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A km away from the Surawali halt is the Sal river bridge. The footbridge from the earlier page can be seen in the distance. This is also a great place to watch trains from. This location is east of the underbridge on the Madgaon - Colva road. |
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The only traffic on the rails was this strange but functional ganger's trolley made by OVPL. |
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What is this object? |
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We had planned to take the 362 passenger to Kulem to do a walking tour of the lower Braganza ghat. However we did not get up early enough and missed the passenger to Kulem. Saw some other trains instead...
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This triple-headed WDG2-hauled BTPN rake waits on Road 2. On the left is the 'non-hazardous' wagon (BOXN) at the head of the petroleum-laden rake as a precaution against collisions. |
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The rake is working up the Braganza ghat towards Hubli. The loco on the left is a regular short hood loco 14577 while the loco in the middle is a 'baldie', the 14553. |
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The leading loco is the 14627. Note the yellow notice below the cab windows stating that these locos are fitted with 'Auto Emergency' brakes i.e. they are qualified to work the Braganza ghats. |
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Mysterious text on the radiator end — many locos have a stenciled notice of 'Nalco 2000', this one has the text 'Indion 1344 only'. No idea what it means, radiator cores or type of coolant or the grade of engine oil perhaps? Note that the sand box has an air connection from the top left (to pressurize the box/agitate the sand?) while the second connection activates the solenoid at the bottom to force the sand into the discharge pipe to the wheel flanges. |
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The driver (sitting on the left of the loco) starts his train. He crawled out of the station without much use of the delicious horns of his WDG2. Is the linkage of the bogie skew or is it just an illusion? Does the skewing of the linkage help in achieving the 'high adhesion' properties for the special bogies found on these locos? |
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Note the diesel filling station on the left of the loco. The train is moving forward at a very slow speed. I have a sound recording of this departure, in which you can hear me asking the guard about the tonnage. He replies after consulting his manifest, '3750 t'. |
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Crossing over to take the north east branch towards Kulem. Regrettably, the locos demonstrated their collective 9300 HP grunt after going so far from this spot. Nevertheless, hearing the loud voices of the three ferocious locos, even from this distance, was a treat. The WDG2s only pretend to look civilized... |
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