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This is the view north out of Channasandra station in Bangalore. This small station has perhaps acquired a cult status among the railfan community for spotting trains. The catenary ends a few meters ahead of this spot, that lies below the busy Banaswadi Road bridge. The Bangalore Ring Road runs south, parallel to this line.

 

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The start of 25KV AC Electric traction on CR began north of Igatpuri. The catenary in the station gets fed exclusively from one of two sources - for the older 1.5 KV DC locomotives that fetched trains bound north and east out of Mumbai CST. Now WCAM3 locomotives serve this line, and WAM4 and WAPx locomotives take over the responsibilities onwards. This is the north view out of the station platforms. Igatpuri has the Vipassana Center for peace and meditation.

 

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The CR mainline out of Igatpuri heads north, passing through bustling towns like Devlali and Nasik to serve north, east and central India. The trip loco shed on the right houses 25 KV AC locomotives. Two marshalling yards straddle the through lines on either side. The Kalyan-Igatpuri-Bhusaval stretch has many superfast trains, but the maximum speed on this corridor remains 110 kmph.

 

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The Bhor-Ghat section between Karjat and Lonavla involves a 650 meter climb over a 27 kilometer route. The three lines separate frequently and meander over viaducts, bridges and long tunnels. The third line and the transmission towers for the sub-stations on the route are captured from the speeding 6011 Mumbai-Chennai Express.

 

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The approach to Channasandra byepass, taken from the layout at the south end of the station. Triangle layouts are a great place to go trainspotting with two guaranteed curves and lots of train action.

 

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Even though Channasandra has just one stopping passenger in a day, many express trains halt on these lines as the route is single-tracked up north. In the background is the SAIL steelplant on the outskirts of Bangalore.