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Old 15th January 2021, 18:27   #1
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Chronicles of Chaos

Sharing a Travelogue of a trip done in 2019

Three railfans from Bengaluru sat on a park bench in Koramangala one warm afternoon, planning their itinerary to the Northeast. The sylvan NFR zone, hitherto untouched by overhanging wires, a diesel haven and the amazing scenery it has to offer – a temptation too difficult to resist. Three became four, soon four became five and the group was all set for an enchanting voyage across NFR. One of them snapped from the group and made a quick trip leaving the remaining four to hatch an exhaustive plan, covering as much of NFR as possible.

Insanity levels went to such an extent that 11 tickets were booked for the journey at the PRS counter, tempting fate and beckoning that sultry mistress who offers a thrill for those she chooses to accompany – Ms. Adventure. Looking back, this Ms. Adventure almost became a misadventure for us as the chaos began right from Day 1 of this epic expedition.

Throughout this journey, delays, riots, shutdowns, fog and chaos were the only constants, with everything else a big "x" as the mathematicians would like to say, where x is a variable.

Let me begin by giving a quick background of the preceding events that were to define what held in store for us for the 8 days we had planned to be on the road, eh, rails. As the eventful week began, a certain Bill that was soon to become an Act passed by the Indian Parliament held the blueprints for all our future plans. As the political fallout began to take an ominous turn for the worse, we all started praying fervently for some respite from the turmoil. Frantic calls were made to all and sundry, WhatsApp chats were exchanged with SMEs as also amongst our group of four. All seemed to have the same piece of advice - call off the trip. Family too suggested the same. Needless to say, the advice was not heeded to and we bravely flew into Kolkata on a cold Saturday morning, to face the adventures (perils?) and to embark on what could be termed as a trip of a lifetime.

One of the four bravehearts had reached Kolkata a day early, on Friday, to catch up with some local railfans and of course, railfanning. The mass of metal, capable of doing 130 Kmph, and which serves as the fastest connection between the City of Joy and the gateway to the Northeast, the NJP Shatabdi, was captured in full glory behind the lenses by our hero and his friend. Elsewhere at around the same time on the line towards Chennai and Mumbai, things had flared up what with the Coromandel Express being stoned, Uluberia station being damaged while at our planned destination, the Northeast, trains were getting cancelled by the minute. The stage was set for a nail-biting grand finale.

...
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Old 15th January 2021, 18:30   #2
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

A wise man Murphy said, "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". This adage neatly sums up the first day of our trip.

My GoAir udaan sankhya G8123 landed at Kolkata without any delay and drama, despite a couple of passengers suffering from nausea and fainting. A little while later, the dynamic duo and our crew chiefs for the trip, Abhilash Triambak and Pawan Koppa reached Kolkata by udaan sankhya I5 2472. Strange was the fact that three brothers from the same city met up at a city 2000 kms from their home - such are the ways of life! After a fond catchup at the airport, we met Avishek Basu who had come to receive us and had kindly agreed to be our charming host for half of the day. Looking back, our flights to Kolkata was the only leg of the journey, where we had no delays.

Heading out of the airport and unsuccessfully attempting to flag down the iconic Kolkata yellow Amby, Avishek guided us to ‘Putiram’ on College Street in a pre-paid cab for a hearty Bengali breakfast that consisted of several rounds of Kachori, Singhara (Bengali for Samosa), Gud (jaggery) Rosogollas, Kala Jamun and Mishti Doi.
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Old 15th January 2021, 18:37   #3
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Ashay Inamdar, who had landed in Kolkata the previous day joined us here. With our stomachs fully content, we were ready for the day’s grind, thus far unknown to us. Having waited long for the elusive tram, Abhilash and I took a quick taxi ride to Esplanade, this time in an Amby. After a quick shopping to pick up a small sling bag and a muffler, we caught up with Akshay, Pawan and Avishek who had dispersed after breakfast to attend to some other plan.

At Esplanade, things seemingly started going south. Where is my Train app (WIMT) showed that 12042, the incoming Shatabdi from NJP, had been held up at Banshlai Bridge for over an hour. A quick call by Avishek to Milan, who stays in Murarai, confirmed our worst fears. The train was indeed held up by protesters but thankfully, the train was not going the Coromandel way at least.

Dejected and morose, we went to the historic Prinsep Ghat to take a picture of the iconic Palladian porch structure with the magnificent Vidyasagar Setu (2nd Hooghly Bridge) in the background. That was not to be as a makeshift stage erected for some function earlier in front of the structure was being dismantled. Moods further down, we settled by the banks of Hooghly, trying to recoup and figure out a way to reach NJP. So desperate were we that we even explored the possibility of taking a bus to NJP. Did I mention that earlier in the day, I had accidentally stamped upon a ‘nimbu mirchi’ on the road? Talk about bad luck!

After spending sometime by the Hooghly, and in the true Railfans’ spirit, we boarded a Kolkata Circular Railway EMU from Prinsep Ghat to BBD Bag where Suraj Iyer was to meet us.

We hopped on to the puny 8-car EMU, trundling along the river, on a single line electrified section, passing by the iconic Eden Gardens where VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid made the Aussies dance to their tune 18 summers ago. At BBD Bag, we were greeted by Suraj and made our way to the Fairlie Place jetty. After a quick 10 minutes ride on the Ferry, we reached Howrah on the opposite bank of the Hooghly. The very sight of the majestic Howrah station complex strengthened our resolve to make this trip a success. We got more desperate on learning that the Shatabdi was yet to move. Kanchan Kanya, Uttar Banga, Padatik and Darjeeling Mail were some of the alternate options we looked at before heading inside Howrah station to check if our Shatabdi was being cancelled. But to our respite, the answer was a balm to our wounds, "Gaadi aayega, cancel nahi hua". And shortly after that, the most pleasant news came in - 12042 has departed Banshlai Bridge towards Howrah. Deciding to have lunch, we first dumped our luggage at the cloak room. Avishek took our leave at this point and we proceeded to fill our tummies at the Food Plaza where we settled for a Chinese combo.

