station, a train from Shri Ganganagar to Howrah- "Udyan Abha Toofan Express" was brutally overtaken by Gatimaan!

While I was happy that we were given at most priority on the section, I was envious that I was missing out the fun from other side of the world. I videograph trains and Gatimaan is one such which I would definitely do it one day!

The beautiful hostess interrupted my romance with the Gatimaan, as she asked for my breakfast preference. "Vegetarian- South" I immediately respond. She hands over a tray and the food was not so impressive.

It wasn't so tasty, but the way it was served was decent.

I finish this at jet speed to make sure I get maximum out of this trip, and while eating this, we overtook some unknown train at some unknown location.

The next one to be gulped down by Gatimaan was Taj Express. It departed 65 minutes before Gatimaan, only to bow down to the mighty Gatimaan 113 Kilometers after Hazrat Nizamuddin.

And there was one more, awaiting Gatimaan to go ahead!

Train bound to the southern most tip of country- Thirukkural Express, was waiting for our train at Kosi Kalan.

It was unfortunate from the part of Thirukkural's passengers, as they could witness Gatimaan overtaking their train at just 90 KMPH, due to the speed restriction at the station.

We slowed down, and Gatimaan skipped Mathura Junction at the reduced speed, and as soon as we skipped Mathura, it was an EMU acceleration again! Within no time, Gatimaan accelerated to 160 KMPH and we were given the best preference in the biggest Rail Network on this planet!

Gatimaan ignored few remote Uttar Pradesh stations, and we decelerate at Billochpura, to meet the speed restriction at Raja ki Mandi, which is the penultimate station! After having observed the speed restriction, loco pilot gave one final acceleration, and BOOM, Gatimaan was taken into Agra Cantonment Platform 6 at 09.43 hours, 7 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival.

If you get goosebumps when you see a train- make sure you have a ride in this wonderful train! Also, you may watch my collection of videos in my YouTube channel.

Konkan Trip in Pictures: The Konkan Expedition.

After having relieved some stress in my life, I thought of going to a trip, and what better place could it be in the month of August, except the mighty Konkan land. To add up to the reasons, I had to visit Gokarna for some reason, and I had chalked out a trip. Secunderabad-Bengaluru City in Rajdhani Express, Bengaluru City-Gokarna in Karwar Express, Gokarna-Madgaon in Matsyagandha Express, Madgaon-Kacheguda in Amaravathi Express slip. I had booked the tickets, thanks to my friends' IRCTC transactions.

20029 was powering my Rajdhani Express, bound for Bengaluru City. It had come with LGD WAP 7 30318, all the way from Hazrat Nizamuddin.

I woke up to a phone call and I heard a strange news, about the accident of Bengaluru City Nanded Express. I just checked with my buddies and I came to know that we were about to be rerouted via Pakala-Katpadi- Jolarpettai-Bangarpet.

No sooner did I hear the news, than our train pulled out from Dharmavaram towards Pakala.

This line is the line which recently underwent guage conversions. Although the sectional MPS of this section ranges between 60-80 with numerous permanent speed restrictions, there are not many trains in this section, which means Rajdhani had a Rajdhani-esque run amidst the Royal rocks of Rayalaseema.

Probably for the first time Rajdhani Express had travesed across Horsley Hills.

Beautiful sunrise at Rayalaseema.

These people need a special mention, because these people were working consistently so that people on board are served at least some thing. In route diverted train with on board catering, its not easy to serve 1000 people with food without food being loaded at intermediate stations.

These people managed to serve 2A passengers with breakfast and late lunch, however managed to serve either breakfast or lunch to the 3A passengers. They were kind enough to make sure requests were fulfilled immediately from passengers who had infants.

Our train, probably for the first time with an electric locomotive, enters Katpadi, around 20 minutes before 12245 Howrah-Yeswantpur Duronto was scheduled to pass by. We had a crew change, I had quickly purchased some food, just in case if I was hungry.

Duronto trailed us up to Jolarpettai Junction, where we made way for the Duronto, lead by Santragacchi WAP 4.

