Trainspotting at Hyderabad
by Shashanka Nanda
2001-10-20
today me and fellow railnut from hyd. lakshman went on a trainspotting trip at maula ali station and boy did we have a good time!
me and laksh met at 1545 and walked to the maula ali station along the tracks from the tarnaka flyover. to start with things we stationed our selves just beyond the OHE car shed. this particular section of the track is about 200m before the platform at maula ali .
at 1629, we were rewarded with our first sighting of the day. it was the 2703 falaknuma exp. running slightly behind schedule. little did we know that this'd be the order of the day. the falaknuma was headed by a KZJ WDM 2C. it passed by us at a leisurely 55 kmph, giving us ample opportunity to take somenice shots of the loco and the rake.
next up at 1636, the 7054 chennai exp. came by. this train was to our disappointment hauled by a KZJ WDM2. we were really expecting the mighty WDP 4. anyways, this too went by us at around 55 kmph.
We next encountered the 2714 satavahana exp. to BZA. this dropped by at 1444 hrs. a WAP 4 from LGD was at the business end at usual. the train infact coasted by at 45 kmph and stopped at the platform !!! we reckon it was due to fact the chennai exp. had just gone by. i took some neat shots of the WAP rounding the curve coming into maula ali.
at 1722 the Kazipet-Hyderabad EMU arrived, carrying a surprisngly light load of passengers considering the fact that there's a RTC bus strike in the state !!!!
it wasn't until 1749 hrs that the next activity was recorded, and i'm sure each one of u would love to see what we saw. it was a WAM 4 ( #20603) from LGD hauling a..... guess what a WDM2 (#17460) from KZJ towards Lalaguda !!!!! and what was even strange that the diesel was also running and there was a driver in it too !!!!!! the WAM driver acknowledged us with a hoot !!!! just wait till we get process the reel....it'll be up on my upcoming site for u all to see :o) the driver acknowledged us by waving his flag at us :o)
at 1756 hrs the 7008 godavari exp passed by ( a good 25 mins late), doing a good 60 kmph. this was also hauled by a WAP 4( #22354) from LGD. if everythign goes well, we should get a good snap with the twin beam lamps on, but the light had faded somewhat.
we were expecting the narayanadri next up, but what came by was a real treat....the 7616 visakha exp, running really late, screamed by at 1817 hrs....a KZJ WDM was hauling it in full cry. at a good 85 kmph, the tarin thundered by barely 5 feet away from us....oh man...that's what i call a rush.
at the same moment the repalle passenger ( i'm not sure about the number ) sauntered towards Secundrabad having made it's mandatory halt at maula ali with a WDM2 (#18893 ??)from KZJ upfront. funnily enough not a single light in any of the coaches was on !!!
then the moment we were waiting for...it was really dark now, and we were impatient, and then we heard the shrill bark of the WDP 4. and then in it;s all its glory...the WDP 4 lugging the narayanadri exp. glided by at 1634 doing a neat 50 kph. this was the first time i saw a WDP 4 doing anything above 10 kph and i must admit, that i'm in love with it, the ugly long hood notwithstanding. laksh did click a few snaps but we'll have to wait for the print sas it was really dark then. but the driver saw the flash and sure as hell, he rewarded us with 2 quick blasts of the oh so intoxicating horn as he thundered by barely a few feet from where i stood.
so then we set off back towards home base, when what we reckon was the east coast exp. headed towards sec. passed by headed by a WAM 4 though not sure as it was really dark now.
as we were crossing the tarnaka flyover..we heard a WAM 4 again, and sure enough it was the charminar exp. it passed just under us. we did take a few pics, but really not sure what the result would be. had we been there even 10 secs earlier, we'd have gotten u really great top view shots of the loco and the rake. lets hope we do get something.
that was about it for the day. i bade my friend lakshman goodbye, and headed back. but this isn't all...he's promised me he'll get me pics from the WDP4 hauling the palnadu exp. tomorrow. i'm waiting for them. and hopefully by the end of october, my site should be up and u can all watch these pics there.
i'm also looking forward to my trip to nellore next weekend. but not really sure if i'll make it, owing to the flood situation. but if i do, i promise u some great shots from one of the coolest spots anywhere for good ol' spottin'
so long then........