We had a fulfilling lunch of Fried Rice, Paneer Curry, Veg Manchurian and Gulab Jamun. As we had ample time in hand, we decided to walk to the Rail Museum nearby, to pay homage to the various locos of yore like Jagjivan Ram (WAM 1 20202), Indraprastha (WDS 4 19057), Lokmanya (WCM 5 20103), the first Metro coach built for Kolkata Metro and other exhibits.
Ours mood improved and I had a nice discussion with Suraj on the various trips he had undertaken in the past. Meanwhile, a glance at WIMT revealed that 12042 was rather flying now and before we knew it, it was nearing Khana Jn. A few more minutes later, we were back at Howrah station, collected our luggage and waited eagerly for the arrival of our incoming pairing train.

The SHF beam of the headlamps of the loco came into focus, the loco was humming away, having made a long and strenuous journey. As the clock stuck 17:25, the train arrived led by SGUJ WDP 4 20002, (for us SWR boys, ex-UBL) an original imported WDP 4, delayed by 4 hours, and now ready to return back to NJP with a full load of anxious passengers. No sight was more please for the four of us than a darshana of the divine SHF twin-beam headlamps which was a signal that our trip was finally going to commence!

We bid goodbye to Akshay and Suraj here, with Akshay planned to board the Kanchan Kanya later that evening and we were to join him at NJP the next day on board the same train. We railfans do not plan things the simple way, isn’t it!

Passengers boarded, loco coupled (ex-UBL, now SGUJ WDP 4 20014 LHF), food loaded, we finally departed at 18:00, delayed by 3.5 hours. Soon after departure, the Rail Neer bottle was served along with biscuits, creamer and tea bag (a stark indicator that north of Vindhyas, coffee is not a preferred drink). The evening snacks consisted of a pack of caramel popcorn, a greasy Samosa with a sachet of Tomato Ketchup, a tasteless bread sandwich and a small pack of namkeen.

Post Bally, the chief at the helm of the loco notched up, and we were literally flying. Ulysse Speedometer steadily picked up the clicks. 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129 and after what seemed like an eternal wait, the magical number 130 was touched. Having achieved this milestone and not having had much sleep, we slept until dinner was served. Dinner was the standard Shatabdi fare, better than the snacks but would have been better had it been heated a bit more.

Morpheus took over again, and we slept till we reached Farakka where we had a long halt for want of clearance. Thereafter, Farakka Barrage over the Ganga was cleared and we entered Malda, the last town in ER before NFR took over. We had caught up with Saraighat Express here and it was given clearance first. A quick visit to Morpheus' land again, we reached NJP, our first destination in NFR at 04:20, delayed by 6 hours now. What should have been a day / evening ride, turned out to be an overnighter in the Shatabdi in seated posture - talk about luck, 10 hours and 20 minutes since we boarded our train! Weary, tired and in need of a hot shower, we started walking up the foot over bridge, to get to our hotel, when we spotted a beam of light heading towards us from the SGUJ end. I stopped by to click its pic. Lo and behold, it was none other than the famed 20012, SGUJ (for SWR boys, it will always be ex-UBL) WDP 4, affectionately called Baaz – the Bird of Prey. Back in its hey days, in its earlier avatar, it had a lovely orange blue livery, with a fibre glass cab, but now it looks pretty much like any other EMD

Spirits freshened by the sight of Baaz and the beautiful MAWD steam loco plinthed outside the station, we headed to our hotel, for a hot shower and a quick power nap, before boarding Kanchan Kanya Express and to begin our sojourn deep into NFR.
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Old 15th January 2021, 18:45   #4
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Early Sunday morning, Akshay called us to inform that Kanchankanya was running late. This allowed us the extra few minutes to catch some more 40 winks. Having had a breakfast of pan-fresh Aloo Paratha and a parcel for Akshay packed, we walked to the NJP station, spending a few moments to savour in the beauty of the MAWD loco in daylight. In the yard at a distance, we spotted our prey, Baaz, aka ex-UBL 20012. We made our way towards it walking down the NG platforms of the UNESCO Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, across the tracks, greeting an Awadhi WDG 4 from Lucknow. A quick chat with the RPF ensued to clear our intentions and Baaz was in no time being photographed multiple times from all angles, ensuring that its celebrity status was intact. The RPF looked on, clearly bemused by our antics.

As we trekked to platform 1, a dirty white machine stood standstill at a corner, signalling a sign of things to come in the near future. A Gomoh P7 it was, waiting in peaceful slumber, while a pair of dead Malda twins looked on grimly. We later learnt that this P7 was being used to test the new electrified lines in NJP premises. The CRS of the Gunjaria – NJP section eventually happened on 24th led by a GZB P7 30402.

Soon, the Kanchankanya Express trundled into NJP, with the customary Barddhaman Alco at the helm.

Abhilash was overcome with nostalgia at this point as Barddhaman was the district where he spent his entire childhood, to be precise close to Andal on the Andal – Sainthia branch line. Luckily for him, the overnighter Shatabdi had made an unscheduled halt at Barddhaman the previous night and he was able to step on to the platform. Back to the present, a pretty long halt later, we departed NJP, negotiating a huge curve to the left. Delay built up to just over two hours, with the delay at NJP being an hour.

The tiny hill line to Darjeeling gave us company for a while, crisscrossing the BG tracks a couple of times. The little fella gave us its darshan, as the rake was being moved to NJP from Siliguri for the hill-bound departure. Our train pulled into Siliguri, giving us a spectacular view of the DEMU shed and a stationary rake with a dead Alco. Siliguri cleared, the brave Barddhaman WDM 3A hauled the load towards the Dooars line after bidding farewell to the little line shortly after SGUJ. The famed tea estates dotted the section with the mighty Poorvottar range standing guard right behind. The Bengali cousin of Churmuri, Jhalmuri came by soon and we promptly devoured a ‘cone pack’ each. We changed into the special T-shirts custom-made for this trip to declare that we had finally entered NFR.

We were now meandering through thick forests, with a constant PSR accompanied by continuous honking. This was elephant territory. On a lucky day, the majestic beasts would wander on to the tracks, and we were on a constant vigil. The train rolled on, but the tuskers were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, they were enjoying their Sunday siesta. We did spot peacocks, monkeys and plenty of birds chirping around, which added to the ambience.

