The Legendary Meter Gauge in the Heart of India

The afternoon passenger service towards Indore Meter Gauge Junction makes its way upwards the Kalakund-Patalpani Ghat amidst lush greenery, mountain ranges, trickling waterfalls and the Choral river. This image is the fruit of a long trek and hike by our

The freight service train on a maintenance job stops at a tunnel to put in some earth at a place where last year the tracks had been washed away (Trayambak Ojha)

As we get down at Kalakund and start our trek towards Patalpani, the first action starts with a banker an ex Sabarmati loco (Trayambak Ojha)

The action from Patalpani came sooner than we planned and the forest was the background for this sudden shot (Trayambak Ojha)

The next service from Khandwa sides trudges up the Ghats cautiously (Trayambak Ojha)

And banking the train is the same loco which had gone to the banking station Kalakund a while ago (Trayambak Ojha)

After another quick errand and a long wait the same loco runs down for another service. We are also climbing a tall hill for a panoramic view of the Choral Valley (Trayambak Ojha)

The Banker loco is pushing though lush greenery and high mountains towards Patalpani (Trayambak Ojha)

We return to Kalakund as the evening sets and we are greeted by a service & maintenance freight loco ready to climb up the ghats as the officials allot a 2 hour block for maintenance in the ghat section of Kalakund & Patalpani (Trayambak Ojha)

The most breathtaking view had as we hitched a ride in this unique and rare service (Trayambak Ojha)

Negotiation the tunnels and the viaducts the single loco was enjoying its ride loaded with sacks and gangmen (Trayambak Ojha)

As the loco chugs hard to set itself at the exact position where the workers could start the work a smokey atmosphere is setup (Trayambak Ojha)

After exiting a tunnel the train stop for work in a beautiful valley view (Trayambak Ojha)

We decided to climb a small rock cutting to view the train from another angle (Trayambak Ojha)

The service train restarts after the completion of the work and tries to makeup time for an early resumption of the section blocked due to this (Trayambak Ojha)

This was a ride of a lifetime as the tunnels, mountains, valleys and hills make it impeccable experience (Trayambak Ojha)

As we arrive at Patalpani another passenger service towards khandwa arrives packed on the eve of Raksha Bandhan as we patiently wait to head back to base at Mhow. We had to further return to Indore as we were planning to cover the Mhow yard and adjoining

Day-2 and we begin our campaign at Mhow. This place is a heaven for MG as it unravelled later and needed atleast half a day dedicated to it. The Passengers services are gearing up to depart towards Indore with Mhow beauties at helm (Trayambak Ojha)

The transferred loco tok rest today after a hectic day yesterday. Mhow's busy and engaging platform atmosphere is hard to forget (Trayambak Ojha)

After a long halt the passenger service to Indore MG Jn depart negotiating the point and curving out of Mhow (Trayambak Ojha)

The semaphore Gantry is a great attraction here (Trayambak Ojha)

As the train bids farewell to Mhow we gear up for the next action (Trayambak Ojha)

Next up the Gantry which has seen so much over the years treats with the Mhow YDM4 heading the passenger from Indore to Khandwa (Trayambak Ojha)

As the starter bows down in salute the train is ready to depart acknowledging with mild smoke (Trayambak Ojha)

And while this service departs through Mhow yard it meets anther service back to indore (Trayambak Ojha)

The MG BTPN Tanker rake overlooks the train curving and shunting to the platform. Seen behind is the MG C&W workshop active even on Sunday (Trayambak Ojha)

And then the icing on the cake with a cherry on top moment for the trip..A Battery of old dilapidated steam loco greeted is and who else poses first but 2622 YP (Trayambak Ojha)