Awesome Threesome: North India Trip Report

2008-12-08

Karan Desai

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Part 1: Jerks, Fog and a Surprise!

Mumbai Central to Nizamuddin by 2953 August Kranti Rajdhani Express
on 8th Dec, 2008.

Being my first journey on a Rajdhani, I insisted on boarding the AK
Raj from Mumbai Central, 30km away from home, inspite of 2953 having a
halt at Borivali, mere 5km away. We (mom, dad, uncle, aunt and myself)
reached Mumbai Cantral an hour early at 1635, expecting heavy security
check after the 26/11 attacks. But sadly, it was not to be. We
alighted from EMU (Electric Multiple Unit)on Platform 4 on the Local station and took the Foot
Overbridge to Platform 4 of Main station, crossing an unmanned metal
detector serving as the sole ‘security check’. The ever-late Ajmer
Express was occupying the platform meant for AK Rajdhani. At 1640,
with a loud hoot of horn, the 2951 Rajdhani from PF1 and Ajmer Express
from PF4 started simultaneously! The two would have to jostle for
track-space once outside the station but that is none of my concern.

After a long wait, finally at 1705 the LHB rake of AK Raj was slowly
reverse-shunted into the platform, pushed by a good-old WDS-4 from the
front. Immediately, almost a dozen passengers jumped into the coaches,
with baggage et al, even before the rake was brought to a standstill!
Mumbaikars being Mumbaikars, can’t seem to realise that Rajdhani is a
fully reserved train and unlike the regular morning EMU, seats are not
to be ‘caught’ on first-come-first-serve basis! Valsad’s WCAM-2P

1. woke up from its resting place on PF3 with a roar made even
   more deafening confined within the covered arch roof of Mumbai Central
   and made its way to the front of the rake.

After the ‘check-in’ (finding seats, adjusting the luggage) I
proceeded towards the front of the train to check out the loco but to
my disappointment, after the addition of two extra coaches, the Raj
was now 19 LHB coaches long and the front EOG and the loco stood way
outside the platform. Before settling on my seat, I walked the length
of the train to the First AC attached right at the back and requested
the TTE at the door to allow me a peep inside which he gladly agreed
to. The First AC, I must say looks impressive but only the lucky ones
who have actually travelled by it would be able to give a correct
picture. I also gave a quick visit to the Washroom which looked quite
different from the ones seen on regular trains. I fiddled with all the
buttons inside (there is one to pour the water into the container,
another one to flush and so on), checked out the branded stainless
steel Wash Basin taps, freshened up using the nice smelling liquid
soap and returned to my seat, ready for the journey.

At exactly 1740, with a light jerk, we started and just outside the
station, a Virar Fast EMU (Electric Multiple Unit)waited for us to take the Down Fast line,
with the passengers in the crowded local giving us disgruntled looks
for making them wait! The WCAM-2P was as reliable as ever and we
breezed past the suburban stations at decent speeds. By this time,
evening snacks were served consisting of a half cheese sandwich, a
samosa, a boondi laddoo and a packet of Appy apple juice. A little
kiddo boarding from Borivali saw these items on my lap (I was on the
very first Side Lower from the door) and with worried look, told his
mother, ‘Mummy, sab log ne khana kha bhi liya!’. The mother consoled
him with ‘Beta, humko bhi milega, chalo’ and only then he proceeded to
his seat.

By the time we departed from Borivali, it was already dark and there
was little to see excpet the interiors of the coach reflected in the
huge glass windows. I had asked fellow railfans from Mumbai to update
me on the speed of AK Raj via SIMRAN and I would like to thank them
for doing this job diligently. The various updates I got mentioned the
train doing upto 119kmph many times but never exceeding 120. It was
great fun to see illuminated stations passing by in a jiffy at
120kmph! Dinner was served just before Surat. My dad, just to be a bit
experimental, had asked for Veg Jain dinner and the bet paid off well.
While all of us got watery Paneer and mixed vegetable gravy, he got a
delicious Paneer Mutter! (So, now you know what to order when onboard
2953!). My allotted seat was Side Upper and the person with the Side
Lower was going to board from Surat. To avoid ‘losing’ the prized
window seat, me and dad spread out our dinner on the Side Lower berth
just before Surat and as expected, the young man boarding from Surat
agreed to climb up to the Side Upper berth and nod off! Happy on
‘conquering’ the Window seat, even I went off to sleep soon, only to
wake up to witness the loco change at Vadodara.