Dooars were cleared and we were halted at Nagrakata for a crossing for what is undisputedly, the legend of the route, the Sikkim Mahananda Express. But before the King could pass, a faithful WDG 4 with a BOBYN rake cleared the path and occupied the loop.

Mainline starter proceed, distant starter proceed and the legend bloomed into view, with all 4 of us occupying different doors to take a video of the crossing and pay homage to the legend. Had the ground situation been better, two of us (they shall remain unnamed, for the disclosure could land them beds in the nearest mental asylum) were to have taken this legendary train from Aluabari Road to NJP in Sleeper class, duly booked 3 months in advance at the PRS counter. As we waited, a vendor came by with hot momos. We apprehensively ordered one plate, but the lip-smacking taste ensured the vendor would be lighter by 4 plates overall.

Well, that was all we had of the planned part of the trip. By now, we received confirmation that our original plans hereafter were relegated to the backburners. Two succeeding trains, the onward Silghat Rajya Rani from Alipurduar that was to take us to GHY and the Shatabdi the next day to Naharlagun in Arunachal, were confirmed cancelled thus effectively putting a spanner on our tracks. Past couple of days’ history revealed that each of the trains we were booked on beyond Naharlagun to Tinsukia, Ledo to Lumding to Agartala to Silchar and back to NJP were cancelled. So we resigned to fate and decided to return back to NJP by the Padatik Express from New Alipurduar which takes a different route and booked confirmed tickets online for the same, just before charting.

Hasimara, the nearest railhead to Bhutan, saw a good crowd alighting. Sleep caught up on the human forms of WDP 4, WDM 3A, WDM 3A and WAP 5 from SWR, and were awakened as we were nearing Alipurduar, where we finally reached at 14:25. At Alipurduar, an ominous announcement was being made: "Kanchankanya back to Sealdah is cancelled". We thanked our stars that we were booked to return by Padatik and not the Kanchankanya. But our joys were short lived as we soon received an SMS that Padatik has also been cancelled. Some quick checks and calls revealed that all trains passing through Malda were cancelled in both directions due to some miscreants torching and vandalizing trains in that division. Fears engulfed us as we were stuck in no mans’ land what with our luggage at the hotel in NJP. We had to get back to NJP at any cost! We were now left with around 11 useless PRS tickets which had to be cancelled but being a Sunday, the PRS counters at Alipurduar had closed at 14:00. How can back luck be so ruthless! One by one, all our meticulous plans were falling apart.

Mindless of these, our tummies were grumbling and had to be satiated. On Suraj’s recommendation, we had a typical but satisfying Bengali lunch on brass plates at a rather nondescript looking ‘Pagla Baba Hotel and Dhaba’. This tiny hotel was fully (wo)manned by ladies, who were clearly taken aback when we ordered 4 niramish (vegetarian) meals.

Having checked and rejected all available train options (trains that were to go towards Katihar were the only ones running, far and few though), we decided to take a bus back to NJP. We made our way to the NBSTC bus stand, where we were informed to our horrors that the last bus to Siliguri (a special arranged due to train cancellations) was about to depart but it was already crowded with only few inches of space remaining. Suraj meanwhile informed us that the situation had worsened in Bengal and the Kanchankanya that brought us in was the last train to pass Malda. Grim indeed!

We were told that buses to Siliguri will be available from Cooch Behar, about 30 Kms away, till 6 PM. We decided to try our luck. We boarded a rickety bus about to depart for Cooch Behar. Pawan meanwhile had made up his mind to head to Darjeeling the next day by the NG train and fly back home from Bagdogra the day after. I did get a bit anxious and started searching for return flights from Patna, Bagdogra and where not, until my good friends calmed me down. There was no way the railfans in us was going to be bogged down and we also had to make good the week long leave from work. So we decided to go ahead with Plan B(C?).

An hour later at Cooch Behar, more bad news awaited us. The next bus to Siliguri would be at 7 pm, provided the incoming bus from Siliguri arrives. We were already missing the services of the reliable KSRTC buses back home. Quickly deciding to head back by taxi, we reached the taxi stand where a horde of waiting drivers started quoting astronomical rates realizing our desperation. Once again here, the linguistic skills of Abhilash came into play and he started bargaining aggressively with the drivers in chaste Bangla. Finally, a deal was stuck and a kind driver, Shibu, agreed to drop us at NJP in his Alto for Rs. 3000/-. Desperate that we were, we decided to waste no more time and get along. A long drive in poor road conditions in the dark and fog awaited us. It wasn’t even 6 PM, but to us southerners, it felt like almost midnight.

We passed by very close to the Bangladesh border which was visible at a distance, paying a silent tribute to the BSF who protect us day and night. We encountered plenty of near misses with the lorry and SUV drivers crazily crisscrossing the roads at high speeds, traffic rules be damned. We took a pit stop for fuel and chai with singhara freshly out of deep oil and this helped us regain composure. Near Jalpaiguri Road station, Anubhab Dey was kind enough to come and meet us in the biting cold and we took another pit stop for a second round of hot chai and more rosogollas and chamcham this time.

We finally reached NJP at around 10 PM. After profusely thanking Shibu, we had a quick dinner and retired to our hotel to catch up on some much needed rest. The next day, the three of us would part ways with Pawan.

The three of us were to board the New Jalpaiguri - Udaipur Weekly Express the next morning. Oh yes, from the Northeast, our plans changed diametrically opposite to the Northwest as we found this to be the best bet for any Plan B or C or D that we had in mind. We had made preemptive booking (lucky to get RAC in 3A) in this train on intuition couple of days before our trip commenced. We were determined not to let anything ruin our vacations. Northeast or Northwest was just a direction. We had a full alternate plan in place, with the return to base being by air from Kolkata the next Sunday. More on this in the subsequent parts. Meanwhile, the incoming train from Udaipur reached NJP a good 4 hours late as we were having dinner. But would it leave on time the next day, given the situation? Will Lady Luck accompany us this time?

