After a rather tiring and sad day – last day – at office, I drove back home with a pretty heavy heart! There was terrific traffic block, and I lost a lot of time covering a short 2 kilometre stretch. I, in the meanwhile, was busy calling up a taxi service provided to arrange a pick up from home for my trip to Dadar. I reached home past 1700. It was then a busy time packing up my PC and clothes. The clock ticked past 1900, but there was no news about the taxi, which was to reach my home at 1915. I called up their call centre once again to get details of the taxi, and they assured me that the cab would be at my residence by 1930. I received a message from the call centre at about 1925 informing me the taxi number and the chauffeur's mobile number.

I called him up, and he informed me that he was on the way to my home, and was about 15 kms away! I kept in touch with him, and the taxi finally turned up only at 2010 i.e., about 55 minutes after the time the cab was to reach me! The metallic green CNG powered Esteem reversed up to my porch and was all set to ferry me across to Dadar. I and my dad were a bit tense since our train would depart from Dadar at 2130, and the station was about 30 kms away – the traffic in Mumbai would not help things either! We left home at 2013 for the 29.80km long trip to Dadar terminus. The driver had a real mad dash, and he maintained speeds in the range of 60-100kmph where ever possible! The cab reached Dadar at 2109 – records in the cab show that as much as 11 minutes of this was lost waiting at signals! The fare worked out to Rs 394 – i.e., about 6 rupees less that what you need to pay to ordinary cab drivers! Meru Cabs is always recommended!

We had quite a lot of baggage to carry, and we had to hunt for a porter to help us carry the luggage there! He took a trolley, and carried the luggage to our coach. I had a seat in B1, while my dad's was in A1! We both had booked at different times! The reservation charts showed that the train was full, and the general coaches were pretty crowded. IRFCAn Karan Desai had turned up at the station – we rushed off to see the loco that would work my train. I turned out to be my favorite – WDM3A #18852R of Kalyan! Karan rushed off as he heard a WDP4 pulling into the station. We stocked water for the journey ahead, and myself and my dad settled in our respective coaches. My coach was WGACCN 00124 built in 2000. The train had 14 coaches in the following arrangement: Loco-SLR-GS-A1-B1-SE1-S7 to S1-GS-SLR. The station was pretty crowded since another train – a holiday special to Varanasi – was to depart soon from there.

The train left Dadar right at 2130. It crawled out of Dadar Terminus, waited at the advanced starter to permit an EMU on the UP through line to cross. Again it crawled to Matunga and slowly picked up pace. We crossed Kurla at a pretty fast pace, and then slowed down as we neared Ghatkopar. IN the mean time, the TTE approached to check my ticket (the number of passengers in Wait List was pretty high!). The Coach attendant came around to distribute bed rolls, and to take orders for breakfast. Little later, a guy came around to take orders for dinner. I ordered dinner for dad and me – we couldn't get dinner from outside since the cab reached late! I was tuned on to FM radio as the train rushed past suburban stations. I spotted an unidentified ErnakulamWDM2 standing at Diva with the rake of the Madgaon passenger. Train slowed down as we approached Kalyan, and pulled on to Platform 5.

We had a customary 4 minute halt at Kalyan and left at 2222. It is like an unwritten rule that all trains leaving Mumbai get delayed by the time they reach Kalyan! A vendor came around distributing dinner packets to all who had placed order. The Veg Dinner option had 4 chapattis, a dry Potato subzi (dish), Rice, Dhal and Pickle. After Dinner, dad headed back to his coach and I retired for the day. I, for some reason couldn't sleep and watched stations rushing past – Vangani…..Shelu…..Neral…Bhivpuri… and so on till Karjat. I could hear the sounds from the WCG2s waiting to bank my train as the train crawled over to the loop line. We reached Karjat at 2319. There were about 2 WCG2 triplets waiting for the busy night coming up on the line adjacent to the platform line. A family of 4 passengers boarded my coach at Karjat, and they created a commotion while trying to find place to unload their luggage. The train finally started her journey at 2328.

