This travelogue is 2427 words long

The clock kept ticking slowly. I was looking for ways to spend time. I kept surfing through TV channels, and later settled for a Malayalam Movie being played on Asianet Plus. I was at my Aunt's place in Edapalli (Ernakulam). On that day onwards, Private bus operators had declared an indefinite strike to raise the voice against a court order which has made installation of speed governors compulsory for all heavy vehicles. Since most buses at my Native place are privately owned, I did not want to take the risk of being stranded. I came down to Ernakulam on 29 th evening itself.

I later decided to browse the internet for some time, and later went to have a bath. At about 2100, I had my dinner, and settled for yet another round of “TV Watching”. I decided to get ready. My Uncle suggested the he will drop me at 2300, while my train was at 2340. I was scared of missing the train, and asked him to drop me by 2230 itself. So, finally at about 2215 or so, we left towards Ernakulam Junction station. The roads were deserted, but the station area weren't! The station resembled a peak hour Mumbai station! There were two departures – One to Chennai Egmore, and the Other to Pune – in the next one hour. I walked into the station, and checked my Seat number – that was 8 in AS1. I glanced through the chart, and found that there was a very huge rush in Sleeper class, and many passengers were waitlisted even after preparation of chart. AC 2-Tier also had good rush while AC 3-Tier appeared empty!

I walked into the Platform and glanced around for the “Coach Position” board. I found that my coach would be the 16 th . I was surprised when I saw “PC” in the composition! Just then, I noticed that the rake of the train was parked near Platform 2! The rake was locked but the lights of AC coaches were on. I also saw the pantry car. Just around this time, the Chennai Egmore bound express from Guruvayur arrived, and left. The rake of our train was shunted in at 2325 with just 15 minutes to spare for departure. This ensured a mad rush by passengers to enter into their coaches. The train seemed to pick all its passengers from origin itself! My coach – 99112A – went quite away from where it was actually expected. My seat was close to the door itself, and I was a witness to all the commotion on the platform. The TTE came in, kept his luggage and locked them up. He went to the AC 2-Tier coach to begin his job. The train pulled out with a sudden jerk at 2345, delayed by 5 minutes. The TTE came at about 0000, checked tickets and went off. I climbed up to my Side-Upper berth, while many in the coach were still to settle down, or were having their dinner.

I tried hard to sleep, but miserably failed. I kept waking up every 30-40 minutes or so. I finally woke up at 0630. The train had crossed Kannur by then. I heard a diesel powered train rushing past while I was in the toilet. We crossed the Kannur passenger near Cheuvathur (the loco was a WDM2 from Erode). The train maintained a steady speed of about 80 kmph. At about 0725, we pulled into Kottikulam and had a red signal. The signal that too in a doubled territory was surprising! After about 15 minutes of waiting, a WDM2 (#17543) from Erode made an appearance. The train was the Thiruchirapalli bound “Link” Express. We received the signal at about 0745. The territory ahead – upto Kasaragode- was single! The construction of a bridge across the “Pysavali” river was still pending. I went to my seat and settled down reading a newspaper. The TTE was sitting just opposite to me, and was busy completing some clerical work. He was based at Shoranur. We crossed the Netravati River at 0830, and entered Kankanadi station at 0845, early by 30 minutes. I went to have a look at the loco. The loco was ahead of the platform, and taking a photo was not possible. The Loco was WDM3A #18754R from Pune.

The Loco pilots of SR were still inside, and the ones from KR hadn't come! I walked back to my coach and settled down to have breakfast and a cup of tea. The breakfast served by the Pantry consisted of two slices of bread and two pieces of Vegetable cutlet! I overheard one passenger arguing with the bearer about the quality of the product! The passenger was of the opinion the cutlet was not as good as the one served on the Deccan Queen! The bearer replied “Deccan Queen aur is gaadi mein asmaan aur zameen ka farakh hai” (There is a sky-to-earth difference between the two trains!). I decided to stay at the door for some time. Just as I was getting up from my seat, the Trivandrum bound Netravati pulled in with WDM3A #14054 (Erode) in charge. The train was about 3 hours late! I purchased a plate of hot Samosas from a Pantry vendor, and stood by the door to feast on them. There were huge lump-sized pieces of potatoes, which I fed a few crows around! Kankanadi station had a huge cache of locos. There was one WDG3A (#14641) of Erode standing quite close to my coach.