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Old 15th January 2021, 18:54   #5
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Day 3 began on a sombre note as one of our crew chiefs was to go his chosen way to inspect the line that led to the Himalayan hill retreat of Darjeeling, spending 10 hours in a tiny train, trundling at a sedate 10 Kmph, zigzagging up the hills to transport holiday-makers and a Railfan to Darjeeling. The remaining three of us were to board 19602 New Jalpaiguri Udaipur Express all the way from West Bengal to Rajasthan. The train had arrived 4 hours late the previous evening, but thankfully it was not rescheduled, not until then. The previous night was spent on the edge, frequently checking NTES, praying that the train should not get cancelled or rescheduled.

Pawan came to see us off before embarking on his uphill adventure. The display board at the entrance showed a grim picture:
13149 Kanchankanya Express – Cancel
13274 Kanchanjungha Express – Cancel
12517 Garib Rath Express – Cancel

But the fourth line lit up our faces:
19602 NJP UDZ Express – Expt. Time 08:15 PF

Anubhab had informed us that there were a couple of steam locos in the yard that were most probably enroute to Rewari, before they could be made spic and span and in working conditions. There they were, laden on flat bed rakes.

As we made our way to platform 2, we were relieved to see our rake berthed. What came as a bonus was a Ratlam WDM 3D 11562 in LHF mode that was to be our power for the next 2000 odd km. With 24 coaches, including 8 AC coaches, this guy had a task in hand to haul us across the Gangetic plains ending in Rajasthan, crossing 5 states, 1 UT and 5 zones.

With the mandatory photos of loco and selfies / groupfies taken, Pawan bid us goodbye. We loaded some light breakfast and settled in. Starter was given sharp at 08:15 but the train did not budge for the next 30 minutes. Panic began to set in. Has something gone wrong in Uttar Dinajpur district that was barely 30km away from NJP? Finally, at 08:52, we started moving, much to our utter relief. The sound of the ALCO notching up never sounded much sweeter. Points cleared, the WDM 3D showed off its prowess, effortlessly accelerating out of the station, past the trip shed that's being built for the Wappies and Waggies. Aluabari road was skipped at MPS, and we were eagerly waiting to capture the skip of Gaisal, witness to one the ghastliest railway accidents in IR history. On that fateful night 20 winters ago, the Brahmaputra Mail collided head-on into the stationary Awadh Assam Express. The station still bears a haunted look with the spirits ostensibly roaming around. In fact, apparently a spirit or two had decided to travel with us as we kept getting SMSs for several days, even after we had ended our trips that our train (mostly the Sikkim Mahananda) was late by 9 hours. This even when the train had been cancelled from destination itself! Spooky indeed!

Internet connectivity was intermittent and we toggled between WB and Bihar. Prayers were sent to the deities, for our safe passage out of WB. Once out, we were but not without drama as the train slowed down just before exiting the Chicken’s Neck, before eventually accelerating away into Bihar and into virtual safety. Or so we thought!

Tired from the restless sleep the previous night, I stretched out my legs for some much needed nap and the next thing I knew, we were in Katihar, well in time for a hot lunch of Puri Subzi with Chai. The P5 and P4 on the adjacent line seemed to indicate to the Ratlam Alco that it was an intruder in their area. But things may change soon, with one of their ilk taking over the link of this train soon. Katihar marked the end of the NFR territory and we were in ECR waters. Bright yellow mustard fields dotted the landscape and children could be seen playing Cricket in the chill. Oh, to be a child again and play those games with a carefree attitude, we yearn so much!

Samastipur was marked by the spotting of a few Alcos from SPJ shed. One of them was marked WDM 3B. The station itself was dotted with beautiful Madhubani paintings. Muzaffarpur was the next big junction ahead and as we diverted to the HQ of ECR, the line northwards led to Chakia, a mere 47 km away. Google the code for that station.

Elsewhere in WB, Pawan was already getting bored in that tiny tinny box on his journey to Darjeeling by mid day, the train huffing and puffing at a whopping 10 Kmph. His train was delayed by over an hour with the lunch mediocre while the breakfast of Khichdi at NJP had been excellent. The charm of the DHR increases exponentially as one exits Siliguri, peaks mid route before Gayabari and then starts going down as one starts passing by the crowded towns in the hills. He had crossed the pairing downhill train before Tindharia, where a switch had been designed amidst the hills to enable the crossing. However it was still an experience of a lifetime, as per his words – the delay increasing on the toy train by the minute.


Hajipur, the ECR HQ and an erstwhile RM’s constituency, was crossed with a delay of 2 hours as the progress was slow due to fog. Dinner was arranged to be loaded at Gorakhpur, courtesy Abhilash’s childhood friend. A visit to Bihar is incomplete without gorging on the Litti Chokha, which we had in Chhapra, once represented in the Lok Sabha by another former RM.


Sleep again took over, and as I woke up, we were entering PF1 of Gorakhpur onto the world’s longest platform. The sheer length could be adjudged by the fact that the Awadh Assam Express, which had overtaken us at Gorakhpur Cantt., was berthed behind us on the designated PF2, and we were taken in front of it. Two gentlemen delivered our dinner here. The delicious spread, comprising of Rotis, Paneer gravy, Mixed Veg, Dal and Rice ending with a rich dessert of Khova topped on sweet dahi served in kulhad, was finished in no time.

The next morning, we were delayed by a whopping 6 hours in NER Lucknow division and woke up to the train speeding past the historic Kakori station. Khudiram Bose Pusa, Chauri Chaura, Kakori and Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil were few of the legendary stations that we passed through on this line, giving us goosebumps as we recollected the valiant efforts put by the young revolutionaries who gave up their very lives to realize their dreams of a Swatantra Bharat.

At around 11:25, we positioned ourselves near the doors, to capture the newest addition to the railway family at their home sheds, the Amreeki WDG 4G and 6G at Roza, and we were not disappointed. Two locos welcomed us at Roza while a further two awaited with their E loco counterparts.

The shed, embossed with the GE logo, was a veritable treat for us. Quite a few WDG 4G and four of the mighty WDG 6G in pristine livery were inside the shed.



