After a rather tiring day at office, I drove home at a good pace. I reached home shortly after 1530. Had to urgent work on the internet, and by around 1800 I was ready and raring to go. Rushed out of home after 1815 to get a taxi, and we (I, My dad and mom) left home at around 1841. The taxi – almost a decade old Premier Padmini with a brave CNG heart – took to the road at a good pace. The taxi driver overtook many younger cars on the highway at a speed not less than 60kmph. The guy did a good show, and cleared traffic at the Vashi toll plaza in a pretty efficient zigzag manner! The car reached Dadar Terminus exactly an hour after starting the journey – at 1941 to be precise. The taxi fare was Rs. 400.

 

The terminus was swarming with humans as it always is. The winter vacations just gave a reason for people to flock to the station. My train – 2163 Dadar – Chennai Express was already on Platform 7. Platform 8 was occupied by 1017 Dadar-Yeshwantpur Chalukya Express. The platform too was pretty crowded – but surprisingly devoid of RPF guys! I walked slowly towards the loco end of the train. I always wonder as to why CR keeps AC coaches of trains from Dadar or LTT at the loco end? My coach was the 4 th from the loco. The entire rake had all new coaches – the GS coaches were of 2007 make while the Sleeper coaches were of 2006 make! The AC 3-Tier coaches were of 2003 & 2005 make, while the 1A-cum-2A coach was of 2003 make. My coach AC 2-Tier (A1) was of 2001 make.

 

Reservations charts were already stuck, and the train was heavily overbooked! There was a long list of RACs in 3A, while 1A was full! My coach had 1 vacant berth, and two passengers failed to turn up. Those three berths were sold to passengers of SL who upgraded to 2A by paying the fare difference. The TTE exclaimed that not even a single RAC was cleared in 3A! After leaving my luggage in the coach, I went on to have a look at the power for my train. As I neared the GS coaches, I saw a headlamp moving towards my train and that was the power for my train. She was WCG2 #20151 of Kalyan. I took a couple of images of the loco with pretty long exposures, and then walked back to my coach.

 

The train pulled out of Dadar Terminus sharp at 2030. Chalukya was yet to get her loco then. Our co-passengers was a family of two (both of them were working for the Southern Railway, and were traveling on their “free” Pass!). The run from Dadar to Kurla outer was smooth. The train got frequent caution orders from Kurla outer till Kalyan, and the train probably never exceeded 60kmph throughout the run. We pulled into Platform 5 of Kalyan at around 2123 – late by 13 minutes. The vacant berths in my coach were filled there. I slept shortly after the train left Kalyan. The Air-Conditioners maintained ambient temperature inside the coach, and I had a real peaceful sleep. I woke up at around 0610.

 

Shortly after I woke up, I noticed that the train was pulling into a station – that turned out to be Gulbarga. We left the station at 0615, late by around 5 minutes. It was still dark outside. We made an unscheduled halt at Shahabad, and then cruised into Wadi. We crossed the Wadi-Solapur passenger at Wadi Outer – WDM2 #17935 of Pune was in charge. We pulled into Platform 2 of Wadi at 0658, early by as much at 17 minutes. I had a quick walk to the loco. An RPF cop standing near the loco gave out a much surprised look as he saw a man walking around with a waist bag without any winter wears when the climate was too cold! He kept an eye on me, as I kept an eye on the loco working my train. I then took an image of the imposing beast – WDM2 #17541 of Guntakal in Kazipet livery. Announcements were being made that the Rajkot - Secunderabad Express was to arrive soon on Platform 3. The train came in at around 0718 behind WDM3A #18789 of Guntakal.

 

My train left Wadi sharp at 0720. The way ahead was covered in a thick blanket of fog, and the train made a rather slow progress for some time. She then picked up speed. The pilots in charge were based at Guntakal, and they were to work the train all the way to Guntakal. The pilot was a rather aggressive notcher, and put a good show with the WDM2 working a 17-coach rake. The train did impressive speeds all the way. The train had a composition: Loco-SLR-GS-HA1-A1-B2-B1-S8-S7-PC-S6 to S1-GS-SLR. We slowed down at Nalwar home, and then picked up speed to rush through the station.

 

We crossed the Mumbai bound Udyan Express outside Nalwar. WDP4 #20029 of Krishnarajapuram did the honor of working the Udyan Express. The run was peaceful till we reached Yadgir. We left Yadgir at 0752 – now about 7 minutes late. The 6340 Nagercoil-Mumbai Express pulled into Yadgir as were pulling out. WDM3D #11112 of Erode was in charge of the Mumbai Express. The train then stopped at Narayanpet Road. This stop appeared much because of political reasons since there was not much passengers boarding the train! We left the station at around 0816 – about 16 minutes late. We crossed the Raichur-Bijapur Passenger some time after this station. Twin Pune WDM2s were in charge (the second one was probably dead!). We had a beautiful run after Narayanpet road slowing down only at Krishna Bridge.

 

We crossed the Bangalore-Nanded Link express at Raichur Home. WDM2 #18907 of Moulali was in charge of the Link Express. We pulled into the station at 0903, and left at 0905 (15 minutes late). Breakfast was served after Raichur. The breakfast was average, and many passengers in the coach raised their voice about the quality of food given to them – I however had no complaints! We slowed down at Matmari, and overtook a WDG4 (#12056) hauled freighter on the Loop line. We then picked speed, and had a halt at Manthralayam Road for watering. We crossing a Twin Guntakal WDM2 (led by #17944) hauled Tanker rake here. The halt at Manthralayam road was about 10 minutes long, and we left only at 0946.