This reminded me about the 2013 Laila Toofan, when tracks were washed off at Costal Andhra Pradesh and 12245 was diverted via Secunderabad, when Duronto was just infront of Rajdhani up to Nagpur, and then Rajdhani overtook Duronto and they both closely followed until Bengaluru City/Yeswantpur.

History made, although for wrong reasons- Bengaluru City Rajdhani entering Yeswantpur Junction with Electric Loco for the first time in history.

Being an ardent fan of Bengaluru Rajdhani Express, I couldn't have experienced this in a better way.

After deboarding Rajdhani, I took 16523 Bengaluru City-Karwar Express, upto Gokarna.

This is early in the morning at Subrahmanya Road, where the monster in the right woke up along with me (cranked up).

We had passed Shiradi Ghats, and then we crossed the mighty Netravathi River, around Kabakaputtur.

We entered into Mangaluru Central amidst heavy rain. I had breakfast at Mangaluru Central, and trust me, you will love the wada at this station.

And no sooner our 16523 was into Konkan, we were looped into Thokur, to cross Konkan Railway giant- Matsyagandha Express, and it showed up with an offlink all the way from Ratlam.

We continued to wait, which meant Kochuveli Garib Rath was also on its way. It showed up with Ernakulam ALCo, long hood forward.

We continued our journey and I thoroughly enjoyed the run in Konkan Railway. We were halted at Manki, to cross Okha-Ernakulam Express, which went past with customary Twin ALCos from Ernakulam.

16523 dropped me at Gokarna Road with a good delay of 1 hour. I checked into hotel, which was quite cheap, and then headed for darshan.

Once I was done with Darshan, I visited the Gokarna Beach to click the sunset.

I went into the miighty Arabian sea to feel the water on my legs. I had waited almost around 1 hour to see this wonderful sunset.

The only regret I carry is I haven't seen a perfect sunset till date, where the sun dips into horizon, not into intermediate clouds.

A Shiva Lingam was put up and something was written in Telugu itself, which meant someone from Andhra Pradesh/Telangana had commissioned the statue.

After the sunset, I had a good sleep.

The next day, I went to a sight seeing place nearby for some time, and then visited this beautiful Aganashini River, to which my friend Kevin Russel Sequeira was coming over. We had confusion till we executed the plan, given that both Sharavathi River and Aganashini River were really picturesque. We stuck to Aganashini because I could reach to this place directly and easily.

As soon as I came here, I could hear a honk from the Mirjan tunnel, and to my surprise, it was this KR patrolling van.

I had walked to the bank of the river, waiting for two trains to show up. Being in constant touch with Kevin, who was onboard 16336 NCJ-GIMB Express, kept giving me live updates.

Few local people at Mirjan made me feel good, by inviting me into their home if at all I had any issue. I thanked them, and continued my wait, hoping for a unlikely Ro-Ro/Freight. Unfortunately, nothing turned up.

I did some local wandering in the village, and there were hardly any people around. Few people started their day by going on to fish, few kids went to school, everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

At one point, everything I saw was green. No matter where you see, only thing you could see is greenery.

And as soon as Kev got down at Kumta, he took a bus, and he informed me to be ready because the action for the day was about to begin.

As he said, Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express chugged past the Aganashini River with twin ALCos homed at Ernakulam.

This being first train to shoot, I had messed up with the EXIF. I made sure that I won't be messing up with the Magnum Opus of spottings of that day- Trivandrum Rajdhani.

Kev had updated me about Rajdhani passing Kumta, and I got ready. But it was very unfortunate that my lens had accummulated some fog, and I didn't knew how it happened. Luckily, it was on the external glass and my microfiber cloth made sure my camera is fit to capture the Rajdhani.

And GOC WDP3A goes past River Aganashini with the mighty Trivandrum Rajdhani Express in the tow.

And as soon as the Rajdhani passed by, Kevin walked in.

We rushed to the other side of the bridge. 

And no sooner we went to the other side of the bridge, than came the LTT-ERS Duronto Express, with an Kalyan WDM3D in the lead.

And it rushed past to Kumta, doing the LHBesque cling-clangs.