The Subrahmanya-Mangalore passenger came to the station some time after the Netravati left. Some time later, twin Erode WDM2s (#17714 & #18697) brought in a long loaded-BOXN rake. Our train got her starter at about 0939, now delayed (!!!) by 14 minutes. While on the way out, I spotted WDG3A #14616 from Golden Rock (Banking the BOXN rake that came in with twin Erode locos), WDS6 #36002 (Erode), and a triplet of WDG3As from Krishnarajapuram. The train chugged through thick forests, and lakes and a tunnel before entering Konkan Railway. The train kept going at a good pace. She suddenly slowed down on the approach to Thokur. The Mangalore bound Matsyagandha express; hauled by WDM3A #17803 of Erode was waiting for us at Thokur. A Twin Erode hauled BCNA rake was on the other Loop . The rake was banked by WDM2 #16457 from Ernakulam.

The train was made to wait at Padubidri for some unknown reason. The train moved away after 10 minutes! We pulled into Udupi at 1114, and left at 1116. At this station, we overtook a BCNA rake hauled by WDG3A #14894 from Erode. The run ahead was dry and no noteworthy incidences, except for the crossing of Sharavati River , happened. The loco pilot notched madly and the train kept “flying” in most sections. We pulled into Kumta at about 1340 for a crossing. At about 1345, the Okha-Ernakulam Express rushed past with WDM3A #17968 from Ernakulam doing the honours. The crossings in KR are handled quite effectively. Trains have to wait for hardly 5-10 minutes for the crossing, while in most other zonal railways, the trains are made to wait for 30-45 minutes for a single crossing. I went back to my coach and had lunch. I kept reading the newspaper that I had purchased in the morning again and again. The journey was getting boring. In the meantime, Karwar came and went.

At about 1459, our train pulled into Asnoti for a crossing. After 10 anxiety filled moments, a train went past. The loco was WDM2 #16012 from Kalyan! The train was a Special train run for a festival of the Syrian Christians to be held in Kerala. Our train started moving minutes later. At 1535, our train once again stopped for a crossing. This time the station was Canacona. WDM2 #17436 from Erode pulled in with the 9-coach Madgaon-Mangalore Passenger. This passenger once served as a connection to passengers arriving by Jan Shatabdhi from Mumbai. Now, with the monsoon schedule in force, the link is no more available! The train had enough crowds for her survival! All these crossings ensured that my train was late!

We finally pulled into Madgaon at 1615, delayed by 30 minutes. All “Chettans” (brothers) in our coach literally jumped down to grab “something cool” to drink and for fish preparations. I rushed to the rear end of the train to catch some action. In the meantime, I saw WDP4 #20012 “Baaz” pulling in with the rake of Konkan Kanya Express. Our loco reversed and came to the other end. The loco pilots of South-Western Railway were sitting on a bench waiting for the loco to be attached. Those poor souls will work the train all the way upto Miraj (7 hours of running!). Just after the loco was attached, twin WDG4s (#12101 and #12021) came in with a long BOXN rake. Konkan Kanya left while we were still sitting! Our train pulled out at about 1640, delayed by 40 minutes. The train curved left and entered the line towards londa. The train picked speed and rumbled past areas which were similar in all terms to Kerala!

