The Little trains of South Gujarat

We begin our week long sojourn in Gujarat from this beautiful railway section between Waghai and Bilimora (Naveen)

Pretty landscape, fresh air, aroma of ayurvedic medicines greets us at Waghai (Naveen)

Even as the ZDM-5 #523 gets set to reverse, the adventurous cyclist rides and falls bang in front of the locomotive. (Naveen)

The rake had a mixture of Regular and Green "Eco Friendly" livery coaches. (Naveen)

The loco takes a casual stroll towards the end of line as it reverses. (Naveen)

With reversal complete, the train is now ready to take on the 63 kms and 3.05 hrs of run towards Bilimora Jn. (Naveen)

Native tribal depends heavily on the train to transport their elegantly crafted bamboo works. (Naveen)

Between Dungharda and Kalv Amba, the railway line passes through the Waghai National Park and can spot quite a few wildlife here. (Naveen)

The gateman travel in the train and operate as mobile gateman to the few gates enroute. As the train approaches the level crossing, he walks ahead, clears the road traffic, close the gate, allow the train to pass the LC, opens the gate again and boards th

(Harish Kumar)

Little beast ZDM-5 #512 powering the Nadiad - Bhadran Passenger waits at Virol. (Harish Kumar)

We had green carpet run all the way to Bhadran. (Harish Kumar)

Petlad at 37 kilometers was reached after a liesurely run of 1 hour and 55 minutes. As we see, the train is parked under the natural shelter for an extra extended halt. To the left of the train is the BG section of Petlad, which connect Petlad connecting

(Harish Kumar)

The growl of ZDM not withstanding as this dog comforts itself for an afternoon nap right in front of the train (Naveen)

(Harish Kumar)

Naturally decorated NG station at Petlad (Naveen)

As we go on the slow wild safari, we spotted camels, deer, peacock and monkeys right by the railway line. (Naveen)

The line that branches out to right hand side connects the main line to NG/BG island platform. This line is used during the morning departure, as the 5:00 am passengers from Khambat have connection with the Nadiad bound NG service, which departs at 06:00

If not for the many cyclists who use this alignment for a shorter ride, the railway line can hardly be seen. (Harish Kumar)

A local cyclist takes his chance against the train. (Harish Kumar)

An abondoned station between Petlad Jn. and Bochasan Jn. There were more than 6 such stations that were abandoned between Petlad and Bhadran. (Harish Kumar)

This line may not be jungle safari, but we did spot many wildlife along the railway, which include Lion-tailed Macaque, Bonnet tailed Macaque, Langur, Common Mongoose, Peacock, Peafowl, White-necked Stork, Black-headed Cuckoo, pied woodpecker, Owl and kit

We casually run into Bochasan Junotion... err Junction (Naveen)

As we approach Bochasan, we cut across the BG line before entering the station. (Harish Kumar)

Our little co-passenger, who showed quite an interest in train travel and railway talks. (Naveen)

The BG side of Bochasan Jn. This BG section connects Vasad Jn with Kathana. Two passenger trains between BRC and KTNA runs every day. (Naveen)