As we entered Vadodara, I could see a military flatbed rake carrying
tanks, military trucks, jeeps, bikes and other assorted items with
heavy presence of armymen on it. I suspected the ammunition to be
moving towards Rajasthan border considering the building tension with
Pakistan. At Vadodara, fellow IRFCAn Abhishek Nair was to meet me near
the loco and the moment the train stopped I jumped out and ran 13
coaches ahead excitedly expecting to see a WAP5/7 take charge of the
Rajdhani. But it was not to be. As the WCAM-2P departed, we could see
the huge waist level headlamp of the approaching loco and we doubted
it to be a WAP-4. And it indeed was! But not from BRC or GZB – this guy
was from faraway Lallaguda! So that was it – no White Beauties for me!
LGD WAP-4 #22206 with a rated top speed of 140kmph was to take us
ahead! Disappointed, I went back to my coach and went back to sleep.
By this time, my dad had decided to occupy my ‘captured’ Side Lower
berth and I was left with the Middle Berth in the inner bay. The best
part about LHB coaches is that the windows are high enough for even
the Middle Berth occupant to look out easily while sleeping! I saw the
WAP-4 accelerate out of the huge Vadodara yard and dozed off.

The LHB coaches made sure nobody had a sound sleep. Every now and
then, as the LP accelerated or braked, there were terrible jerks
awaking quite a few passengers every time. The run, I believe must
have been good, for we reached Ratlam (again with a big jerk) a full
35 minutes before scheduled time! This meant a 45 minute halt for us
with not a soul around on the platform. The departure from Ratlam was
with a bigger jerk but I somehow managed to stay put on my berth. By
the time we reached Kota, we were running 10 minutes behind schedule
and the jerk as we halted at Kota was the biggest of the lot and
almost the entire coach woke up from sleep by this. As dawn broke, all
I could see around was fog and more fog. Nothing unusual for this time
of the year, I thought. At sunrise we reached Sawai Madhopur and I ran
out of my coach to get a couple of cups of chai for myself and mom who
were tired of drinking the milk powder tea served inside. The start
from Sawai Madhopur was perfect and we soon hit 130kmph for a brief
spell before heavy fog slowed us down. And this time, it lasted for
long. Really long. Four and half hours to be precise. The visibility
all this time was hardly two coaches and I wonder on what logic was
the LP driving through it! I enquired with the Coach Attendant about
the fog situation only to be told – ‘Maine itna fog last ek saal me
nahi dekha!’. What luck! We never crossed 60kmph for four long hours
and besides overtaking Firozpur Janata Express hauled by a WAG-7,
there was nothing worth seeing till we hit Mathura.

At Mathura, for the first time in the day, we got to see the sun and
blue sky. And also for probably the first time, Palce on Wheels made
an appearence there! I wonder why! The run from Mathura onwards was
characterized by brief spells of 130kmph sprinkled with spells of
extremely slow speed. Just as I was wondering whether I would get to
see any good high speed action, we blasted through crowded Faridabad
at 130kmph raising a huge dust storm and this feat was repeated at a
couple of more stations before we were made to halt for fifteen
minutes at Okhla for unknown reasons. Quite a few passengers got down
here while the others waited patiently for the last leg. The biggest
shocker came at Nizamuddin station where we were put on an
under-renovation platform 4 even as other (better) platforms lied
vacant! The passengers juggled with their luggage to find a place to
put their feet on the uneven platform surface with wet concrete making
things worse. A couple of passengers toppled over, few choiciest
Punjabi gaalis were blurted out and this marked the end of a rather
eventful journey – my first Rajdhani ride!

Part 2: Sarson De Khet at 150kmph!

New Delhi to Agra by 2002 Bhopal Shatabdi Express on 11th Dec, 2008.

