Ratlam-Akola
A journey on the Meter Gauge between Ratlam and Akola, over a gem of a line which persists in the face of gauge conversion and offers spectacular vistas.
Please see the accompanying Trip Report By Shikhar Parjan
In the pre-dawn darkness, Ratlam MG Platform has the 52975 Ratlam-Akola Fast passenger ready to depart at 6 AM (Shikhar Parjan)
A bright morning as we await a crossing at long-named Fatehabad-Chandravatiganj around 8 AM (Shikhar Parjan)
A temple, a chai-waalah, and a bored ALP stomping about in the still-cold morning. Fatehabad Chandravatiganj (Shikhar Parjan)
Close up of the coupling mechanism of our YDM4 # 6719 (Shikhar Parjan)
YDM4 # 6315 brings in the first Ratlam bound service, as the Semaphore indicates at FTD (Shikhar Parjan)
Lucky to see the token exchange, albeit at low speeds, at Palia with YDM4 # 6353 coming in (Shikhar Parjan)
Bustling MHOW PF #1 (Shikhar Parjan)
Rattling off over points at MHOW 'A' Cabin, showing a view of MHOW's yard (Shikhar Parjan)
The fun kicks up - we are at Patalpani - and the descend and another train is ascending up and given the signal (Shikhar Parjan)
The dry, parched sidings at Pstalpani (Shikhar Parjan)
YDM4 # 6638 has come in up the ghats with a Indore bound service (Shikhar Parjan)
simple and functional mechanism to control the points at Patalpani (PTP) (Shikhar Parjan)
YDM4 # 6726 is the banker pushing the new arrival, with the Guard looking on (Shikhar Parjan)
This caboose at PTP seems to be there, at the same spot many months later, when another member uploaded the same view in the rainy season (Shikhar Parjan)
Dry looking Patalpani Falls flash by in a mili-second (Shikhar Parjan)
Landscape changes as the Choral tiver emerges (Shikhar Parjan)
We flank the left edge of the new valley as we head towards Khandwa (Shikhar Parjan)
The first tunnel peeps through as we curve in (Shikhar Parjan)
Gradient descended is evident as we negotiate the ghat (Shikhar Parjan)
At the mouth of the tunnel (Shikhar Parjan)
Pulling into Kalakund (Shikhar Parjan)
crossing the vast Narmada River at Omkareshwar (OM) (Shikhar Parjan)
After Khandwa, we cross the Khandwa-Itarsi double BG line on a Rail-over-Rail overbridge (Shikhar Parjan)
Even the TTEs are friendlier in the countryside (Shikhar Parjan)
crossing the stillness of the flanks of Yewal tiger sanctuary/ reserve area (Shikhar Parjan)
Dusk at Tukaithad... wish I could freeze this moment (Shikhar Parjan)
YDM4 # 6736 brings in our last daylight crossing of the day (Shikhar Parjan)
Recent comments
Nice set of pictures and even better trip report. I enjoyed every bit of writeup. MG lines have a rustic charm about them and very few things can match it.
Posted by Anant K Singh on 2011 Sep 02 09:12:40 +0000
Excellent set of snaps! And an arresting trip report to go with it! Great stuff...
Posted by Dr. Himagirish Rao on 2011 Sep 01 07:48:46 +0000