We left Kuchchade (Sanvordem Churchorem) at 1716. The sun was setting down and light was getting scarce! We slowly approached Kalem. We crossed a long BOXN rake hauled by WDG3A triplet (led by #14702 from Gooty), and the Vasco passenger (led by WDM3A #14035 of Gooty) at this station. We finally pulled into Kulem at 1750, delayed by an hour. The Vasco bound Amaravati express was waiting at this station. Her bankers were just removed, and the lead loco WDM3A #14057 (Gooty) was just getting ready to assume charge. The banker attachment process for our train was taking a very long time. The train finally departed at 1805. It was already dark, and photographing the Dudhsagar was next to impossible! I saw my dreams of seeing the Dudhsagar being shattered! I decided to stay indoors. I sat down reading a magazine that I had purchased from Madgaon.

The train slowly crawled through the ghats. Many people were flocking around the ghats. It was too dark outside to have a glimpse of the surroundings. The train finally pulled into Castle rock at 1905, delayed by 1 hour and 20 minutes. The banker detached took too long, and the train left after about 20 minutes. We finally made it to Londa at 1940, now delayed by an hour and 10 minutes. The halt at Londa was too long. The loco reverse after about 20 minutes of halt! A VPU was attached at the rear end of the train. The Rani Chennamma arrived at about 2000 hrs. Suddenly, a family of 4 barged into the coach asking for seat numbers 1 to 4. From their appearance and mannerisms, they did not seem even to afford a second class ticket! They were upgraded passengers, and were originally holding tickets for sleeper class. The train finally moved out of the station at 2020, now delayed by and hour and 40 minutes. Dinner was served shortly after this station.

The run was smooth after this station, and the loco managed to keep decent speeds. The train finally pulled into Belgaum at 2115, now late by an hour and 5 minutes. A sizeable number of passengers got down from our coach. I decided to move ‘up' for a sleep. The train sped through the section, while I slowly started slipping into deep sleep. Just around then, the bearer from the Pantry came and woke me up. Choicest abuses were lingering around my tongue, but I decided not to spit them out. He was there to collect money for the food served from the Pantry. I paid up, but lost my sleep. Went to the toilet to have a leak and returned to the berth to‘re-capture' my lost sleep. The train pulled into Ghatprabha by now. The time was around 2230. I slipped into sleep. I had set alarm on my watch for 0445, but the watch decided to remain silent!

I was woken up with a jerk at 0515. The train was still running! It was just confirmed that we were still delayed. I decided to get fresh and got down from my berth. The train pulled into Shindawane at 0520 for a crossing. I got fresh and decided to get back to the door. The skies were clear and stars were visible – I almost sang “Twinkle Twinkle little star….” – and kept staring at them like a kindergarten child! The clock ticked past 0540 and there were no signs of the train moving. Finally at about 0545, a light approached our train. The loco was WDM3A #14056 from Krishnarajapuram and she was in charge of the 23 coach Gandhidham – Bangalore Express. The train crawled past our train. We finally were cleared at 0555. The run out Shindawane was beautiful and I could make out rock cuttings which would have been a beautiful scene if it was during the day! The section had recently shifted from Semaphore to Colour-Light Signaling. The signals were mounted on the old semaphore poles itself, and that caused an unusual height!

The train slowed moved towards Pune. We were once again sidelined at Alandi. We reached Alandi at 0605, and departed at 0620. We crossed an unidentified train here. The train picked up speed after Alandi. We were overtook a WDG4 hauled freighter at Phursungi at a very good speed. The train flew past Sasvad road. The train seemed to be unusually fast since most people on the road parallel to the track seemed too surprised! The train slowed down on the approach to Ghorpuri. The loco paid homage to her home by slowing down to allow staff traveling on the train to alight. The loco shed had quite a number of WDG3As resting inside. I spotted WDG3A #13063 crawling back to her home wading her way through the Ghorpuri (Ghorpadi) yard. I saw a train heading towards Pune on the Daund line. The other train was made to wait while we were permitted in.

I am eager to know how you liked this report! Please send in your comments and suggestions (brick-bats also welcome) to binaiks [at] gmail [dot] com