The Spiralling Railway lines in Melghat Tiger Reserve

Some years back you could travel from Delhi to Bangalore in a Meter Gauge train. Akola-Khandwa section was a part of that corridor. Now this section including the famed Spiral at Dhulghat all are a part of Core & Buffer areas of Melghat Tiger Reserve

Date: 2015-08-14
Owner: Gallery Administrator
Size: 26 items
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Moving on from our NG sojourn on day 1 we arrived at Akot Jn where we were expecting an incoming train from Khandwa side. What better way than a semaphore section to greet us (Trayambak Ojha)

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Cleaing the loop and entering Akot Station (Trayambak Ojha)

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After a brief halt, the train is ready to depart. (Trayambak Ojha)

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The skies were very gloomy and the train departs in full glory from Akot (Trayambak Ojha)

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Shifting our Focus deeper into the Melghat Tiger reserve and after a very difficult off roading on a rainy day, we Arrived at a heaven called Wan Road. (Trayambak Ojha)

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From being desolate to crowded the transformation was quick for the station. The wood cutters and Railway staff for maintenance used this train to return to their homes. (Trayambak Ojha)

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The weather had become very difficult with constant rain falling we all took to different positions to capture the train (Vivek Pillay)

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After a brief halt the train departed from Wan Road while the wood cutters probably wanted to return walking to their villages. (Trayambak Ojha)

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Prowling through the forest with the semaphores saluting the train, we ended the action for the day (Trayambak Ojha)

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Day-2 and we arrived Akot just before Dawn and we were just on time to capture the morning departure at Akot and it gave some smoky show. (Trayambak Ojha)

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The train to Akola departs from Akot making the atmosphere totally smokey. (Vivek Pillay)

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Our next location was the famed Dhulghat Spiral, which was a difficult place to reach but was all the efforts. The train here enters the viaduct to climb down the spiral (Trayambak Ojha)

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After climbing down the gradient using helical path the train crosses below the same viaduct below through the dense jungle. (Trayambak Ojha)

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And it curves to re-enter the forest towards Dhulghat (Trayambak Ojha)

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There is no dearth of wildlife. Seen here is a crab on the tracks , who probably was washed out by the monsoons. We were also able to see Chitals in the forest (Trayambak Ojha)