Budni-Hoshangabad Trip

Pic# 28: WDM 2 # 16779 of ET came in with a passenger into HBD from the ET side.

Pic#29: WAM 4 6P #21340 of Bhusaval rushed through at 90+ through HBD and rattled the entire station! We can’t imagine the scene with a WAP5 storming this place at 110+ KMPH!!!

Pic#30: The Narmada River Bridge on the down line. Lot of information boards are placed here included one saying "Photography prohibited!"

Pic # 31: Details of the Budni area and the hill feature which we trekked.

Pic#32: We reached BNI once again. As this WAG7 led passenger waited on the loop, an express with WAP4 #22296 of Kanpur came screaming down the ghats! Meanwhile the tanker rake in which we had come down also started its climb on the ghats with the G5 bank

Pic#33: Done with our brunches we started our trek towards the tunnel. At this point one can see the down line turning sharply towards the left for climbing the hills via the loop and the up loop coming down from the ghats

Pic#34: A brake in time saves 9! Smoke emerges from the bake shoes of the WAG5s as they quickly brake from high speed to make a stop at the BNI station while a BOXN coal rake waits for them.

Pic#35: Coal rake pic 1 of 4. We track this coal rake with 4 WAG5s to see the time taken to reach the tunnel. This series has been taken standing right near the Budni station which is about 1.58 kms (in line of sight) from the tunnel. Here it is approachi

Pic#36: Coal Rake pic 2 of 4: The rear end of the rake reaches the curve.

Pic#37: Coal Rake pic 3 of 4: The lead WAG5s emerge from the tunnel.

Pic#38: Coal Rake pic 4 of 4: The WAG5s make their way through the dense forest of the hills.

Pic#39: We continue our trek towards the loop and reach the first level of height of the tracks. These friendly gang men were on their way to the loop to replace a piece of track. They cautioned us of an approaching train.

Pic#40: It turned out to be this SRC (Satraganchi) WAP4 #22500 with a passenger rake. Amazingly the echo of these locos can be heard distinctly (twice obviously!) in the silence of the natural environment.

Pic# 41: We decided to avoid the loop first on and catch some action from the tunnel directly. So we climbed on to the second level of track and reached almost in front of the tunnel. Here is Nishant exploring the height of the track. Sharp turning radius

Pic# 42: A view from the top looking on to the open fields.

Pic#43: Our patience started getting challenged with time as no train passed us by for more than 30 minutes. Here is the Budni tunnel and its details in the inset. Meanwhile the gangmen too climbed up to this level and had a break for lunch.

Pic #44: We now had a challenge of crossing the tunnel and reaching the other side to the loop. So with some advice from the gangmen we thought of crossing it over the top. But to no avail. The ventilation shafts and slippery edges of the top made sure we

Pic#45: The insides of the tunnel were surprisingly clean and well lit too.

Pic #46: The other end of the tunnel. Trial fitting of G-clips was just outside the tunnel to prevent rock breaking down and falling on the tracks (inset).

Pic# 47: Finally we were at the loop ending (as we were walking in the direction opposite to train movement).

Pic # 48: Train on the loop pic 1 of 4: Moment we had come here for! The Amritsar Dadar express gave us this opportunity. Here it is at the other end of the loop. Me and Nishant had placed ourselves just after the tunnel so as to catch the movement.

Pic #49: Train on the loop pic 2 of 4: GZB WAP1 # 22072 pulls along the rake with all its might on this gradient climbing loop. This is just before the loco enters the rock cutting in the middle of the loop.

Pic#50: Train on the loop pic 3 of 4: Here it comes right after negotiating the cut in the rock.

Pic #51: Train on the loop pic 4 of 4: And finally crosses us with the entire rake on the loop.

Pic # 52: The rake gets swallowed up by the tunnel.

Pic# 53: We hurried up with our pace towards the side where the gangmen were working. This is where we are right in the middle of the loop in the cutting of the rock. On this walk of the loop I realized how fast Nishant can walk! He is actually an athlete

Pic# 54: We met up with the gangmen at the other end and realized we had out paced the suspicious looking men by quite a distance! Here is the beginning of the loop with the information boards of the gradient and curve.