We started from Hotel Ginger (formerly Rail Yatri Niwas) in the
station compound at 0545 to catch the Bhopal Shatabdi departing from
New Delhi at 0615. As we climbed up the FOB from Ajmeri Gate (Platform
16) side, I heard the announcement – ‘Jammu se aanewali Rajdhani
Express Platform number 1 par aa rahi hai’ and immediately I felt
something amiss. After all, Platform 1 is usual departing place for
Bhopal Shatabdi. How can Jammu Rajdhani be arriving there? The
suspense was broken in a minute as another announcement, this time by
an announcer whose nasal voice would give tough competition to a
popular Hindi singer, was made – ‘Bhopal ki aur jaane wali Bhopal
Shatabdi Express aaj 6 bajkar 15 minute ki jagah 8 bajkar 15 minute ko
ravana hogi’. With a collective sigh of ‘What the…’, we slowly got
down on Platform 1.

The platform resembled the lounge of international airport (anyways
the infrastructure at our airports is no better than railway stations)
with dozens of foreigners strewn all over the place. More drama was
going on inside the Station Manager’s office as a Japanese couple, an
Israeli gentleman and two aged European tourists were simulatenously
bombarding the Manager with questions on the delay. My dad got in
between and asked the same, but in Hindi, and got an immediate answer.
It turned out that the incoming 2001 Shatabdi had returned late the
previous night and the rake was being washed currently. As a result it
would depart two hours behind schedule.

Satisfied with the answer, the foreigners backed out and we made our
way to Upper Class Waiting Room, overflowing with harried passengers.
Not willing to remained confined within the boring Waiting Room, I
went out on the pretext of buying newspaper and found that the
Chinese/Japanese tourists were busy with their cameras capturing all
and sundry, the Europeans were busy noting down the details in their
trip diaries while the Americans had their faithful Lonely Planets for
company. The Indians, meanwhile settled down on the platform making
newspaper carpets. So far so good. But the scene I saw next really
amused me – a family of four had settled down on newspapers and the
head of the family carefully placed his laptop on the platform floor,
started the animation movie Madagascar on it and made his two little
kids sit in front of it, thereby ensuring peace for themselves and
others for two hours! I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this scene
and anyone who wants to see it can contact me off-list. Moving ahead,
I went to PF 2/3 but they were deserted. I quickly took a couple of
photos and returned to PF 1 where I again took a few more photos. All
this while there was absolutely no sign of any security personnel
around. I could have well carried an Agni missile into the platforms
and nobody would have bothered.

After the Jammu Rajdhani vacated Platform 1, Amritsar bound Swarna
Shatabdi occupied the place. I was surprised to see an ICF rake being
shunted in. However, this has been cleared in subsequent discussions
that Thursdays is the weekly off for the regular Swarna Shatabdi and
ICF rake runs in its place. I walked all the way upto the North end of
PF 1 to see the loco. Ghaziabad’s WAP-5 #30006 smartly walked in and
attached itself to the rake. Again I had all the time and space in the
world to take its photos but bad light meant I did not get a crisp
image. It was 0700 now and passengers of Bhopal Shatabdi were getting
restless. A seemingly funny announcement was made then – ‘Platform
number 1 pe khadi gaadi Amritsar Shatabdi hai. Bhopal Shatabdi ke
yaatriyon se nivedan hai ki ve Amritsar Shatabdi me na chadhe!’. I
returned to the Waiting Room, laughing all the way.

After the Amritsar Shatabdi departed from PF 1, we made our way out on
to the platform and most of the other passengers followed suit.
However till 0745, there were no signs of Bhopal Shatabdi anywhere.
The crowd on the platform was swelling and in the mini-chaos, somebody
pushed a trolley containing the breakfast for Bhopal Shatabdi and
around 50 packets of breakfast fell headfirst on the platform. I pity
the passengers of C2 – God only knows what in what condition must have
they got their breakfast! Finally at 0756, Ghaziabad’s clean looking
WAP-5 #30016 slowly brought in the LHB rake of Bhopal Shatabdi from
the North end. My coach, C3 was fifth from the loco and by the time
the loco reached where I was standing, the LP brought the train to a
standstill, the loco staring right at me. This is when I got that
photo-op that you see in Open Line. The crowd ran helter-skelter
looking around for their coaches. I enquired with the LP whether he
would take the train ahead or keep it midway as it was and he just
said – ‘Generator me tel bhar rahe hai. Vo ho jaaega baad me aage le
lunga’. Not willing to wait that long, everyone, myself included,
walked back five coaches and boarded the train.

