The virgin lands beneath Nandigram exp

The second “Ghat” 4: The end point Kosai is the first station in A.P. Large (?Neem) trees with great canopies add a certain charm to the station. This is also the first place where Telugu script makes an appearance. The urdu script persists! Dr Akash

The last station on MUE-ADB section is Umaram- some 10 kms before ADB. Dr Akash Bang

The bridge on the river Penganga. This newly built bridge on the virgin ADB (A.P.) -Pimpalkhuti (M.S.) section demarcates the border between AP & Maharashtra as the MUE-MJRI line again enters back into Maharashtra from AP. The exact location of the bo

Back to Maharashtra after a short 46 Km stint in AP! Just after crossing the Penganga river, 7605 has now entered Maharashtra back. With its source and destination stations in Maharashtra, the 7605 travels total 1069 Kms out of which only about 46 km are

The CR welcomes back its own train, the source and destination being CR territory! The SCR-CR border is just 1 km short of Pimpalkhuti on the ADB side. Having traversed as much as 564 km in the SCR territory out of its total 1069 Km journey (i.e. more tha

The smallish Pimpalkhuti station entitled to many “firsts”. From ADB side, the first station in Maharashtra, the first in CR territory, and from MJRI side, the first station to have a Telugu script though we are still in Maharashtra. Pimpalkhuti has o

The old (functional even now) Goods platform of Pimpalkhuti probably saying- Who thought we would ever need a passenger platform? Presently NO passenger trains and ONLY 2 pairs of express trains (ONLY 1 pair daily) 7605/7606 and 7609/7610 run on the entir

Seeta meets the twin Geeta! At Lingti, the 7606 NGP-NED-CSTM Nandigram exp crosses us with another PUNE WDM3A. The train boards were not as stylish as our rake’s and the rake composition was exactly opposite to ours which removed my doubt whether there

Lingti- the first station on Pimpalkhuti-MJRI stretch. Note the absence of Urdu or Telugu script. Dr Akash Bang

A sampling view of a near empty 7605! This is my S5 sleeper coach! In total, including all the 8 reserved coaches (6 SL, 1 AC3, 1 AC2) there were only 21 reserved passengers beyond NED and only 13 beyond ADB. Only myself in my S5 coach and ZERO in S2, S6

Kayar- the second station on Pimpalkhuti-MJRI stretch. Local children gather to watch what must be rare species for them- Passenger trains! 7605 stopped at Kayar for a crossing with a goods train, though a handwritten notice at MJRI which I saw later in t

Crossing Pic 1 of 8: WDMs face to face! Though a handwritten notice seen later in the day at MJRI suggested that Kayar could have been a regular stop, we were told that 7605 had stopped for crossing with a goods train. This BCNA rake was hauled by twin It

Crossing Pic 2 of 8: Idiots are dime a dozen! 2 such morons cross the tracks so near the twin WDMs as the loco pilot anxiously peeps out! Dr Akash Bang

Crossing Pic 3 of 8: The twin WDMs hauling the BCNA rake at Kayar. The pilots got amused at my cam. Dr Akash Bang

Crossing Pic 4 of 8: The loco pilot smiles at me as he is about to drop the key token for the Kayar-Wani section. In the background, the Kayar station staff is ready with the key token for the Kayar-Lingti section that we had brought. What are 3 pilots do

Crossing Pic 5 of 8: The first token (Kayar-Wani) dropped. Next token (Kayar-Lingti) lifted up by the Kayar station staff. Dr Akash Bang

Crossing Pic 6 of 8: Bravo! The next token handed over to the leading WDM pilot as the trailing WDM pilot as well as the travelers look on! Note the hand playfully outstretched by an amused passenger from 7605. Dr Akash Bang

Crossing Pic 7 of 8: Its time for my role! The guard waves the green flag at the station staff as the BCNA rake passes by. Dr Akash Bang

Crossing Pic 8 of 8: At a crossing, the latecomer is always the first to go! The station staff walks up to the loco of 7605 to hand over the key token dropped by the BCNA rake loco pilot. Dr Akash Bang

A palash tree (Common English name- Flame of the Forest) stands out due to its green leaves and red orange flowers in the dry uninhabited surroundings between Kayar and Wani. It’s the evergreen trees like Palash, Neem, Mango etc which stay green and bri

Work going on! WDM3A slows down in consideration to the workers working at a curve on Kayar-Wani stretch. Dr Akash Bang

The workers waving bye bye at my cam and green flag at the train on a curve on Kayar-Wani stretch. Dr Akash Bang

Appearance of the wires! Just 1 km short of Wani (Wani is 856 Km) the Single electrified Rajur-Wani line (which imparts junction status to Wani Jn) comes to run parallel to our line. Dr Akash Bang

Coal loading of BOXN rake going on at Wani Jn which is the 3rd station on the Pimpalkhuti-MJRI section. Dr Akash Bang

The bridge on the Wardha river, just before Majri Khadan- the 4th station on Pimpalkhuti-MJRI stretch. Dr Akash Bang

Majri Khadan- The only station on the ADB-MJRI stretch where 7605 did not stop. Dr Akash Bang

At last! The MUE-KNVT-ADB-MJRI single non-electrified line joining the BPQ-SEGM double electrified main line with a sharp left turn at a speed restriction of 10 after waiting for green signal for some 10 minutes at the turn. Dr Akash Bang