Golden Rock & Gopuram Roll

The Sethu Express is shunted to the pit line at Rameshwaram

Pilgrims, mostly from the north, throng the watrfront at Rameshwaram

The all-white Gopuram of the Ramalingesvara Temple at Rameshwaram

794 Passenger creeps on to the Pamban Viaduct

794 on the Pamban Viaduct with Rameshwaram Island in the background

794 Pass slows down to 15 kph for the drawbridge. This must be one of the bridges with 2 posted speed limits.

It was worth going all the way for just this scene

Approaching the mainland. Mandapam is at the end of a cape.

Victor & Vanquished - no prizes for guessing which is the more important of the two bridges

The West Gopuram of the Meenakshi Temple, Madurai

The Guruvayur Express halts for a crossing with the Nellai Express at Naraikkinar

Tirunelveli Jn - the MG side. Most south indian stations are neat and because of the trees, even picturesque

Twin signals for gauntleted track outside Tirunelveli, shouldn't one signal have sufficed for both gauges?

The lush Tambrapani Valley with the Ashambu Hills in the distance

The Tambrapani - the only perennial river in the deep south

Golden Rock YDM-4's are by far the best looking and best kept MG locos. 742 Pass arrives at Ambasamudram

With trees like these who needs a platform canopy? Kilakkadaiyam

Bougainvillea bedecked station house at Kilakkadaiyam

Tenkasi's magnificent trees. The BG train is the superfast Pothigai Exp from Chennai. Note the different platform surface for BG and MG!

Sengottai enjoys its last days of tranquillity before BG arrives

The beginning of the Sengottai Gap

The first ascent after Bhagavathipuram

A view of the Tenkasi Plain after the first ascent

Another view of the Plain

Climbing up the steep grade to the Aryankavu Pass

The Aryankavu Tunnel. The Tamil Nadu-Kerala boundary line is inside it.

Golden Rocker