The first look inside the train left me speechless. Huge windows,
swanky curtains, plush seats, individual reading lights and
transparent fibre-glass luggage rakes – things that we only dream of or
see in European trains were right before me! I settled on my window
seat and started hearing the announcements being made inside the
coach – ‘This is Bhopal bound Bhopal Shatabdi Express. Please do not
hand over your tickets to any person till the train departs.’ and then
the same thing repeated in Hindi. I had a quick look around and found
that we had more than two dozen foreigners in the coach. At exactly
0815, without any warning, we started crawling slowly out of New Delhi
station.

As we moved out of the station, an EMU (Electric Multiple Unit)ran parallel to us. It was in
here that for the first time in my life I saw ‘Ladies’ with moustaches
wearing shirts,trousers and dhoti! The run till Tughklaqabad was slow
with brief spells of high speed. By this time, tea was served and I
was pleasently surprised to see bags of Assam Tea instead of the usual
Taj Mahal etc. Once beyond TKD, the WAP-5 showed its true colors and
we hit around 150kmph for around half a dozen short stints. Since we
had lost our original slot, 3 BOXN, 1 BCNA, 1 BTPN, 2 ConRajs, 2
passengers and Golden Temple Mail had to wait in various sidings to
make way for us – all this in short span of 100km from Faridabad to
Mathura! Overtaking the Golden Temple Mail was something that was
really memorable and a sign of the changing times – 50 years ago nobody
would have ever thought in wildest of his dreams that The Frontier
Mail can be made to wait in sidings for another train to overtake it!

The real fun began after Palwal. It being winter season, the landscape
on both sides was filled with bright yellow flowers of Sarson
(Rapeseed/mustard) for as far as the eye could see and one couldn’t
help but recollecte the famous scene involving SRK and Kajol from
DDLJ! Crossing station after station at close to 150kmph is an
experience that cannot be explained in words. Here again I had asked
my friends to update me on the speeds via SIMRAN and I got updates of
my Bhopal Shatabdi doing 147kmph at Rundhi and around 145kmph for
three-four more times. Due to the rescheduling, we crossed the Mumbai
Rajdhani at an effective speed of approx 280kmph (150+130) and the
same spectacle was repeated with August Kranti Rajdhani! Soon after,
breakfast was served and it took away my attention away from the
window for brief intervals.

The breakfast had an option of Bread Cutlets or Upma and Vada with
Sambar. I chose the latter and it was finger-licking delicious. The
usual Bread-butter-jam were present too. It was while having breakfast
that I realised the amazingly smooth acceleration and braking of the
WAP-5 with LHB Shatabdi, a total contrast from the terrible jerks felt
in LHB Rajdhani! Somewhere near Mathura, we were crawling at 20kmph
and I diverted my attention away from the window towards applying jam
on my bread and by the time I was done with it, in just two minutes or
so, I looked out and whoa! We were cruising at 140+! I didn’t even
realise when the acceleration happened!

The speakers in coach that were earlier giving out instructions now
started dishing out music – instrumental versions of classic Hindi
movie songs. Call it co-incidence or great choice by the authorities.
the first song played was ‘Suhana Safar aur yeh mausam haseen!’ How
apt! The melody was broken only to announce the arrival of Mathura
Junction. It was now that I realised that I had half of my breakfast
to eat, and the mango juice to drink, all before reaching Agra, just
30 minutes away! We had a brief 2-minute halt at Mathura and the ride
now was even more scenic – the sarson de khet were omnipresent and
the speed constantly hovering in three figure mark, whizzing past
station after station with Samit’s atlas keeping me updated about the
distance left for the spectacle to end! Just before Agra, at 1020
hours, the speakers came to life again with the announcement – ‘Agla
station Agra hai. Yeh shahar Mughalo ki rajdhani thi. Vishwa prasiddh
Taj Mahal is shahar me hai. Agra utarne wale yaatriyon ko hum vidaai
dete hai.’ indicating the end of an amazing run but not before the
channel music played ‘Jeena Yahaan Marna Yahaan… Iske Siva Jaana
Kahaan?’ clearly echoing a true railfan’s feelings while onboard a train!

Part 3: Breaking the SMB Myth in the Desert!

