In the fast paced world, when the nation is going for faster BGs, let us take some time out to relive those bygone days in the same aura and ambience. Here are a few pictures of the charming Meter Gauge section between Punalur and Sengottai, where the railway line passes through the Tenmala Reserve Forest, falling into the symphony with the misty wind, swift streams, chirpy birds and... oh yes(!) the clickety clack of trains, over bridges, into tunnels, between the woods... Oh so wonderful to be entering a tunnel under the mountains in Kerala and emerge out of the darkness to witness the vast expanse of paddy fields in Tamilnadu... Naveen, Raghu Jayaraman and Harish covered this beautiful railway section in March 2010, before the line was officially closed on September 2010. All pictures were taken with permission from CPRO and the local authority.
The main entrance of Sengottai Railway station (Naveen)
The schedule of MG services between Sengottai and Punalur in 2010 (Harish Kumar)
The evening service from Punalur pulls into Sengottai behind GOC YDM-4 #6401. This loco is now active on the Niligiri Mountain Railways (Naveen)
The passenger switches track to arrive on PF-5, 14 minutes ahead of schedule. On PF-3 was the evening passenger to Punalur. The BG rake in the picture is of Sengottai - Chennai Egmore Pothigai Express on PF-2 (Naveen)
The men-in-charge make routine checks before the departure (Naveen)
The token ring that stood the time, facilitating train movements between Sengottai and Bhagavathipuram (Naveen)
Waiting for the go ahead from Guard! (Naveen)
Sengottai Railway station at night. The BG side to the left and the MG to the right (Naveen)
The next morning, on 31st March 2010, we were on the platform to see the eastern sky crack opening with pretty hue, even as the first passenger service to Punalur get ready for its scheduled departure at 06:15 hours. (Naveen)
The signal turns Amber as we get ready to ride on board the morning passenger to Punalur (Naveen)
Bhagavathipuram is one of the prettiest railway stations in India. To the left hand side, was a 21+ coach rake. Wonder where these coaches would have ended up. (Naveen)
Kalthuruthy, yet another close-to-nature station enroute (Naveen)
We arrive at Punalur right on time and the loco YDM-4 #6401, does a quick turn around and gets ready for the return service to Sengottai, scheduled to depart at 08:45 hrs (Naveen)
Riding across the Western Ghats and through the Tenmala reserve forest (Naveen)
We reach Edamann at 09:10 hrs and had an extended halt here (Naveen)