Vatwa shed WDM3A # 14079 waits at the head of the 4708 Ranakpur express that has brought us till Jodhpur. The loco took charge of the train at Ahmedabad and will work the train till Bikaner. On this day as on another day, I saw the loco changing staff with the headlamp lit in the 'dim' position. Note a coach in the VIP siding inset into pf 1 on the right.
The is the Jodhpur pf 2, the train on pf 3 is the New Delhi - Jodhpur Mandore express that has arrived earlier in the morning.
Scouts volunteers return from their mission to distribute drinking water to the waiting train passengers.
The single-cylinder, rope-start, diesel rickshaw in Jodhpur. Note the low comfortable passenger seats and the rakish roof.
Who would not wish to have an office like this? This is the security outpost at the entrance to the railway workshops.
Scene off pf 5 — the entrance to the workshops and the three C&W pit lines that lie at an angle to the JU platforms. The second, longer overhead bridge will soon open on the east side (left of this pic) of the station, the Ratnada area.
The Vatwa WDM3A # 18705R waits with the 4708 Ranakpur on 14th June 2002. On the left is Abu Road WDM2A # 17572 in multiple unit with another ABR WDM2A # 16840. The ABR pair is ready to shunt the rake of the Mandore express into the pit lines, just as soon as the Ranakpur departs for Bikaner.
A detailed view of the ABR power # 17572 attached to the Mandore express rake.
The classy die-cast crest of the Abu Road diesel shed. Note the door to the radiator room and the step needed for the assistant driver to climb on to when cleaning the headlamp glass.
The second loco # 16840 was unusual in having a fabricated cover on top of the dynamic brake grids.
The # 16840 was also unusual in having bogie-mounted sand boxes even though this was an ordinary WDM2A that was not even rebuilt by DCW. Before seeing this loco, I used to believe that the relocation of the sand box is the easiest way of identifying a 3100 HP locomotive. This belief is not true anymore and I am more confused than ever before.
Vatwa WDM3A # 18705R starts the Ranakpur express for Bikaner. Note the open 'spike' under the driver's window. This is used to collect the ball token hoops in the section north of JU towards Bikaner. This is just the start of the trip, will the entire journey be done with the spike in the open position?
This loco has the regular ports for filling sand (in front of the driver's windscreen) as well as bogie-mounted sand boxes. Note the fluorescent lamps enclosures used by the C&W staff when performing the 'rolling-in examination' of inbound rakes during the dark.
The 18705R does a spectacular start, worthy of its Alco ancestry.
I particularly like this phase, in which the exhaust smoke has the 'boiling' pattern.
The exhaust rises high in the hot desert air — 46° centigrade.
The turbocharger catches up with the engine demand and the smoke reduces.