Jaipur to Borivali by 2994 Garib Rath Express on 15th Dec, 2008.

[Note: This part of the report is considerably longer than the earlier two. Please
take your own time reading it.]

After travelling by Rajdhani and Shatabdi, this was the first journey
of the trip where food was not included in the fare and as a result,
we stopped by at the famous Rawat Kachoriwala enroute to Jaipur
railway station and picked up 3 Onion Kachoris, 2 Mawa Kachoris and 3
glasses of Kesar Masala Milk, not having even the slightest clue about
the taste of each of the items selected.

As we entered the station, 2956 Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast was
waiting on Platform 1 while Garib Rath was scheduled to leave from
Platform 3. We climbed the FOB but were unsure which side to get down.
All I knew was that my coach G13 was going to be the last but one
coach in the train. I had a quick glance at 2956 waiting on PF 1 and
found its loco attached to the left of us and I immediately announced
to the family – get down on the right. Proud at having used my
railfanning common sense, we alighted on the platform only to find G13
written on the electronic display board on the extreme left end of the
platform. It was then that I realised my blunder – 2956 goes to Mumbai
via Sawai Madhopur while Garib Rath takes the route via Ajmer. As a
result both trains depart in opposite directions from Jaipur even
though their destination is the same!

Leaving the family behind right under the G13 board, I went to check
out the loco of 2956 Superfast. WDM-3A #18665 from Bhagat Ki Kothi
(BGKT) was doing the honours. Immediately on the adjoining platform,
Ajmer-Kishanganj Garib Nawaz Express arrived with a Malda WDM-2A
#18613. It was for the first time in my life that I was seeing a loco
from Malda. Here again, like NDLS, there was no RPF menace and I could
peacefully take pics of both locos. Finishing that, I started walking
the length of the platform to reach the MG side of Jaipur which lies
in one corner. While doing that I stopped by at a General coach to ask
if the train had come from Ajmer or Kishanganj? After knowing it was
from Ajmer, I once again stopped, this time at a window with an orange
flag hoisted on it, and asked ‘Ye Kishanganj kahaan aata hai?’. The
man at the seat replied sternly, ‘Bihar! Bihar!’ and pointed towards a
banner stuck on the coach which read ‘Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi
Parishad – Bharat Ekta Rally to protest illegal migration of
Bangladeshis into India’. I located Kishanganj in Samit’s atlas and
immediately realised the reason for this group boarding this train.

I reached Platform 6 and 7 serving MG and was pleasently surprised to
see an island platform with proper roof, tiled flooring, working
digital clocks, food stalls and even an STD booth. Its nice to see a
well-maintained MG station when MG itself is counting last days in
India. A bigger surprise awaited at the other end of the platform
where a spanking clean YDM4 #6656 belonging to Phulera stood proudly
amidst an assortment of MG coaches. While I was checking the MG
section, I saw the rake of Garib Rath being reverse shunted into the
platform and I immediately rushed to Platform 3 of BG side and waited
at the loco end. BGKT‘s WDM-3A #16276R in standard orange livery of
rebuilt Alcos, running LHF was at the helm of the train. I thought of
talking to the LP but his looks – long white hair, even longer white
beard and a big tilak on the forehead making him resemble more like a
sadhu at Kumbh Mela, made me change my plans and I started walking
back when my eyes hit the digital clock showing 14:26 – the train was
brought on the platform with only 14 minutes to departure! I paced
myself and crossed 19 coaches in 2 minutes and reached my coach at
14:28 with my family giving me that ’Where the hell were you?’ look.

As luck would have it, we were allotted berths number 79, 80, 81 – the
very last three berths in the very last passenger coach of the train
with the loudly humming EOG as my immediate neighbour. Call it
coincidence or sheer luck, I have shared an intimate relationship with
the last bay in 3A coaches. On my journey to Jammu last year by Swaraj
(both ways), Kanpur trip for the convention (both ways), AK Rajdhani
last week and Garib Rath now – every time I have travelled 3A, I have
been in the first bay from the door! Ofcourse I am not complaining as
this makes running to the door a lot easier! The train departed
exactly at 1440 and it turned out that a newly wed dulhan going to
her sasural for the first time alongwith her husband were amongst
our co-passengers and the dulhan’s family was at the door till the
moment the train started giving teary-eyed vidaai to her. Once the
train started, the bride broke down crying with her husband giving her
a long hug to console her – all this happening in the doorway. When
this continued for close to five minutes one of the pantry staff
decided it was enough and commented – ‘Bhaisaheb chalo, ab baaki andar
jaake…’. The couple had no choice but to head back to their berths.

