Bus, Beer, and Bytrayanahalli
After putting in all the hard work at BNC-2009, it was time for the Bangalore gang to chill out! Armed with a WTT, GPS, cameras, beer and mineral water, eleven members of the group travelled to Bangarapet (BWT) for a memorable ride on the RailBus to Kolar (KQZ) and back.
Also included are a few pictures taken while railfanning at Bytrayanahalli (BFW), a small wayside station where the gang chose to break for lunch.
Also read the Trip Report.
Idle passenger at Bangarpet. (Arnab Acharya)
OHE Inspection van. Bangarpet. (Arnab Acharya)
Old markings from SBC via Yelahanka, Chintamani, Kolar. Bangarpet. (Arnab Acharya)
The railbus waits. The tracks behind go towards Yelahanka. Kolar. (Arnab Acharya)
The old alignment of NG to Yelahanka, the NG track is no more. Kolar. (Arnab Acharya)
Sanket samples tamarind. Byataranahalli. (Arnab Acharya)
L - R: Srini, Vibin, Krishnamurthi, V Anand, Pawan, Arnab, Sundar, Manish, Sanket, (sitting) Ravi, Prakash. Byataranahalli. (Arnab Acharya)
Spare, uncommisioned Garib Rath. Whitefield. (Arnab Acharya)
A longish shot at the Marikuppam passenger waiting at Bangarapet [ BWT ]. KJM WDG3A #14636 (Vibin Andrews)
The Bangarpet-Kolar-Bangarpet railbus parked at Bangarpet. This was built by BEML and runs on the line as a single-train-only service, that is only one railbus runs up and down. No other traffic is operational on the Kolar line. 2009-02-07. (Pawan Koppa)
Anand sir poses with his steamer bandana, while Ravi looks on (Vibin Andrews)
Rare Signal post accomodating Starter, Calling On Signal, Shunt Signal and Route Indicator. Calling on singnal is generally on a home signal here it is on a starter. (Kalyan Vasanth)
This was the prize for our visit. A token thats used in a 'ONE Train only section', something thats expected to be part of Heritage. (Vibin Andrews)
Bangarpet Jn-Kolar is one of the unique sections in IR - NG converted into BG few years back. This is part of “ONE TRAIN ONLY” Block section one of very few such sections in IR
Only one train is allowed into this section at any given time. Kolar ...
The Rail Bus has no buffers, no screw coupler and no Air brake feed pipe. It can not haul others. Special procedures for when hauled (Kalyan Vasant)
WDP-4 #20023 brings in a 40 minute late running 2610 Bangalore City-Chennai Express into Bangarpet. 2009-02-07. (Pawan Koppa)
Most welcome KQZ Rail Bus Sir. Have a safe journey ahead (Kalyan Vasant)
I am not working. But you are most welcome. Just ensure that the RED FAN A FLAG (small tinny red signal across the track) is removed for you to proceed sir. (Kalyan Vasant)
As we landed at the station.. the localities were pretty excited.. Hobbyists of IR !!! (Vibin Andrews)
The Kolar station building, its still in pristine condition. It has a running room, a Police chowki, Reservation office with the SM's office. (Vibin Andrews)
A quite station with one person who is busy filing for a reservation, the old ticket counter is simply maintained well still (Vibin Andrews)
A Platform... which is so peaceful. We Bangaloreans long to have such a serene surroundings ! (Vibin Andrews)
Rail Fans lineup for photo at KQZ. (Kalyan Vasant)
Another look at the RailBus which runs between Kolar & Bangarapet (Vibin Andrews)
Old colonial style KQZ Station (Kalyan Vasant)
Old colonial style KQZ Station (Kalyan Vasant)
KQZ and its only frequent visitor (Kalyan Vasant)
Recent comments
A very nice and different album. Liked the coverage of railbus and kudos to all young and veteran railfans teaming up and giving it a superb end result.
Posted by Arzan Kotval on 2009 Feb 14 09:27:38 +0000
Nice album, guys. The BWT-KGQ-YLK NG line is a historic one. The Mysore State Railways operated the Bangalore-Mysore railway line and other lines into the hinterlands of Mysore state. These railway lines connected all the major towns of Mysore state....
Posted by Jimmy Jose on 2009 Feb 14 09:09:28 +0000
Great set of pics from one of the least explored regions. Nice to see IR still retaining such precious, lovely vehicle inspite of advancing a lot in technology!
Posted by Ranjeet Ramaswamy Iyer on 2009 Feb 14 01:14:36 +0000