Fulfilling! Heading up further north, Bareilly was crossed. But we had no time to retrieve the fallen jhumkas from Bareilly ke baazar! Eh??? Never mind. Moradabad saw a WDG 4G on the adjacent platform as we were entering it. Braving the extreme chill, Abhilash and I ran back towards the GE loco, snapped it to our hearts content, purchased some guavas and headed back to our seats having seen a WDG 6G earlier at Moradabad home



As we were near Gajraula, Adithya (AV) pinged us. "Take a video of Garhmukhteshwar bridge". Courageously, Abhilash and I positioned ourselves on the door, ready to take a video while the Alco was merrily chugging away at MPS at temperatures near freezing for us Bengalureans. The bridge over the mighty Ganga maiyya was an amazing experience. Crossing it at MPS is something that will be etched into the memories forever. What a run! Take a bow 11562. As we came back to our seats, a pleasant surprise sprung up in our WhatsApp group. AV had shared a video of our train at MPS near Gajraula which in turn was shared with him by a friend’s friend. Truly proves that the railfans’ network is stronger than all the Telecom companies put together.

The Hapur Ghaziabad section is a favourite of AV’s and he requested that I take a video of the skips of the stations between Hapur and Ghaziabad which I promptly obliged to. Oh, did I mention, we spotted a couple of WDP 1 locos too! As we reached Ghaziabad, a flurry of high-profile departures out of Delhi began and we happened to witness 4 Rajdhanis, the ones to Sealdah, Dibrugarh, Bhubaneswar and Patna. The DMRCL Metro criss-crossed us and we finally reached Old Delhi at 18:20. To our dismay, there was nothing available on the platforms, except for vendors selling egg thali and a lone stall that did brisk business of chai, biscuits and chips to the famished passengers. Just as the train departed Delhi, we placed an order for Domino’s Pizzas that would be delivered to us at Alwar. Our neighbours requested one pizza for them to be clubbed in our order.

By this time, Pawan had finally reached Darjeeling after a 2 hour, 15 minute delay. He headed towards Mall Street for some shopping and dinner.

Skipping through the suburbs of Delhi, we passed by Indira Gandhi International Airport, India's busiest airport, preparing to handle the busy hour. We entered the penultimate state of our trip, Haryana, with a quick halt at Gurugram and then into the final state of Rajasthan. We had travelled far indeed, braving freezing temperatures all along with the sun going AWOL.

We pulled into Alwar at around 22:30, famished but the pizza delivery person was nowhere in sight! Frantic calls later, he had the hot pizzas delivered in the nick of time. By the time the train crossed the advance starter, I'm sure we had polished off a slice of pizza each and the second one also had made its way to its destination.

The third day of our journey finally saw the sun making an appearance, after a long vacation, at Chittaurgarh, the seat of the mighty Rajput empires. We bid goodbye to the Ratlam boy here as BGKT WDP 4B 20098 assumed charge for the home run. A breakfast of steaming Poha and chai was gleefully devoured.



As we chugged out of Chittaurgarh, the weather suddenly became foggy, reminiscent of the previous days. At 09:02, 48 hours and 10 minutes into the journey, we finally pulled into Mavli Jn. - tired, weary and dirty, but immensely satisfied, for such a long distance run by Diesel may never be possible in future again. This was also the longest journey, by duration, for us ever in a single train hauled by a Diesel loco!

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Old 15th January 2021, 19:03   #6
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

An epic journey done! From the Northeast to the Northwest. Hurtling across the great Gangetic plains from the foothills of the Himalayas, we were now on the other end of Bharat, the state where the brave Rajput clans ruled and made a name for their valour and bravery. In this state of the Rajas, we descended having conquered the plains and ready to embark upon our next adventure – the Metre Gauge Mavli to Marwar section down the Khambli / Goram Ghats. But, our initial plans of taking the morning service to Marwar was up in smoke as we were late by 6 hours. The next train was at 12:30.

This delay again was God-send as we decided to head to Nathdwara, to pay our humble obeisance to Lord Shrinathji and board the passenger from there itself. When we asked the railway staff in Mavli about the crowd levels in the afternoon service, pat came their reply, "Aap andar cricket khel sakte hain". Nice! We hired a cab to Nathdwara. As we crossed the level crossing towards Nathdwara, the layout brought back pleasant memories for me from my childhood - BG and MG tracks running parallel to each other. Something I had not seen ever since I watched and travelled on those cute MG trains and EMUs in Chennai. A few kilometers later, we halted for a pit stop to have some garam chai and kachoris. The chacha who ran the shop had a very friendly and affable personality. He made the tea with a huge smile and his bright turban certainly added colour to the day.

Upon reaching Nathdwara, we rented a room to quickly freshen up and proceeded to have darshan of Shrinathji. We had a Divine darshan of the Lord, coinciding with the auspicious day when Lord Krishna accepted the humble offering from his friend and devotee, Sudama! We felt blessed indeed and got rejuvenated for the journey ahead. After another quick stop enroute to spend some time with the holy cows at a Goshala, we reached Nathdwara station. Upon confirming with the staff that the train was indeed running, we bid adieu to the cab driver.

The Nathdwara station is very quaint, and despite having a BG platform, it is very much reminiscent of the MG era, showing who rules the roost here. A lone BG train comes to Nathdwara, once a week from Okha, while the MG trains do 2 services a day in either direction. Even the BG platform is rather isolated from the MG platforms. The friendly Station Master cum ECRC issued us the tickets. Each of us bought an individual ticket for posterity.


We clicked a few pictures of the MG rolling stock fresh out of POH, ready to head to Mavli. With points set, semaphore arm down and the tooting of the loco was heard at a distance. FL YDM 4 6739 pulled in with 3 railfans photographing it like the celebrity it is today. The SM told us that the card tickets would be issued at the stations ahead by the guard. Wanting a piece of the souvenir ourselves, I ran to the guard to buy the tickets. The guard raised eyebrows but nonetheless handed over the tickets to us. We positioned ourselves in the first coach to enjoy the chugging and smoking of the cute beast and he did not disappoint. The departure from Nathdwara was accompanied by the beast growling away with the emission of much smoke, which would have caused an increase in carbon credit for us, much to the chagrin of a Scandinavian brat.

