WAP4 class AC passenger locomotive:

• Starting TE: 30800 kg/force
• Traction Motors: Hitachi HS 15250
• Flexicoil Mk I bogie
• Design speed : 170 kmph (RDSO)
• Holding sheds: Howrah, Santragachi, Kanpur Mughalsarai, Vadodara , Lallaguda & Erode

On an early winter morning, the Trivandrum bound Kerela express thunders past the Delhi bound Dakshin Express somewhere between Chandrapur & Balharshah in Maharashtra. A Erode based WAP4 is incharge of this ever popular train, and its searing headlamps impart a dramatic effect to the picture, which is one of my personal favorites.

A WAP4 from LGD departs from Nellore station with the Vijaywada bound Pinakini Express. Note the Nellore signal cabin on the left and the maze of catenary & junctions leading into the yard which has the mausoleum of a Sufi saint (the white structure to the left of the loco) smack in the middle of it!!! Also note the shunting signal in the foreground.

A sight you are not likely to see anytime soon. Before the advent of WAP4s at Erode, the GT and the Tamil Nadu were hauled by Jhansi based WAP4s. Here a one such loco (#22207) rushes past the Dakshin Express with the southbound Tamil Nadu Express as well over 100 kmph !!!

WAP4 (#22212) from East Central Railway’s Mughalsarai (MGS) shed waits at the shunting block signal just outside New Delhi station. It is waiting to take possession of the New Delhi  - Patna Sampoorna Kranti Express.

A fresh out of the works WAP4 from Erode shed, storms past the stationary WAM4 of the Andaman Express with the Chennai bound Grand Trunk Express at Wagheli station in Maharashtra. An or so later later, the WAP4 broke down allowing the Andaman to overtake the GT. another couple of hours later, the GT overtook the Andaman at Wirur station in Andhra Pradesh, with a borrowed WAG5HB doing the duty!!!!

At almost the same moment, the Delhi bound Andhra Pradesh Express thundered down at top speed in the opposite direction. The sight of India’s two top trains thundering past each other at top whack was a real treat to watch. Slow trains like Andaman are a railfan’s delight if you ask me :o)

A dramatic shot of LGD’s WAP4 (#22312) as it circles around the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad with the Charminar Express.

The New-Delhi Patna Rajdhani Express screams through Ghaziabad town as commences its overnight journey to the capital city of Bihar state. Note the pristine rake and the matched livery WAP4 loco from  Howrah shed. ER certainly maintains its flagship trains well, and the fact that these trains run packed all year long are proof enough of their popularity.

A WAP4 from Erode hauling the Tamil Nadu Express to Chennai negotiates this monstrous curve at Sewagram (formerly Wardha East) in Maharashtra. Lines towards Chennai and Mumbai bifurcate from this point. The curve clearly demonstrates the extreme length of the train, and there are a couple of more coaches behind the photographer !!!

The Trivandrum bound Kerala Express hauled by an Erode based WAP4  passes through Hazrat Nizamuddin just as the Rajdhani Express from Chennai pulls in. You would be hard pressed to find Erode WAP4s in this livery anymore as it is painting all its locos in the newer Red-Black-Yellow Stripe colors.