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

Date: 2011-08-27
Owner: Gallery Administrator
Size: 28 items
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In the pre-dawn darkness, Ratlam MG Platform has the 52975 Ratlam-Akola Fast passenger ready to depart at 6 AM (Shikhar Parjan)

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A bright morning as we await a crossing at long-named Fatehabad-Chandravatiganj around 8 AM (Shikhar Parjan)

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A temple, a chai-waalah, and a bored ALP stomping about in the still-cold morning. Fatehabad Chandravatiganj (Shikhar Parjan)

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Close up of the coupling mechanism of our YDM4 # 6719 (Shikhar Parjan)

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YDM4 # 6315 brings in the first Ratlam bound service, as the Semaphore indicates at FTD (Shikhar Parjan)

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Lucky to see the token exchange, albeit at low speeds, at Palia with YDM4 # 6353 coming in (Shikhar Parjan)

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Bustling MHOW PF #1 (Shikhar Parjan)

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Rattling off over points at MHOW 'A' Cabin, showing a view of MHOW's yard (Shikhar Parjan)

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The fun kicks up - we are at Patalpani - and the descend and another train is ascending up and given the signal (Shikhar Parjan)

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The dry, parched sidings at Pstalpani (Shikhar Parjan)

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YDM4 # 6638 has come in up the ghats with a Indore bound service (Shikhar Parjan)

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simple and functional mechanism to control the points at Patalpani (PTP) (Shikhar Parjan)

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YDM4 # 6726 is the banker pushing the new arrival, with the Guard looking on (Shikhar Parjan)

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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)

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Dry looking Patalpani Falls flash by in a mili-second (Shikhar Parjan)

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 10:12:40 +0100
Excellent set of snaps! And an arresting trip report to go with it! Great stuff...
Posted by Dr. Himagirish Rao on 2011 Sep 01 08:48:46 +0100