The Rail Trail

Here are few random pictures from the never ending experience of Indian Railways. Some good, some bad and some ugly but all it matters now is the curiosity of navigating the past moments spent standing behind the lens.

The power runs through these thin nerves …

A WAG 7 engine, known for its speed and one of the successful class of goods engine.

On a voyage of discovery ... unfinished ...

A WDM-2 Engine, reminds me about the old yet the long existence of it on the tracks. WDM Stands for Broad gauge (W) Diesel (D) Mixed traffic (M) engine, if you are not already known about it.

The bridge over Godavari River. You praise the bridge when you learn that it carry you over a tough path.

Rail Curves - Part II

Linked Post : Rail Curves - Part I

Rail Curves - Part I

Today evening I was going through some of my trip albums and I found something really interesting to share/blog here. Most of us at some point of time boarded a train for the purpose of a long or short journey but how many times you have observed or had seen a train taking a sharp turn like on a curve ? Hmm ! that’s what makes me always wonder about these trains. They really look different and you will get a idea of their entire length. In almost of my train journeys I spent time looking outside the window or standing near the entrance with my third eye (the camera).

BBS-YPR Express, was taking a sharp right turn just after Jolarpettai Station you can spot two diesel engines at the front side...

HWH-YPR Express, was entering the Godavari bridge just after Rajmundery Station.

MAQ-LTT Express (Masayaganda Express), I really don't remember this place now, what I can recall is that, this pic wass taken in my West Cost trip.

MAQ-LTT Express (Masayaganda Express), one more ....

SBC - BBS Express (Prashanthi Express), was entering inside a tunnel just after Prashanti Nilayam Station.

SBC - BBS Express (Prashanthi Express), one more ... but on a different trip.

Cleartrips for trains :)

Check out for cleartrip, what you will notice there is bit surprising but same time encouraging too. Guess what ! Indian Railways is giving a stiff competition to the low cost airlines. Now side by side you can search which one is best for you. Yes ! cleartrip is out with its new train search pages (Cleartips Train beta), the first impression was good.

Now you don’t have to only depend upon IR website :)

Nilgiri Mountain Train Trip - A Joy Ride !

Another weekend passed by me just like that, but it wouldn’t take much time for me to realize the fact that it holds many cherished memories of a wonderful trip with a happy go lucky ‘malu gang’. The Nilgiri Hills are a range of mountains in the westernmost part of Tamil Nadu at the junction of Karnataka, holds some of the most beautiful hills stations of south India. And Ooty (Ootacamund) is often referred as the gateway to this beautiful mountain range.

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The thing of beauty that attracts most of the tourists, apart form the scenic view, is the Nilgiri Mountain railway, one of the oldest mountain railways in India. In 2005, UNESCO has inscribed it a world heritage site. And needless mentioning this 42 K.Ms stretch that connects Mettupalayam with the hill station of Udagamandalam (Ooty) has so many things for these naked eyes to rejoice.

Memories from Konkan Rail Trip !

Last weekend I had been to one of my most awaited trip. The place is there in my favorite destinations list for long time. The Konkan region part of west coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea. It's an absolute treat for the eyes. And the mode of communicate, I choose was to travel through the Konkan Railways. I already heard lots of things about this route and what best can match KR to travel there. KR is a proud witness to the dedication and immense engineering skills that are available in India. The scenic view through out the route added a little more magic to the man-machine creation.

I started my journey from M’lore Railway station with the Mumbai bound Matsyaganda Super fast Express (2620). I guess this was one of those unplanned trips with a distinct route in my mind; my last stoppage was Karwar, the district head quarter of Uttar Kannada.

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A diesel engine, Mangalore Railway Station.

The train entering into a tunnel.

A sharp curve just before Surathkal.

Those super exciting five hours were unforgettable, I didn’t realize that they passed by me just like that. The tunnels, the over bridges, the curves on the railway lines, the speed of the engine … I could find a difference in everything. Wow ! Where else you could find a train moving with more than 80 Kmph inside a 4 K.ms long tunnel ? That was just one part of it and I had yet to discover some of the other mysterious things about this route. The longest tunnel I came across was just after Bhatkal Station. I could find a number of rivers (I guess it's more than 15 nos.) and the longest bridge was over Saravathi river near Honnavar.

This picture can be best explained by the quote - “When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator”.

Udupi Railway Station.

A guard flagging off the train.

Barkur Railway Station.

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It was not an easy task for me to pick a few pictures to blog about from those hundreds of pictures that I have taken, so I have to leave them for some other time. The good thing about all the pictures are that most of these pictures were clicked from inside the fast moving train. And to realize that I missed some of the interesting ones on that route, never-mind though.

The Dream Route Train !!

One great news for all those Indian railways fan, from 8th of Dec passenger trains between Mangalore and Bangalore (the dream rail track route through Western Ghats) is starting. It’s something that people of Dakshina Kannada desperately waiting for so long time. The ticket booking for this train Yeswantpur- Mangalore Express (No: 6517/8) is started today, and by the time I book mine the quota was almost over.

Timings :
The first ever passenger train on this route will be flagged-off at Mangalore Railway Station by the Railway Minister on 8th Dec 2007 at 11.30 AM. The corresponding train from Bangalore will leave Yeswantpur Railway Station at 8.35 PM on the same day. And from 9th Dec the regular service will begin from Yeswantpur at 8.35 PM and will reach Mangalore at 8.05 AM the next day. The train from Mangalore will leave Mangalore at 7.45 PM and will reach at Yeswantpur at 7.40 AM next day.

Route :
The train will run via Yeswantpur/Bangalore -> Kengeri -> Mandaya-> Mysore -> Krishnarajnagar -> Sakleshpura -> Kabakaputtara -> Bantawal -> Kankanadi -> Mangalore. The end to end distance will be around 503 K.ms and that will be covered by 11 hrs 30 mins of time.

Coaches :
There will be 16 coaches in the train which includes 6 ordinary, 6 sleepers, one 2AC, one 3 AC and two luggage coaches.

Fares :
The fares for traveling between the two end points will cost in Indian Rupees 119 by Second Class, 227 by Sleeper Class, 611 by 3AC and 850 by 2AC.

Most of the people know the importance of this train and the route is absolutely mind blowing, traveling through the Ghats is always a pleasure to eyes. I guess some pictures would explain it better then anything else…. Need to wait sometime. I wish the other purposed train which would run in the day light will also be flagged-off soon.

The weekend way !

This weekend being idle, we came up with a new idea which was not our usual plan of traveling but to acknowledge ourself that we are good fan of Indian Railways. There goes the plan, started early morning walk and then move towards the city railway station following that took one of the route for a short train trip for the photo session. I guess for us, it’s completely a different way of exploring this short journey. The whole idea was to capture anything and everything that that will come our way in the early morning … the railway tracks, the trains, the platforms and last but not the least the people. Then I relised "watching the clock is not the same as watching a sunrise".

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"Rays from the sunrise drew forth the buds and stretched them into long stalks, lifted up sap in noiseless streams, opened petals, and sucked out scents in invisible jets and breathings".

You don't need somebody to interpret for you what a beautiful sunrise it is.

I spotted this WDM 14028 Diesel loco, with HWH - YPR Express.

The parallel railway tracks can also be a source of inspiration – “Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today”.