I fell asleep soon after the train crossed Palasdhari, woke up in between to find the train inside some tunnel, and slept again. After some more time, I saw that the train competing with cars on the express way! We had crossed Lonavla by then. I slept off and got up at around 0300 to find that the train was still running – now in a diesel territory! I slept off once again, and finally got up at around 0600. I rushed off to the toilet to finish off morning chores, and then hit the door. We were running a bit late then, and managed to reach Sangli only at 0637. We were welcomed into the station by a pretty late running Miraj-Pune Passenger! The passenger train had two locos – WDM2 #17904 & #17987 – both from Pune doing the honors. Both the trains got their starters simultaneously, and my train crawled out at 0642. Sangli still has Upper Quadrant Semaphore signaling.

We slowed down a bit as we approached Miraj – WDM2 #18255 of Pune stood to welcome us into the station at the Pune end of the yard. The yard had quite some freighters scattered all over, and one WDM3A (#18981) of Guntakal sleeping off near the loco trip shed. We slowed down further and entered Platform 4 of Miraj Junction. The loco working my train was connected to the refueling point, and the loco pilots started their change-over procedure. We were perfectly on time at Miraj. I had a walk up to the loco – obviously for a picture of the loco! While walking back, I noticed WDG3A #14677 of Pune backing up to take charge of a Hubli bound passenger train. My train left Miraj at 0700 – delayed by 5 minutes. I spotted the NG yard of the station for the first time! Two ZDMs in blue livery were guarding the sleepy NG section of the station.

It was an eventless run after Miraj! We reached Kudachi at 0731 and left at 0733. We had a good run after Kudachi, but were made to stop at Chikodi Road for a crossing! We had a pretty longish wait here to let the Belgaum-Miraj Passenger to pull in – WDG3A #13063 of Pune did the honors on this train. We left CKR soon after the crossing. We pulled into Ghatprabha at 0830. Our breakfast was loaded here. My train left at 0832. We over took a BTPN rake hauled by Pune WDM3D #11175 at this station. I remained at the door as the train rushed ahead. We crossed the Castle Rock-Miraj passenger at Pachhapur – Pune WDM3D #11216 did the honors on this train! After a good run for quite some time, we found our self on the loop line at Suladhal. A couple of minutes after we stopped, the signals turned green and the station got all set for some action – WDP4 #20053 of Krishnarajapuram rushed through with the Kolhapur bound Rani Chennamma Express!

We pulled into Belgaum for a scheduled halt at 0945 – late by 25 minutes. WDG3A #13359 of Pune was waiting for my train on Platform 1 with the Mysore-Ajmer Express. In the meantime, WDM2 #18702 of Pune too was waiting on Platform 3 with the Miraj-Londa Passenger to get overtaken by my train! My train was cleared at 0955, and we pulled out of the station with a delay of 30 minutes. The run after Belgaum was uninterrupted, and the loco put up a good show till Londa. We pulled into Londa for yet another scheduled halt at 1047. A twin WDG4 hauled BTPN rake was the only occupant of the freight yard! Just a minute after my train came to a complete halt, WDM3A #18885 of Guntakal pulled in with the Tirupati/Hyderabad-Kolhapur Haripriya Express. We left Londa at 1050 – delayed by 32 minutes.

The section from Londa to Alnavar is all about curves and curves through a well vegetated forest! The train took sharp curves and rushed through stations – all the while the sharp sounds from the loco was audible and the Loco pilots kept blowing the horns to keep me happy! The loco was a decent smoker (considering the fact that the loco was rebuilt only recently!). We pulled into Alnavar at 1127. Lunch was loaded here! We left Alnavar at 1129 - delayed by 24 minutes. It was yet another silent run from Alnavar to Dharwad! There were no crossings, and no “worth-mentioning” events! We pulled into Dharwad at 1200 –delayed by 5 minutes. The Catering guys got down at this station (they served lunch while in the train). There was no sign of the train moving even after 5 minutes! I later noticed some smoke at a distance…. That was a twin Krishnarajapuram WDG3A pulling into the station with a BOXN rake! The locos were WDG3A #14613 and #13368. My train pulled out of the station at 1216 – late by 19 minutes. While moving out, I noticed that the BOXN rake had WDG4 #12139 banking it!

