Page 7

 

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Some overtakes are always scheduled to happen, and find mention in IR's many working time-tables. The 2951 Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express leaves Mumbai five and half hours after the 2925 Bandra Terminus-Amritsar Paschim Express but it usurps the latter at Palwal. On this late June 2002 morning, a Kanpur (CNB) WAP/4 is substituted in place of the regular GZB WAP/5 locomotive. The driver lets the siren scream to warn potential trespassers about the 130 kmph juggernaut.

 

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The 2008 Mysore Chennai Shatabdi Express is absurdly late :( Its half past five as the train crawls on a maintenance section near Channasandra bye-pass in Bangalore. The WAP/4 in charge was standard, before WAM4/6P locomotives began frequent jaunts with this heavily-used train.

 

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Most of the knowledge base on Indian Railways is the effort of railfans spread around the world, who discuss facts and observations, and share their knowledge with the rest of us on IRFCA. Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1999, I happened to visit Vijay at Rte 128, Boston MA. We spent the weekend watching most of the videos he had shot over his rail trips in India. This is the frozen frame of WAP1 #22009 from GZB, arriving in Jhansi(?) with the TVC Rajdhani Express when the train was routed via Chennai (pre-KR).

 

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The WAP/4 class has evolved in the rail ecosystem to bear twin-beam head (belly(?)) lights and a dark red demeanor. One such locomotive from Vadodara (BRC) decelerates into Mathura Junction on a cold winter morning, with the 2904 Amritsar-Mumbai Golden Temple Mail. Mathura is one of the few junctions with three arms rated at 130+ kmph each. This train mainly carries New Delhi-Mumbai traffic.

 

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The upstart meets the veteran :) Winters translate to early sunsets in New Delhi, and WAP/5 #30003 glides out of the station with the 2422 Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express. Watching her departure is ol' WAP/4 #22208 from Lallaguda, waiting with the 2724 AP Express bound for Hyderabad. Porters at the station find no respite - given the large number of departing trains at this time.

 

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The loco-changing operation for 2008 Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express at Bangalore is pretty quick. A WAP/4 or WAM4-6P locomotive waits at the north east end of the station, and as soon as the WDM2 gets uncoupled, she glides in to take the train out of the station in ten minutes! On this cold, windy day in Bangalore City station, WAP/4 #22294 from AJJ is ready for the non-stop run to Chennai Central. The tracks of the adjacent M.G. platform have been uprooted for replacement with B.G. permanent way.