Slowly rolling over the arid landscape on either side, we came across plenty of cattle, nilgai and even peacocks crossing the tracks at will, avoiding a few runovers in the melee, thanks to the alertness of the LP in applying emergency brakes. The rake itself was very well maintained, with dry and clean toilets and were surprisingly watered too. A sight better than what awaited us later that day. The coaches even had strategic skylights thus ensuring a bright and airy interior. But with different ramification in the monsoons.

Charbhuja Road promised to be a long halt as we had a crossing with the morning service from Marwar here. Feeling puckish, we asked the LP about lunch options. He suggested we go to the market outside the station to pick up food. The shop had Hot Samosas, Fafda and Jalebis with kadhi and fried chillies for the sides. With concerns over food alleviated, we rushed back to the station, to see that the pairing train had arrived and we were good to go.


Merrily trundling away, with the rhythmic "Thadak Thadak" adding to the live music as we polished off the food, we reached Khambli Ghat. A long halt ensued, to ensure that the brakes were in working condition.


Descending the ghats slowly but steadily, the landscape seen was simply stunning. The Aravalli in her full glory covered with trees, and the valleys below offering a beautiful view of a lake provided astonishing vistas of nature. Langurs were giving constant company to us on either side. There were two halts enroute at the catch siding, where the LP alighted, checked the points with the pointsman and then proceeded. The massive viaducts, the two tunnels and plenty of curves meant we were glued to the doors the whole time. In what seemed like no time at all, we were at Goram Ghat and a further descent began that culminated at Phulad, where we would reverse to head towards Marwar.


The evening sun offered us some stunning snaps, as the train bathed in the golden glow of the west bound Sun. A pack of mawa was picked up here, but sadly remained unconsumed till the very end. A couple of cups of tea gulped down and we were off again towards Marwar. The guard joined us in the coach now and we had a healthy chat on the future of the line, what with the GC about to skirt the mountains and to take a new alignment altogether.

We reached Marwar at 18:15, where the morning service from Mavli with YDM4 6738 was berthed on the loop line. Our rake was stuck on the platform till the next morning as there is only one loop line at the station. With few night shots taken, we took the rather very high footover bridge to the waiting room on Platform 1. As we were over the bridge, 22452 Chandigarh Bandra Superfast arrived. A train close to my heart, for it took me to my first ever IRFCA Convention. Back then, it was an ICF rake, but now, it was a swanky LHB rake, but it's aggressiveness is not lost. On the first platform was another "Convention Special"- the Ranakpur Express. The TC asked us to present our tickets and promptly we produced both the card and paper ticket, much to the bemusement of the TC. We proceeded to the Sleeper class waiting room for some much deserved rest before heading out for some dinner. Phones and power bank charged, we headed out into a market close by to gorge on some delectable Dal Baati Churma and Rotis, before ending the meal with a kulhad of hot milk served fresh off the kadhai. We walked back to the station, awaiting the arrival of our Ahmedabad Agra Super Fast Express. An Alco horn was heard at a distance. It was the Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani that was to pass through the station, at MPS. A sight not to be missed, I ran to the top of the FoB, just in time to capture the Rajdhani zooming past with a single Alco in lead. This was the first of the two times I would capture an Alco hauled Rajdhani during our trip.

Our train too arrived shortly on platform 1, with Abu Road WDP 4D at the helm. We occupied our berths, this time in sleeper class, after bidding goodbye to Akshay, who would rejoin us in Delhi after changing trains at Agra while we would disembark at Jaipur. The LHB rake was sadly in bad shape, with the toilets clogged and doors broken. We felt that the little MG train was better maintained. A quick nap is the biting cold followed. We were in the Pink City even before the crack of dawn and the beautiful station building was promptly photographed. We had a couple of hours to bide in the heated waiting hall.

Little after 05:00, we headed to platform 2, having properly woken up with a pretty good hot chai. The loco was another offlink for us (3 out of 5 so far). BGKT WDP 4B 40085 in LHF was to haul our Double Decker, India’s most popular, to Delhi Sarai Rohilla. This is a longish train with 13 double decker coaches and 2 executive class coaches. Our request for C5U had been granted all we got was a middle and aisle seat combo. Nonetheless, we settled down in two window seats by the trackside. The train left on time and as we reached Jaipur Gandhinagar, there was a huge crowd waiting for us. The coach became full and Abhilash had get back to his aisle seat but thankfully, my window seat was to be empty.


The vendors started selling their wares of water, tea, coffee, (yes, I finally got Coffee in Rajasthan), soup and breakfast. For the freezing weather, the soup was just what the doctor had ordered, and we had a couple of cups each. A breakfast of cutlets and tasty omelettes served with brown bread, a chiplet of butter and boiled peas followed. I was nothing down the station timings and trains crossed in my diary, which promoted a curious look from my co-passenger. I explained about IRFCA to him and he was not sure if I deserved a bed in Agra’s 3rd most famous structure after the Taj Mahal and the Fort. Thankfully, I did not tell him about our previous experiences, else he would have dragged us there for sure! The infamous North Indian fog prevailed and delay was building up. At Delhi Cant., the rake of the Buddhist Circuit Train was stationed. We pulled into Delhi Sarai Rohilla, delayed by an hour.

We now had a task on hand to cancel one of the tickets from the earlier NFR plan. A bit of struggle later, we found the PRS counter that was thankfully empty and even more grateful that our losses were limited to only the clerical fee on the cancelation. A taxi was booked for the Oyo room in Paharganj. He came after some confusion about the location. Upon reaching the property, we were disappointed to see that it was nothing like what was shown in the Oyo app. We canceled the booking and after checking couple of equally bad hotels, we got a deluxe room at Zostel for a very reasonable price. By now we got the news that several metro stations Delhi, including Rajiv Chowk, were closed due to miscreants creating nuisance. So we decided to stay put in our hotel.

