The Vindhyas beckon....
A set of images captured on a daylong journey across the famous spiral at Dhulghat and the ever fascinating ghats from Kalakund to Patalpani by 15 railfans. The partners in crime were Abhishek Nair, Akshay Marathe, Bhushan Kale, Binai Sankar, Bizzy Mishra, Colin Peter, Dilip Setlur, Jayasankar Madhavadas, Karan Desai, Karthik, Kaushik Dharwadkar, Nitin Master, Ramdev Gowda, Shantanu Kulkarni and Vibin Andrews. (Some images taken during these members' journey to Akola, and on their way back to their home bases are also included) The event was on the 14th of March 2009.
Regular Rajdhani power, WDM3A #18897 of Kazipet all set to depart from Bangalore City with the 2429 Rajdhani Express, carrying 6 nuts heading to one obscure corner of the country, on an even obsure reason :) ()
Sun rise through the Rajdhani's window. Thanks to the railways innovative ways of milking money, our visibility was negligible ()
The copper-colored dawning sunlight bathes the SBC Raj as it glides into SC. 2009-03-13, Bizzy ()
2703 Falaknuma Express being shunted by WDP4 20057 on the Ramp at SC outer. 2009-03-13, Bizzy ()
White Mischief! My first ever date with a White WAP, and how! 30239 from LGD warms up to power the SBC Raj from SC onwards. 2009-03-13, Bizzy ()
Konark Express with KYN WDM-3D 11243 at SC. 2009-03-13. Bizzy ()
2908 Maharashtra Sampark Kranti express encounters a speed restriction of 10kmph to enter Surat.The train halted for 2 mins but announcement was made that nobody should board the train.2009/03/13 (Abhishek Nair)
ZDM-3A #183, christened "Shivaji" reversing at NGP to haul the NGP-JBP NG passenger. 2009-03-13, Bizzy ()
Little master ZDM3A #183 with it's workload at NGP. Big brother WAM-4 is peeping from across the fence! 2009-03-13, Bizzy ()
"Where Do I Go Now" wonders the BRC WAP-4 #22541 'Cheetah' hauling the Ahmedabad-Puri Express as it is greeted by all Reds at Akola Junction. (Karan Desai)
The Mumbai gang at Akola Junction. From L-R: Nitin Master, Kaushik Dharwadkar (from AWB), Bhushan Kale, Akshay Marathe, Abhishek Nair (from BRC), Shantanu Kulkarni and Karan Desai. (Karan Desai)
All Set! MHOW's YDM-4 #6719 is all ready- headlights, flasher, markers all ON, to haul the 458B passenger from Akola to Ratlam. (Karan Desai)
Good Morning! A lovely start, with MHOW YDM-4 6719 at the helm of the Akola-Ratlam passenger. 2009-03-14, Bizzy ()
Our coach was 'christened' in this manner by the TTE just ten minutes prior to departure from Akola Junction. (Karan Desai)
Proceed! Railfans watch curiously from all windows as a semaphore clears our way ahead. (Karan Desai)
The MG Passnger makes many "technical halts" to let the TTE go from one coach to the other! ()
An abandoned station named Gandhi Smarak Road on the AK-RTM route.This reminds me of a similar station named Gandhi Smriti near Navsari on the BRC-BCT mainline though the station is not abandoned but condition is pretty much the same.2009/03/14 (Abhishek
A railway staffer traveling in our coach, was getting down at every station and getting some kind of a paper signed by the SM. (Ramdev Gowda)
Not having had enough of the Orange Halwa sent by the legendary Alok Patel, Bizzy buys some more oranges as Bhushan and Kaushik look on. (Karan Desai)
Flavors of India: Delicious samosas and pakodas at Akkot provided a sumptuous breakfast! (Karan Desai)
The 'dwarf' signal outside Wan Road... ()
The jostle for space.... railfans occupy every bit of space as the train approaches Wan Road, with a crossing lined up ahead. (Ramdev Gowda)
Indiascape! Colors of rural India stand out from the monotonous landscape and the dull brown of the AK-RTM pass. 2009-03-14, Bizzy ()
The beautiful ghats near Dhulagat on the AK-RTM MG line.2009/03/14 (Abhishek Nair)
The spiral seen from the bridge.... (Ramdev Gowda)
Gone in 60 Seconds! We devoured the entire pack of Orange Halwas sent by Alok Patel as a present to SBC-MAS gang in almost no time! 2009-03-14, Bizzy ()
The Akola-RTM MG Passenger during one of the nondescript stops enroute. 2009-03-14, Bizzy ()
Recent comments
Excellent album!! Enjoyed it thoroughly.
I haven't been on an MG journey for at least 13 years. I hope I can get a journey before its all too late!!
Posted by Anil kumar Yerrapragada on 2009 Mar 31 05:38:16 +0000
Great sets of pics by all, especially pics by Aksay Marathe were superb. Kudos to all of you for this trip.
Posted by Ranjeet Ramaswamy Iyer on 2009 Mar 30 15:45:31 +0000
Congrats guys for the trip. It must have taken a lot of effort to put it together...perhaps first of its kind in IRFCA?
Posted by Milind on 2009 Mar 30 07:57:15 +0000