We opened our packets of snacks and found that the Onion Kachoris were
delicious and were finished in no time but the Mawa Kachoris,
considered a Jaipur speciality, were actually a sweet dish dipped
generously in sugar syrup. After managing half of it, we decided it
was no longer bearable and assigned it to the huge dustbin below the
Wash Basin. By this time, the catering staff had started making rounds
selling Bread Cutlets, noodles, Veg Burger and chips thereby assuring
us that we won’t have to go hungry. The coaches of Jaipur Garib Rath
have an electronic scrolling display above one of the doors which
displays the name of next station, the remainig distance to that
station and the current speed of the train, all updated in real time.
This board was right above my seat and provided great entertainment.
Soon after leaving the city, the display started showing speeds in the
range of 104kmph to 108kmph tempting me to doorplate.

I dared to open the door and stood for a few minutes before I realised
that the afternoon sun and the tremendous amount of dust flying due to
the train crossing arid terrain at 110kmph was too much to bear and I
returned to my seat only to try my luck once again half an hour later.
The doubling work on the section from Jaipur to Phulera seems to be
going on at a brisk pace and older semaphores could be seen rusting
away as MACL took over. At Phulera, it was a diesel parade with a
Vatva WDG-3A hauled freight, a Ludhiana Alco with a Jammu Tawi bound
train, an Itarsi diesel with unknwown passenger and a Shakti with
another BCNA all waited facing Jaipur. We crawled through a
platform-less line at 20kmph and speeded up soon.

Another half an hour into the run, we were put on a loop at a tiny
station and I excitedly jumped out of the train onto the tracks with
my dad and uncle following me to the door. The signal on Main Line
turned green and just then a shepherd decided to take his huge flock
of goats across the tracks. Thankfully the goats were quick and I did
not have to see a live mass murder of goats. Within few minutes,
raising a huge dust storm, horns blaring, the Ajmer-Delhi Shatabdi led
by a TKD WDM-3A blasted past at 110kmph leaving everyone speechless
for a minute. I boarded the coach from the other door and a
middle-aged NRI, overhearing me and dad talk train-stuff, stopped us
in the gangway with – ‘Do you work in railways?’ What followed was a
five minute verbal advertisement of IRFCA by me. While dad waited with
the NRI uncle, I made my way inside. As I crossed bay after bay, I
couldn’t help but notice that by sheer coincidence or luck, the
newly-wed couple had an entire bay of seven seats to themselves and
they were making the most of it, indulging in some really intimate
Public Display of Affection (PDA in college-terms) providing free
entertainment to the two passengers on side berths opposite them. This
news somehow spread throughout the coach and every few minutes someone
or the other would walk across the length of the coach, slowing down
to peep inside the fourth bay and returning with a blush or a giggle.

Thankfully the attention of the coach was distracted soon as the
attendant opened the huge ‘wardrobe’ to rent out bedrolls and the
first lady getting her set shouted out ‘Sirf 40 set hi aaye hai!’ and
all hell broke loose! Passengers from all corners of the coach rushed
towards the attendant and formed a long queue to get their bedrolls.
The arrangement of side berths in GR coaches is such that my berth was
right opposite the ‘wardrobe’ and there was no way I could reach there
until the entire crowd returns to their seats. This commotion was
absolutely unnecessary as there were enough bedrolls for all the 81
passengers, and then some more! I decided it was best to be at the
door and positioned myself at one right upto Ajmer.

The entry to Ajmer Junction from Jaipur side is through a tremendous
curve and for once I could see the entire rake of 19 coaches plus the
loco at one go. Just as we were entering the station, we met
Mumbai-Jaipur Aravali Express running with Abu Road twins. Being at
the fag-end of the train, I had to run three coaches ahead to fetch
tea for mom, dad and myself. After Ajmer, the evening got cooler and
doorplating, more enjoyable. In the half hour that followed, I spotted
a huge six-foot tall black and white deer/sambar/buck (whatever it is
called), four white peacocks and around two dozen normal liveried
peacocks, including a pair standing sweetly right next to the flag-man
at a tiny station as we whizzed past them at 105kmph. Between Ajmer
and Falna, the erstwhile MG alignment is clearly visible in terms of
permanant way and beautiful curved arch bridges close to present BG
alignment.