Few moments after Duronto rushed past, the third Premium Class train on trott, this time the longest running Duronto Express of Indian Railways, Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express blazed past with Ernakulam ALCo in the lead.

We had some leisure time, because the trains were delayed due to some reason. Almost one hour was spent without action.

We had a freight with twin WDG4s, and then 12133 The Rocket bound for Kankannady, Mangaluru.

Seen here is the Rocket bound for Mangaluru Junction.

And then went the fastest passenger of Indian Railways, the Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Passenger.

Closely trailing passenger was the Intercity Superfast between the same two destinations.

And after this, we head back to Kumta by a bus, had sumptous lunch in the bus stand cafeteria (it served delicious food), and then we head to the pleasant Kumta station.

After coming into Kumta, we had a delicious meal at Kumta Bus station, it was quite delicious, especially the rasam, which was out of world.

We reached the deserted Kumta Station, where we just experienced peace. No single train passed by, for almost 2 hours, and still we enjoyed the atmosphere.

Kevin's train to his home, 16524 Karwar-Bengaluru City Express came into Kumta, before the 22655 Trivandrum Central-Hazrat Nizamuddin Superfast, which meant we came back onto platform.

I bid Kevin good bye and we promised to meet sometime later in our lives, hoping for a better day of trainspotting.

Kevin gave me updates through phone, and he told me about the power, which was something that came to me as a surprise. Nah, I'm not talking about the WDP3A, but I'm talking about this particular WDP3A, 15519.

The home signal of Kumta was damaged, and every single train had to stop here, take the PLC (:Paper Line Clearance) from the Station Master, Kumta, and then LPs were officially asked to do the biggest crime they could commit, SPAD- Signal Passing At Danger.

By the way, being a fan of numbers, I always love the loco numbers which end with "19". 19 being my roll number since my class 1, I always had some soft corner for a loco with road number ending with "519", which was my roll number in Engineering.

15519- Check smile emotic.

I had taken the late running Matsyagandha upto Madgaon, and stayed overnight a a hotel at Madgaon.

Madgaon mornings are always beautiful, and I consider myself lucky for getting to experience one.

UBL WDP4B eclipsed KYN WDG4D, the powers of Mumbai/Dadar bound Mandovi and Janshatabdi respectively.

We departed Madgaon bang on time, and the UBL WDP4B #40016 was already into MAO yard to shunt the Mandovi Express.

Seen here is KYN WDG4D.

This happens to be my first decent capture of a WDG4D.

We had crossed KJM WDM3A powered Goa "The Super" Express at an intermediate station (it was waiting for us), and Amaravathi, the Matsyakanya, which connects Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal unflured her wings, to make us reach Qulem before time. We got bankers at Qulem, with an extended halt of 25 minutes at the same place.

Amaravathi then ascended the mighty Braganza Ghats, and everyone were glued to the doors, including me.

All my prayers came true, it was not raining when we passed Dudhsagar view point. But half of the waterfall was covered with a thick cloud, and then I didn't focus the image well.

*snap*
*failed*

Leaves Camera to rest on the strap and I thoroughly enjoyed the glimpse of the mighty Mandovi river jumping a little over 1,000 ft.

After passing Dudhsagar, I enjoyed the journey, which could be my last in this year. I kept my camera aside for sometime and thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

It was after Tornagallu, I took out the camera to shoot this brilliant scene, capturing all 58 fully loaded wagons with GY WDG4 twins- a conventional freight cannot get better.

And the WDG4 duos are ready to pull this load of BOXN wagons full of coal, most of which will be burnt and converted to electricity in coming week at the Bellary Thermal Power Station.

Slip coaches had a leisure 5 hour break at Guntakal.

This brand new unallocated WDG4 was the prime attraction of the day.

Vishnu and Kumar came to meet me at GTL. For better part of those 5 hours, many topics, all about IR, were thrown into mix.

Kumar was kind enough to take me to a nearby hotel and I had delicious set of Set Dosas too.

The last photo of the trip, clicked just before going out to eat Dosas.

Yeswantpur-Jaipur Premium Express pulls into Guntakal.