Jungle Trail

A father loving sends-off his child and her mother, as the passenger train slowly accelerates out of Prachi Road Junction. (Harish Kumar)

After Prachi Road station, the lines to Delvada and Kodinar split. Straight ahead is the line to Delvada and the one curving sharply to the right is towards Kodinar. (Harish Kumar)

Indian Railways plays a vital role in their livelihood (Raghu Jayaraman)

At Una, the passenger train almost empties out, with Raghu and Harish being few of the last passengers on the last leg. (Harish Kumar)

With the level crossing closed, the gates man signals proceed towards the next and the terminal station, Delwada. (Harish Kumar)

The loco takes a breather, after reaching the destination (Raghu Jayaraman)

The beautiful british era station building still stands strong and proud. (Harish Kumar)

YDM-4 #6692 reverses one more time. This time at Delvada for the return service to Junagadh scheduled for departure at 14:25 (Harish Kumar)

In case, if you are wondering what is this not so significant picture doing here, this actually indicates the road that leads to Delvada station. The little board to the right corner of the picture indicates in Gujarati on the direction to reach the railw

Afternoon, Naveen and Ben had to abandon their plan to visit Prachi Road station and Kodinar due to heavy downpour, and we chose to call it a day. We converged at Diu for a well-deserved rest (Naveen)

Second day of our jaunt on MG continues, with plans to cover MG actions at Jamvala, Sasan Gir, Amreli, and Khijadiya Junction. Accordingly we split into two teams. A young boy gingerly takes his cycle on the bridge over River Shingoda. (Benher)

Dhasa bound passenger leaps out of the jungle behind as it slows down for the scheduled halt at Jamwala (Benher)

Sabarmati YDM-4 #6257 with the Delvada bound passenger over river Jamjir (Benher)

After a relaxed evening at a resort in Diu, we returned back to meet the trains the next morning. First meeting on this day is the Delvada bound train crossing the arch bridge across Shingoda river near Jamwala. (Naveen)

Now on the Talala - Visavadar section, Dhasa bound passenger is about to enter Gir forest, between Chitrawad and Sasan Gir (Harish Kumar)

Trains have PSR of 45 KMPH and when we reach the Level crossing, the gate was closed and the train arrived a little later. (Harish Kumar)

Dhasa bound passenger powered by YDM-4 #6394 waits at Sasan Gir for the crossing with Dhasa - Veraval Passenger (Harish Kumar)

(Raghu Jayaraman)

After giving us some anxious moments amidst the wildlife, the Veraval bound train finally appears around the corner, a good 30 mins behind schedule. (Raghu Jayaraman)

While waiting for the Delvada bound train, the key man, shared his wisdom about the forest and encouraged us to take the path along the railway across the forest. We wasted no time and quickly moved on with our trusted steed to take us across the difficul

YDM-4 #6394 with Veraval - Dhasa Passenger goes past us somewhere inside the forest. (Raghu Jayaraman) (Raghu Jayaraman)

With recent rain and flooding of Kamleshwar reservoir and river, resulted in closure of road connection between Sasan Gir and Visavadar. This is why our friend at Sasan Gir suggested us to take the trail by the railway. (Raghu Jayaraman)

Our friend from Gir Forest. This youngster who guided us to ride across the difficult sections of the jungle, also invited us for a most delicious cup of tea we ever had. He and his family who live in this humble hamlet, is a part of Maldhari Community th

A group of Maldharis gather around a small shrine somewhere deep in the Gir Forest. (Harish Kumar)

After riding about 8 kms along the railway, over the viaducts and ramps, we finally join the road at aunmanned level crossing only find the trails were much better to ride. Over the next level crossing we took the trail again and this is where the trail t

We did not happen to come across a lion along the railway, but certainly watched Chital, deer, variety of primates and birds, millions of butterflies, giant squirrels, mongoose and of-course the livestock of the Maldharis. (Raghu Jayaraman) (Raghu Jayaram

At Visavadar Junction, looking towards Sasan Gir. Behind me, is the junction, where the line to left go to Junagarh and the line to the right would go to Dhasa. (Harish Kumar)