The virgin lands beneath Nandigram exp

Nanded station yard at wee hours just before sunrise. Taken from 7605 Nandigram exp, behind the unnamed passenger rake, ASR-NED Sachkhand exp rake can be seen far away. Dr Akash Bang

Another view of the Nanded station yard in the wee hours. The train on the right is 7605 CSTM-NED-NGP Nandigram exp with the pune WDM3A at its helm. On the left is an unnamed passenger rake. Dr Akash Bang

Sunrise at the Mudkhed Junction- after the gauge conversion, few platforms seem to have been added. Note the clean new benches. Dr Akash Bang

As Pune WDM3A pulls 7605 Nandigram exp on the virgin Mudkhed (MUE) – Kinvat (KNVT) section, note the 1st Km mark in the backdrop of the rising sun. After gauge conversion of the MUE-KNVT stretch, the distance marking has been done from zero from MUE. Dr

Pune WDM3A pulling the 7605 straight towards the sun just after Mudkhed Jn. Dr Akash Bang

Bhokar (BOKR) is the first scheduled stop of 7605 at 06.50 on the MUE-KNVT section after gauge conversion. Note the brand new look of the platforms as well as the tracks and the sleepers. The IR searchable stations code list doesn’t show this station na

Bhokar station towards its Mudkhed side. Note the brand new platform with blue-white striped brand new benches. Dr Akash Bang

Khadki Bazar- a small halt station on MUE-KNVT section just before Himayat nagar. Almost all the stations on this gauge converted section are newly painted. Note the beautiful blue-white fence. Also note the smart but less visible “blue on yellow” sch

Himayatnagar (HEM) is the 2nd scheduled stop of 7605 at 07.35 on MUE-KNVT section. Even this is not shown as a stop by the SZ TT! Note the presence of Urdu on the station board. This seems to be a random feature- as Bhokar, Mudkhed had Urdu script whereas

The brand new Himayatnagar station with “chakaa-chak” white washed fence! Dr Akash Bang

The train timings board at Himayatnagar! Note the timings of 7609 Patna-Purna written as arrival- 04.05, departure- Direct; 7610 timings: Direct 20.21. Does that mean that the 7609/7610 don’t stop and just pass by HEM at these timings? Then why do these

The brand new and stylish boards on the 7605 read “Nagpur- Mumbai- Nagpur” (via Nanded). Dr Akash Bang

Nature in its full form! At Sahasrakund, suddenly spotted this big (?Peepal) tree with lots of bee hives! Dr Akash Bang

The beautiful Sahasrakund station is an ideal example of a small beautiful wayside station. Dr Akash Bang

Small is really beautiful: Sahasrakund station with its blue on yellow board, a blue central shed, and 6 big trees- 3 green and 3 totally dried! Dr Akash Bang

Unnamed station…? This is the 2nd platform of Dhanora (Deccan) – probably IR in its most primitive form. Don’t the sleepers look just straight out of factory? Every smallest thing on this section wont let you forget that this is a newly opened secti

The other side of the Dhanora: Again note the blue on yellow scheme and blue-white striped fence. The “Deccan” suffix doesn’t find its place on the board- wonder why? The ghat section lies between Dhanora deccan and the next station Bodhani Bujurg w

The first “Ghat” 1: The so called “ghat” section on the MUE-ADB stretch consists of 2 stretches- The first one of 15 kms is between Dhanora Deccan to Bodhani Bujrug. I was ready with a note pad for counting the number of tunnels on special demand

The first “Ghat” 2: This section (Dhanora deccan to Bodhani Bujurg) is in fact better of these two so called “ghat sections” and still there is nothing more than small hills, some curves (I was reminded of the topography of Kasara- Kalyan section)

The first “Ghat” 3: WDM3A mightily carries 7605 up a gradient between Dhanora deccan to Bodhani Bujurg without any bankers. If IR calls THIS as Ghat section, and inflates the chargeable distance, I would say forget about the real Ghats like IGP-KSRA,

The first “Ghat” 4: After negotiating the gradient in previous pic, the mighty WDM3A now heaves a sigh of relief and traverses the down slope. Between Dhanora deccan and Bodhani Bujurg station on MUE-ADB section. Dr Akash Bang

The first “Ghat” 5: The tail end of the tiny 12 coached 7605 rake smoothly traversing the down slope after climbing a gradient. Between Dhanora deccan and Bodhani Bujurg station on MUE-ADB section. Dr Akash Bang

The first “Ghat” 6: Green Soya farms here and there look like oasis amongst the totally dried up deciduous forests. Between Dhanora deccan and Bodhani Bujurg station on MUE-ADB section. Dr Akash Bang

The first “Ghat” 7: Whoooshh! Finally its over! Yes, that’s all the ghat there is in the first Ghat section of Dhanora Deccan-Bodhani Bujurg! Dr Akash Bang

The second “Ghat” 1: The second “Ghat” in the MUE-ADB section is from Ambari (the immediate next station to Kinwat) to the next station Kosai- again a 15 km stretch. This is even a milder “ghat” than the first section. Mainly it consists of de

The second “Ghat” 2: Another view of the tracks laid between Ambari-Kosai by cutting the hills. Somewhere just after the turn that is visible, is the Maharashtra- A.P. border with Ambari on M.S. and Kosai on the A.P. side. However there are no proper

The second “Ghat” 3: That is all the Ghat there is between Ambari and Kosai! Dr Akash Bang