As it got dark, I decided to check out the entire train – all 19
coaches of it and started the long walk. By the time I returned, it
was a literal Bharat Darshan for me. I saw people playing cards,
singing songs, reading books/novels/newspapers, sleeping, eating
homemade food, chatting, children screaming, a sadhu praying sitting
on his Side Lower berth, a Muslim devout offering namaaz in the
doorway, families watching movies on laptops, even one gentleman who
had typed one full page of text in Notepad on his laptop – in Telugu
(quite an effort that would have been!). You name it and it was there.
In the three Chair Car coaches (which are glorified detention camps)
TTEs were busy selling off vacant 3A seats to passengers yearning for
a bit of comfort. During my return walk, I lost count of the number of
coaches crossed and overshot my own coach to land up in the pantry
which is actually the Handicapped portion of EOG!

The pantry staff had assured us that dinner would be loaded at Falna
and we were expecting hot food. But they couldn’t wait that long and
started serving food when the electronic indicator was showing ‘Falna
10km’, thereby exposing their fraud – the food was loaded from
Jaipur/Ajmer itself and was absolutely cold by now! Grudgingly we
tucked into one dinner, two biryanis, two burgers and one noodles
between the five of us and waited for Abu Road to arrive. Dinner done,
now it was the big moment – to open the dreaded Side Middle Berth and
experience it first hand!

It was only 2045 yet I insisted my dad that I was sleepy and he
reluctantly agreed to open up the SMB. It goes without saying that I
was the one going to experiment the SMB. I made the ‘bed’, climbed
onto it and lo! I could comfortably fit into it despite being 5’10".
The width and headroom were comfortable too. My mom who climbed onto
the Side Upper was also happy to find more headroom than what the LHB
Rajdhani offered. For once I was not ready to believe myself – the SMB
about which so much has been said and written is actually very
comfortable to sleep on! Contrary to popular belief, even the
passenger on Side Lower gets enough headroom! After all it seems Lalu
and Co. were not fools to introduce this concept! Ofcourse the problem
of making the ninth person sit in the inner bays during daytime does
exist and I find it very irritating but for overnight trains (say 7pm
to 8am types), SMB is a hit!

Abu Road was reached at 2130 and here we crossed the legendary Ashram
Express with its trademark Abu Road twins. Once again I rushed out
onto the platform, looked out for a stall three coaches ahead, got
three packets of lassi and returned and commented that rabdi was
available at the stall. Hearing this, my mom made me rush to the stall
again and once more I successfully finished the sprint, this time with
a kulhad of rabdi in hand, in time before the train departed. After
this I went off to sleep on my newly discovered love – the SMB, only to
briefly wake up at Vadodara. We stopped at BRC for only four minutes
and it was for the first time in years that I was seeing a train
depart from BRC so soon! After this, my sleep was broken only at Surat.

Now on double line with higher MPS, the LPs really let loose all the
power and even while running LHF, we started doing 114-115kmph for
long stretches of time. I dared to open the doors and felt the early
morning wind as we whizzed past Valsad at 106kmph and Vapi at 111kmph
(all speeds courtesy the electronic indicator in the coach). After
Vapi we hit 116kmph once and this was the highest speed I saw on the
indicator during the journey. The almost 150km run from Surat to
Dahanu was done in 90 minutes, giving an impressive average of 100kmph
even while keeping maximum speed within the 115kmph limit! If it were
not for the two irritating TSRs – one at Saphale and another at
Vaitarna that broke our momentum, we would have rushed into Borivali
bang on time. Even after the slowdown we pulled into Platform 6 of
Borivali at 0740, only 17 minutes behind schedule, doing the 233km run
from Surat to Borivali in just 2 hours 35 miutes!

With this comes to an end an amazing week involving three memorable
train journeys. I hope you enjoyed reading.
Comments/criticism/suggestions welcome.

Regards
KARAN DESAI
Mumbai