Akshay meanwhile had reached Agra and had missed the Karnataka Express to Delhi. His next train was the Shridham Express from Jabalpur. He had managed to squeeze his way into the UR coach and got a seat for himself till Nizamuddin from where he planned to take a EMU or the trailing Kerala Express to NDLS. Me and Abhilash headed out to a nearby eatery for lunch where we had some amazing rajma chawal with boondi raitha and papad. A great combo in the chilling weather, ending the meal with hot Gulab Jamun.

Akshay too reached the hotel. We relaxed for some time before heading to Connaught Place for some shopping (I was persuaded). On finding out that the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station had been opened, Abhilash made a quick dash in a Yellow line metro to Gurugram in the neighbouring state to catch up a childhood buddy after 20 years. Akshay and I roamed around CP, picking up a jacket and gloves at Palika Bazaar before looking for a pub for some much needed drinks, a beer for one and coke for another. Akshay preferred to have an omelette for dinner at a nearby store. I had Paneer Curry and Roti for dinner, ending the meal with hot Badam milk from the kadhai, served in a giant kulhad. We walked back to our room in Paharganj. Abhilash too safely returned a little before midnight after meeting his friend over continental dinner. The next day, the penultimate on our trip, promised to be a smooth but adventurous affair, on a smooth swanky new train. Expectations set, we dozed off.

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Old 15th January 2021, 19:10   #7
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

15th February, 2019 is a red letter day for railfans. The Annual IRFCA Convention at Hubballi was inaugurated that day and there was a very inspired address by Mr. Dilip Kumar, Dy.CDE, Integral Coach Factory who had worked on the prestigious Train 18 project that produced a marvellous semi-high speed trainset in a record 18 months which filled the hearts of the railfans present with pride and joy. In Delhi, on the same day, our honourable Prime Minister was flagging off the Trainset which had been named Vande Bharat Express, connecting the capital city with his constituency and one of the holiest cities in Bharat, Varanasi.

The Vande Bharat Express is no less an engineering marvel, with state of the art facilities and made at a low cost or as a former automobile industry captain calls it "Frugal Engineering". Consisting of 14 chair car coaches, including 2 driving cabs and 2 executive class coaches, this train does a distance of 759 km in 8 hours in each direction, averaging 95 kmph. A few months later, a twin was introduced which went northwards towards the Himalayas to Katra, base of the revered Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

10 months later, we had booked our tickets on this beauty. Our initial choice of C1 coach was not granted and instead, we got seats in C10, a far walk away from the driving coach. We reached NDLS by 05:30 and were greeted by the sight of the northward bound Vande Bharat on platform 14. Our rake shunted in to platform 16 and we moved to the head of the train to take the mandatory pictures, selfies, groupfies and to admire the beautiful engineering of the train. The Loco Pilot was making the pre-journey checks, with the onboard technical team assisting him, while the stewards were busy loading the breakfast and snacks for the passengers.


Our seats happened to be the pseudo EC seats, as Abhilash puts it - the last row. Good because we could travel in relative comfort, but bad because the motors that power the sliding door to enter the seating area was quite loud with the whizzing sound.

The clock struck six and both the new boys started moving out of Delhi in opposite directions, and if things were to go right, they would be back in Delhi 16 hours later. Of course, since we were travelling in the Varanasi bound train, things were bound to go wrong. Platform 1 had the original Speed King of IR, ready to go southwards towards Habibganj while on platform 15, Prateek, the celebrity loco, pulled in with the Kathgodam Shatabdi.

Railneer and Hindustan Times distributed, we started moving out at a brisk pace, skipping the suburbs of Dilli and as we entered Uttar Pradesh and into the dreaded NCR territory, fog made the progress very slow. Speed was limited to a mere 75kmph and instead of the 130 this fellow was capable of doing. A tight schedule meant the delay was slowly building up.

By this time, a hot breakfast of Cutlets, Paratha, Curds, Sandwich and a chocolate muffin was served. Food was pretty tasty and hot. Full marks for the food, although our crew chief was a tad more stricter with respect to the ratings. Ulysee was out, waiting to clock 130 for the second time on our trip, but it was still elusive. But what did come was news that internet services was suspended in several parts of UP, Varanasi included. This led to a quick call to AV from Akshay, who had changed his mind to return home by Varanasi Mysuru Express, to book a Tatkal ticket to Solapur from where he would head home to Bijapur by bus or train. Thankfully, AV was able to win the battle with IRCTC and booked the 3A ticket!

As a good sign, the weather cleared up a little after 9 and we began accelerating. 75, 85, 100, 110, 120, 130. Yes! Second time on this trip, and we had touched 130. SBC WAP 5 was in shut down mode now, taking a quick power nap, but was soon awake to enjoy the 130 action with the in-progress EDFC giving company. Progress which was smooth thus far, soon came to a grinding halt. We suspected a CRI (cattle runover) which was soon confirmed and checks were being conducted.
Akshay and me went upto the driving cab or cockpit(?) to stretch our legs. Upon seeing the control panel, we began having a nice discussion on how the controls looked similar to WDP 4 and WAP 7. A gentleman from the technical team was impressed by our seemingly good knowledge of the controls, which certainly not the case. We know only the surface, while these gentlemen have a much better understanding of the trains. Still, it did feel nice to get such compliments. Thank you IRFCA!


As we were returning back, our crew chief decided to inspect the damage and on his arrival at the leading C1 coach, things began to clear up and after about an hours detention, we were up and running, with the front cattle guard removed. So that's a two hour delay even before the first halt, Kanpur.

At Kanpur yard, we had a darshan of the oldest WAM 4 in India, CNB WAM 4 20406 still doing inferior duties. A wonderful sight and possibly the last time we were to see a WAM 4, a workhorse of the Railway network, in action. Farewell soldiers!


The LP was announcing the arrival of the train and on which side the doors would open, much like an aircraft. Kanpur was a long halt due to lunch loading.

