Goa: ALCO's in Paradise
My Indian railway journey began at Dadar station when I boarded the 12051 Dadar-Madgaon Jan Shatabdi at 0525 a few hours after arriving in India from the US. After riding the train over the scenic Konkan railway I arrived at Madgaon where I took a spur of the moment trip on the ALCO powered Amravati Express out to Sankval Beach and then back on 56966 before finally meeting up with my family for the wedding.
In the following days after the wedding I was able to visit the nearby stations of Suravali and Majorda for some railfanning. I timed my visits to maximize the number of ALCO hauled trains I could photograph and also serendipitously met IRFCA member Harris Kiran from Bangalore. After 3 days in Goa it was time to say goodbye to friends and family and head on to Pune via the Braganza Ghats on 11098.
Video links:
Onboard the Amaravati Express
Goa Lineside video compilation
Onboard the Poorna Express up the Braganza Ghats
A close up of the first IR ALCO I had the pleasure of riding behind on this trip. While unfortunately no longer a GY Baldie the freshly painted unit looks sharp.
After my all day trip from Mumbai on Jan Shatabdi 12051 I was ready to head to the hotel on arrival at Madgaon. However upon pulling into the station the #18047 Amravati Express was on the next platform over ready to depart. I quickly detrained and jumped
A pair of yellow Hubli (UBL) WDG4s slowly bring a empty bauxite train to a stop at Sankval station where it will meet local train 56966.
A small crowd including myself has lined up on the platform to board 56966 Vasco de Gama to Kulem local train as the sun sets. Listening to the KJM WDM3A power up and down making all stops was a great way to end my first day in India.
Fish on a train! Fresh caught fish take a ride on 56966.
A late running 70103 Pernem-Karwar DMU was the less than exciting start to the day. Thankfully DMU's are still rare and the rest of the trains were locomotive and generally ALCO hauled. Interestingly these DMU's are the only motive power owned by the Konk
After recovering from the wedding it was once again time to head trackside to Survali station which had long been on my list of places to visit. Upon arriving I ran into Harris Kiran from Bangalore, it seems I always have the good luck to run into local r
The highlight of the day was witnessing the arrival and departure of Vasco-Kulem local 56964 which had a surprise in tow in the form of derated WDM2 017685.
12051 nears the end of its run from Dadar terminal in Mumbai behind dual cab 12051. This was my ride the previous day from Mumbai to Madgaon.
The small station is still host to several stopping local trains each day. Amazingly the station is even manned for the departure of those trains.
Goa Express 12779 has just begun its nearly 2 day journey to Delhi behind rebuilt KJM WDM3A 12779 which at one time featured the distinctive rounded "baldie" nose but has unfortunately lost that and its shed colors after rebuild.
Shortly after the Amravati Express speeds through Suravali behind a pair of GY WDG3As wearing different paint schemes. While it was disappointing that I was not able to photography anything wearing the distinctive GY shed colors any pair of ALCO's is wort
Kulem to Vasco local 56961 enters Majorda Junction as the early morning haze starts to burn off.
The next morning I woke up early to walk to Majorda station to photograph the morning parade of southbound trains, all hauled by ALCO's. The first train photographed was the northbound Amravati Express hauled by the same two GY WDG3As.