The three lines!
Three back to back trips to cover the three major lines out of Bangalore - The Mysore, Chennai and Hubli lines by railfans Kunal Doddanavar, Santosh Kulkarni, Pawan Koppa and Shishir Jairam. The trip covered the newly doubled portions of the Mysore line (Hanakere and Nidaghatta near Mandya/Maddur), Maralahalli and Tyakal on the Chennai line and Bhairanayakanahalli in the Bangalore-Tumkur section on the Hubli line.
KJM WDP4 effortlessly pulls the Gol Gumbaz Express towards SBC! Location - Nidaghatta (Sant Kulk)
The SBC-MYS Shatabdi with its distinct Silver-Blue coaches glides past Pandavapura. (Kunal.S.Doddanavar)
The effects of doubling. This was what Nidaghatta looked when we visited it 3 years back! (Pawan Koppa)
Change is the only thing constant and this picture proves it. Compare it with this photo of the same place...
An overnight express service from Madras nears Mysore with a super clean dippy in charge. (Kunal.S.Doddanavar)
The MYS - SBC Chamundi Exp with its old livery proceeds towards its destination - SBC. Location - Settyhalli (Sant Kulk)
The quickest train on the section lives up to its mark as it rips past Nidaghatta! Hubli's WDP-4 #20008 takes a stroll with the puny 13-coach load of the Shatabdi Express bound to Mysore :-) (Pawan Koppa)
Old Warhorse WAM4 from AJJ 21320 comes snaking into BWT with the Big Blue aka SBC-MAS Shatabdi Express. (Shishir Jairam)
The Lalbagh Express bound to Chennai blasts past at flat 110 kmph hauled by Royapuram WAP-7 #30367 (Pawan Koppa)
The brightly painted Kolar-Bangalore Cantt. DEMU provides some contrast against the greens around at Marlahalli. (Pawan Koppa)
The Shatabdi Express bound to Mysore never gets tired of climbing gradients - be it under Diesel or Electric traction. Here it races past hauled by RPM's WAP-1 palindrome #22022 (Pawan Koppa)
The Shatabdi Express disappears into the rocky terrain with RPM WAP1 at its helm. (Shishir Jairam)
The Yeswantpur - Kamakhya AC Express led by grand daddy Arrakonam WAP-1 #22005 basks in the sunlight near the rocks at Tyakal. (Pawan Koppa)
Yeshwantpur~Kamakhya LHB AC Exp with a contrasting color AJJ WAP1. (Kunal.S.Doddanavar)
Far away from home, Valsad's WAG-7 #28619 climbs a gradient as it hauls a CONCOR rake towards Whitefield SGT. (Pawan Koppa)