Dhuri

The poinstman at Bahadur Singh Wala gets ready to handover the token to Shatabdi Express to Delhi.

On the northern side of Dhuri, lies Himmatana on the line to Ludhiana. Electrification works are proceeding rapidly, and poles have come up till Dhuri outer. The poles interfere with semaphore visibility at night, leading to a restriction of 50 kmph on tr

A group of mendicants look on as the morning passenger to Bhatinda departs from Dhuri. Soon, many things in this frame will be history.

Big railway junctions are a magnet for those without an address, and for those in search of one.

For this elderly mendicant, the wait at Dhuri was long. He’d been there the whole day and when I came back the next morning, he was still around, sitting pretty much motionless and blank. (Bharath M)

Traffic was light in Dhuri this morning. Usually the yard is fully occupied with freight moving in 4 directions, but the only movement was this BCNA rake, led by a Sabarmati WDG-4 towards Bhatinda (Bharath M)

Love birds of Dhuri Jn.

Pre-winter and the air is filled with smoke from the villages around Dhuri.

As the sun dips below the horizon, station staff proceed with the time honoured routine of lighting the wicks in the kerosene lamps that illuminate the semaphores in the dark.

Mr. Sehgal, a points with over 35 years in service mans this impressive array of levers controls points and signals on the eastern end. It takes a combination of brute strength and a touch of love to keep these beauties in tiptop condition.

A dramatic sunset forms the perfect backdrop to the starters at the western end. This is the last bastion of the grand semaphores.

Light drops fast in the north Indian winter, and before you know it, it's dark.

A brief moment of respite. No train traffic means that the level crossing on the western end can open to allow road traffic to cross the tracks. On occasions, the LC can be closed for 45 minutes or more, leading to massive pile up of traffic in the narrow

The 54054 Ludhiana – Jakhal passenger streaks its way into Dhuri, leaving an impressive trail of lights behind it.

Day or night, traffic keeps rolling in and out of Dhuri. On a good day, more than 120 trains pass can through the station in 24 hours. The same can't be said of sugar mill at the back, it runs only during sugarcane season and is shut for 4-5 months in a y

Night time means that the token collection gets difficult. The pointsman at Bahadur Singh Wala prepares the torch that will mark the position of the hoop in the dark.

At twilight, a WDP3A brings in the late running to Sriganganagar - Ambala Intercity.

And the crowds on the platform are looking for a meal or a late cup of tea.

The token hoop is secured to a trackside post. The oncoming train picks it up by hand or in some cases, using a hook fixed to the side of the locomotive.

Just as the train approaches, the flame torch is lit letting the loco pilots know about the token's location.

At Allal, the Haridwar - Sriganganagar Intercity picks up the token under the blaze of the pointsman's torch.

Sometimes, the pointsmen like to hold the torch in their hands - making for an even more dramatic image