The run was eventless from Dharwad to Hubli. I had my lunch after Dharwad. I sat down for lunch as the train pulled out of Dharwad. The menu (Veg Lunch) had Chapatti, A Veg Accompaniment, Rice, Dhal and Curd. The “Accompaniment” was too spicy, but the remaining on the menu was good. The packing was outstanding! I saw that Navalur had some developmental works going on. We slowed down as we approached Hubli. An unknown Pune WDM2 was waiting to start a Passenger train to Miraj. The rake of the Vijayawada-Hubli Amaravati was standing right behind the rake of the passenger with twin Gooty WDG3As #14038 & #14009 still coupled to it. In the mean time, Krishnarajapuram WDM2 #17437 pulled into the station with a passenger from Arsikere. All this time, a lot of staff were busy cleaning my train. They washed the common areas of the coach, and cleaned all windows and mirrors. The Vasco-Howrah Amaravati Express too pulled in before we left. The train had twin Gooty WDM3As #14021 & #14043 in charge.

My train pulled out of Hubli at 1300 – dot on time! We slowly crawled out of the station while still being on the loop line. The yard was pretty busy with lots of locos lying around! Twin WDG4s #12045 & #12105 were seen heading to the loco shed. The coaching yard had WDG3A #13031 & #13030 of Krishnarajapuram, WDM2 #16669 of Krishnarajapuram and WDM3A #14093 of Pune. One unknown WDP4 was also spotted with the rake of the Hampi Express. We stopped on the loop line towards the home signal of Hubli. The main line was left vacant for the Jan Shatabdi to pull in. She came in with WDP4 #20060 of Krishnarajapuram in charge. The other side of the yard had more locos! They were Pune WDG3A #14811, Hubli WDG4 twins led by #12094 and Erode Twins led by WDG3A #14668.

We crossed our pairing train at Savanur. My train was at a very good speed, and I was inside the coach, and could not spot the loco! We made a brief halt at Haveri. We reached there at 1414, and left at 1416 – late by around 11 minutes. We crossed the Kochuveli-Hubli Holiday special at Byadgi with Pune WDG3A #13150 doing the honors. We crossed twin Guntakal twin WDM2s standing light at Devergudda. The locos were WDM2 #18541 & #17586. We next stopped at Ranibennur at 1440. We left the station at 1442, delayed by about 7 minutes. Our next halt was at Harihar. This is a pretty small station, but does the watering job for my train! The halt here is only 5 minutes on timetable, but we made a halt for 12 minutes. We left Harihar at 1512, delayed by about 12 minutes. Our next halt was at Davangere – we reached there at 1524, with a delay of 11 minutes. We left Davangere at 1526.

Our next scheduled halt is only at Birur, a good 114.54 kilometres away, and we had to cover the distance is about an hour and 25 minutes. That would be an average speed of 81.82kmph! We made an unscheduled halt at an unknown station to cross a twin WDG4 headed tanker train. The leading loco was WDG4 #12037. We reached Birur at 1704 a good 24 minutes behind schedule. Krishnarajapuram WDM2 #17591 was seen waiting platform 3 with the Birur-Shimoga Passenger. We took an hour and 38 minutes to do the distance, at a speed of about 70.13kmph! The crowd on Platform 2 meant that some train was soon expected there! A couple of minutes later, WDM3A #18599 of Krishnarajapuram pulled in with the Mysore-Shimoga Passenger. We left Birur at 1708. Kadur was the next halt, and left there at 1718, now late by around 30 minutes!

We made an unscheduled halt at Devanur to let the Hubli Intercity rush past! The intercity was led by WDP4 #20026 of Hubli! The intercity was about 24 coaches long! We then made another halt at Banavar for no apparent reason! No trains crossed us there!!! We pulled into Arsikere at around 1830. We were welcomed in by WDG4 #12042. We were on Platform 1, while Platform 2 was occupied by the Mysore passenger. The passenger was headed by WDM3A #17994 of Krishnarajapuram. We left Arsikere at 1835, now late by around an hour and 5 minutes! All these delays thanks to the awful section clearance by the section controllers!

We reached Tiptur at 1856, and left at 1858, made short halts at most stations enroute due to reasons best known to the section controllers only! We crossed a couple of passenger trains on the way and stopped at Tumkur at 2010. We left Tumkur at 2015, late by 58 minutes, had a good run from Tumkur onwards, stopping pretty often for unknown reasons and finally stopped on Platform 4 of Yesvantpur station at 2125 – delayed by 40 minutes! We had covered the last 65 kilometres in 70 minutes at a speed of 55.71kmph inspite of stopping at many stations enroute, and heavy speed restrictions owing to doubling works!

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