The veg meal consisted of rotis, delicious paneer curry, dry aloo subji, curds, dal and pickle, and butter scotch ice cream for dessert. Again, food was top notch, though the chief disagreed. The train started acclerating again, at a good pace, 130 130 130 constantly clicked on the speedometer to reach Prayagraj, the holy city at the confluence of the three revered rivers. From here, we would move to the single line section via Manduadih to enter Varanasi, with MPS reduced to 110. The mighty Ganga Maa crossed yet again , and we sped away towards Manduadih even as the three SBC based human locos took a power nap till we were near Manduadih. The DLW on the left was a nice sight with a YDM 5 loco seen plinthed. On the right side, we happened to see two of our home boys, 12007 and 12009, awaiting to be converted into WAG 11. As though a reminder of their fate, we even saw WAG 11 29002 parked right in front of them.
As we got excited on seeing the WAG 11, our copassengers also became curious to see what we were upto, with some even asking which train was that!



We finally pulled into Varanasi a good 2 hours late and made our way to freshen up and head for Ganga Arati. We were told that there had been a Lathi charge some time back, but the situation was under control. A peaceful Arati, followed by a tour along the river, where we saw the ultimate truth of life - Death, at Manikarnika ghats. We offered our prayers to Lord Vishwanath at the temple, thanking him for silently watching over us before heading to Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple. He had been constantly giving us mmthe much needed Mochan from a lot of Sankat over the past week.

Bidding goodbye to Akshay, who was to board the BSB - MYS Express the next day, Abhilash and I headed over to Varanasi station, where we were able to get WiFi and internet connectivity. Our last leg by train, the DDU - LKO Ekatmata Express, and the only train of our entire trip hauled by an E loco ( Akshay did not have this honour. His Mysore Express was hauled by a KJM WDP 4D). Gonda P4 22334, was our loco. Our coach S5 was relatively clean and we immediately settled down in our berths for a good night's sleep in biting cold.

Early next morning, we were running 3 hours late due to fog and at Utraitia, we were halted for a long time. An Alco chugging was heard and it was the Dibrugarh Rajdhani, rushing towards Delhi, with UDL WDG 3A in the lead! Two Rajdhanis with Alcos during the trip. Amazing!



A few more long halts later, we were taken into Lucknow on platform 4 with the AC Express coming from Delhi arriving on platform 1 with what looked like a RPM WAP 7.


We photographed the beautiful Charbagh station to our hearts content and headed to the retiring room at Lucknow NER. Yes, Lucknow was to be our last port of call as we had booked our return from here after deciding not to return back to Kolkata due to the prevailing situation there. Not wanting any more drama, I freshened up and made a dash for the airport by Metro while Abhilash had plans to meet a childhood buddy before going to the airport by late afternoon.



At the airport, I met Aman , a fellow Railfan from Lucknow, before boarding the Vistara flight to Hyderabad which was also delayed due to late arrival from Delhi and subsequent traffic at Delhi airport.
Abhilash meanwhile had his flight diverted to Chennai before reaching Bangalore a good 5 hours late.

Akshay was having a rather horrible journey due to poor maintenance issues, clogged up toilets being of them, but he too made it home on Monday safely, concluding a very worthwhile trip.

The end.

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Old 15th January 2021, 19:12   #8
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

*Some mind boggling numbers from the trip*

- 4692 KMs by Train
- 3360 KMs approx by Air
- 220 KMs by Road (excl. Intra-city)
- Across Hooghly by Ferry, Ganga Ghat by Boat
- 19 tickets booked, 2 unreserved
- 8 tickets cancelled, 4 untravelled
- 9 trains travelled
- 3636 by Diesel traction
- 1056 by Electric traction
- 7 loco classes, 2 Train sets
- 7 Zones, 6 Zonal HQ
- 15 Divisions, 14 Divisional HQ
- 7 States, 1 UT (NCR)

The loco classes we spotted in this trip

WDP 1
WDP 1M
WDP 3A
WDP 4
WDP 4B
WDP 4D
WDM 3A
WDM 3B
WDM 3D
WDG 3A
WDG 4
WDG 4D
WDG 4G
WDG 6

WAG 5
WAG 7
WAG 9
WAG 11

WAP 4
WAP 5
WAP 7

WAM 4

YDM 5 at DLW plinthed

A couple of steam locos enroute to Rewari for repair at NJP
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Old 16th January 2021, 06:41   #9
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 16th January 2021, 08:33   #10
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

wow @MadiMaama, that's an epic travelogue! Thanks for sharing.

It would be a nice addition if you could post a pic of google maps route you covered.
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Old 16th January 2021, 09:24   #11
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Thank you @androdev. Here is a map traced on the Indian Railways map of the routes that we did. The path marked in black was our route. It covered the Eastern Railway, North East Frontier Railways, East Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, Northern Railway, North Western Railway and North Central Railway zones. Chronicles of Chaos-img20191226wa0056.jpg
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Old 18th January 2021, 15:12   #12
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

Quote:
Originally Posted by MadiMaama View Post
*Some mind boggling numbers from the trip*
A nice variety of loco's you have spotted. Most of these are sadly not seen down south, especially around Bangalore area. I guess it was the WAG 12 that you didn't spot.

Nice to see 20012 although it looks like any other EMD now. It was called Baaz when it was rolled out as a special loco and was with KJM shed.

Last edited by Rudra Sen : 19th January 2021 at 17:42. Reason: Quote content trimmed
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Old 18th January 2021, 15:43   #13
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

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Originally Posted by tharian View Post
A nice variety of loco's you have spotted. Most of these are sadly not seen down south, especially around Bangalore area. I guess it was the WAG 12 that you didn't spot.

Nice to see 20012 although it looks like any other EMD now. It was called Baaz when it was rolled out as a special loco and was with KJM shed.
Yes. WAG 12 and 10 were missed out. Out of the current lot, WDP 1 and 1M can be seen performing duties around Vijayawada while WDP 3A can be seen at Trichy. WDG 4G and 6 are yet to come south.

WAG 12 was spotted in Chennai a month ago.

It was sad to see Baaz in the standard cab now. It had a special fibre glass cab and an orange blue livery, which we had on our T shirts. Baaz for SGUJ and 12001 Godfather for UBL

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Old 19th January 2021, 00:52   #14
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Re: Chronicles of Chaos

What a great write-up MadiMaama. Superb pictures and narration. I must say going through the entire travelogue made me feel as if I am the part of the entire journey. Thanks man, really enjoyed reading it.
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