There were frequent Caution orders after Manthralayam road, and the speed was severely limited at many stretches. We crossed the 1028 Chennai-Mumbai Mail between Kupgal and Kosigi. WDM3A #18909R of Kazipet did the honors on the Mumbai mail. We finally reached Adoni at 1024 – late by about 26 minutes. We left a couple of minutes later. The run from Adoni to Guntakal was eventless. (Except for a few freighter crossings). We pulled into Guntakal Station at around 1119. A parade of locos welcomed my train to the station, and the parade included a WDG4 and twin WDM2s! There was no loco change for my train at Guntakal, and we left at 1125 – late by 10 minutes. We crossed the 6382 Kanniyakumari-Mumbai Express a while after Guntakal. WDM3A #14031 of Gooty did the honors on the train. We crossed the Hindupur-Guntakal Passenger at an unknown station – WDM3D #11180 of Guntakal did the honors on the passenger. The train slowed down while running through Gooty. We crossed one WDG4 hauled freighter, and overtook two WDG4 hauled freighters at the station. The train slowed a bit as we entered the line towards Renigunta.

 

The train picked speed quickly after we were on the Renigunta line. The new pilot from Guntakal was even better than the guys who brought the train to Guntakal! We had a marvelous run, and made it to Tadipatri by 1230 – late by just 2 minutes! WDM2 #17309 of Guntakal, working the Tirupati-Hubli Passenger, occupied the main platform line, while we were sent to a loop line without a proper platform. Twin WDG3As of Gooty were occupying the main line. We left the station at 1232. We crossed our pairing train between Tadipatri and Yerraguntla. WDM3A #14023 of Guntakal was in charge of our pairing train. Lunch was served some where around the same time. We had ordered for Veg Meals – and the product dished out was surely palpable! We reached Yerraguntla at around 1341 – running late by about 8 minutes. We left the station 2 minutes later.

 

I had a short nap on my berth for some time after Yerraguntla. I got up just as the train pulled into Cuddapah. We were early by about 3 minutes at the station, and left perfectly on time. We had an unofficial minute long halt at Nandalur – the beginning of AC territory on the route. Nandalur station had about 8 AC Freight locos sleeping around! We next stopped at Razampeta at 1523, and left at 1525. We crossed the Chennai-Mumbai Express (1042) some time after this station. WDM2 #17344 of Pune was incharge of the train. We arrived Koduru at 1600, and left at 1603.

We finally pulled into Renigunta at 1640 – early by 20 minutes. The loco was uncoupled in a coupled of minutes, but was not given the shunt signal. A Twin Arakkonam WAG5 hauled BCNA rake was allowed to move out first. Then another BCNA rake was taken into the station yard before permitting the WDM2 to move out. We were on Platform 1, and the pit line near Platform 1 was occupied by two chartered coaches, WDM3A #18889 of Gooty and WAM4 #21297. WAP1 #22018 of Arakkonam was seen shunting around the rake of the Renigunta-Arakkonam Passenger.

Some minutes after the WDM2 went out, WAM4 #21297 of Arakkonam moved in to take charge of my train. My train finally departed at 1720 – late by 5 minutes. We had a pretty smooth run after Renigunta, and it got dark by the time we crossed Nagari. We pulled into Arakkonam at 1823. I spotted WDM7 #11001 of Tondiarpet standing at a distant platform, and an unknown train hauled by a WAM4 pulled in as my train started moving out. We reached Perambur at 1918, and left at 1920.

 

I stood at the door after Perambur. I saw Basin Bridge Junction for the first time in my life. I counted locos standing at the BBQ Trip shed, and there were about 9 WAP4s and 1 WAM4! My train had a brief wait at the BBQ yard for a signal to pull in. I spotted WAP4 #22358 of Erode and WAP4 #22602 of Arakkonam standing ready to take charge of their loads at BBQ yard. A lone WDS4 was seen preparing the rake of an unknown train. It was pulling out bits and pieces from different lines, and accumulating them to create a rake! We were let towards the station at around 1938. WAP4 #22255 of Erode was seen preparing to depart from Platform 1 with the Mangalore Mail. We were taken on Platform 2, and the train came to a halt at 1941. The station's arrival indicators however said that the train would arrive only at 1950!

 

While walking out of the station, I noticed that the rake of the Mangalore Mail was backed up so much that the buffers of the Guard van had already touched the station's buffers! That surely did not seem to be a good sign of shunting! Most other platforms were occupied with different trains. We walked out of the station through the exit near Platform 9, and went straight to the prepaid taxi counter. A taxi guys tried to get us, and he quoted Rs. 350 for a trip to Adayar (our relatives at Chennai had cautioned us about this in advance, and they said that it wouldn't cost more than Rs 200!). We then took prepaid taxi coupon and got into a taxi. The guy charged us just Rs. 192 to drop us at Adayar (the place was actually a bit ahead of Adayar – on the Tiruvanmiyur route). We reached our destination at around 2030 – bringing the last long distance train journey of 2007 to an end!

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