The Narrow Route to the Satpuras
The Satpura narrow gauge lines, developed by the Bengal Nagpur Railway, connected Jabalpur with Gondia, Mandla Fort, Chhindwara and Nagpur.[1] Nainpur was the focal point of the network and was even bestowed with the prestige of being a divisional headquarters for some time.[1][2] The lines came up in the early years of the 20th century. The first portion of the Gondia-Nainpur line was opened on 13 April 1903, Nainpur and Chhindwara were connected in 1904 and Jabalpur in 1905. The Chhindwara-Pench Coalfield line came up in 1906-07 and the Nainpur-Mandla Fort link in 1909.[3][4] The extensive network of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge tracks measured just over 1,000 km.[2][5]
Source- Wiki
Early morning after driving through the Nagpur-Chindwara highway we reached Ramakona and realized that it was the time for us to gear up for the first action of the day. As the first rays of Sun falls on the narrow gauge train from Chindwara to Nagpur arr
Ramakona is preceded by the river Kanhan and is decorated by this beautiful viaduct (Trayambak Ojha)
moving towards Nagpur the landscape changes dramatically and the Satpura hill and forest range makes its presence felt while dwarfing the train to Chhindwara (Trayambak Ojha)
The backdrop of the Satpura range and the white sands makes this viaduct extremely picturesque (Trayambak Ojha)
We moved on next to Lodikheda where we encounteres another interesting viaduct which had a sideways path made of steel roof material just below the rails (Trayambak Ojha)
The wait for the next train was a rather long one as the sun was now in its full glow. The small hamlet of Lodikheda gets buzzed as the train arrives towards Chhindwara (Trayambak Ojha)
This viaduct is again based on the river Kanhan which runs almost parallel to the tracks for quite some distance (Trayambak Ojha)
The section near Sausar and Ramakona is pretty dense Jungle and very much reflects why Nagpur is known as the Tiger Capital of India (Trayambak Ojha)
We decided to head back to Ramakona with a greed to have another shot that magnificent viaduct over the River Kanhan. Incidentally Kanhan is also a Junction near Nagpur where the line to Ramtek diverts. (Trayambak Ojha)
The tracks before curving towards Saoner is dead straight from Saonga and Kelod like an arrow, the helicopter shot confirms it (Trayambak Ojha)
Prowling through the cotton fields which were still not in full bloom darting towards Nagpur (Trayambak Ojha)
And the forests make an appearance again while the train is packed to capacity on a warm spring afternoon (Trayambak Ojha)
The semaphores stand guard and the cotton field are the witness to the fastest NG route of IR (Trayambak Ojha)
While action got sparse later in the day a surprise pair of VSKP alcos made an appearance with a fully loaded coal rake navigating the diamond crossing with NG near Patansongi Road through the semaphore signals (Trayambak Ojha)
But the show is stolen clearly by the Narrow gauge train which despite of being dwarfed by the semaphore looks more charming (Trayambak Ojha)
The semaphores seem to be never ending i this route and thats the most attractive part while train is full heading towards Chhindwara (Trayambak Ojha)
As we wrap up our day and the trip bidding farewell to another Narow Gauge section successfully covered. While Day 1 was all hail, rains and clouds, Day 2 was Sun,heat and sweat. (Trayambak Ojha)