Hi, friends here is a trip report...
DOJ : 03-09-2014 (Wednesday) From Mumbai CST (CSTM) to Howrah.Jn (HWH).
===[ Day 01 : ]===
Started from my home in Panvel (PNVL) to catch 18:06 Hrs PNVL CSTM EMU. EMU
run...
more... was smooth as expected and reached CSTM at around 19:40 Hrs and ran
towards concourse to take platform ticket for my elder brother who had came
to drop me!
== Observations at CSTM :
As per our information over IRI, 12810 Mumbai Howrah Mail was rightly put
over pf#15 which was bought by a WDS-6 CLA based shunter, besides us over
pf#14 was Kolhapur bound Mahalakshmi Express which was bought later by
another smokey shunter, over pf#18 was nagpur bound Duranto Express which
was being coupled by a WCAM-3 KYN & later Mahalakshmi Express was coupled &
at last our train was attached with a WCAM-3 KYN (pic 01). Before
witnessing that coupling function I kept my luggage & belongings over my
berth , that was over S-13 017LB & 020LB, I've booked 2 LB's as over
whichever direction train moved I can always sit in front direction while
doing railfanning, the idea was to get 2 windows too!
At sharp 20:35 Hrs we were let to move out of historic station of IR, while
crawling till Sandhurst.Rd, Byculla passed at decent 60 KMPH speed (pic
02). We halted at Dadar for mere 2 mins (pic 03), while besides us was an
Seimens built EMU standing to give us pass & it's passengers were looking
over to our train which was mostly vacant whereas their EMU was packed to
full capacity. Kurla was skipped at good speed & here some miscreant threw
some plastic water bottle over our coach, though it didn't hit us as train
was zipping. Till Thane we've OT 3 EMUs of slow line at different places to
reach Thane 05 mins delayed, from Thane much crowd boarded our train &
remaining space was filled up at Kalyan.Jn where we arrived almost 15 mins
late. We were trailing Kolhapur bound Mahalakshmi Express all the way till
Kalyan, some MST holders of Kasara too were standing near doors but one
thing is very unique - MST holders of Mumbai region never trouble reserved
seat passengers & are always polite. After Kalyan we had our dinner which
consisted of Butter naan & panner lasooni accompained by Gulab Jamuns which
was made by mom & packed from home. I was enjoying the rugged mountains all
the way till Atgaon but after that rain played the spoilsport & I was
compelled to shut the windows! Kasara halt was of around 05-07 mins and
entire Thal Ghat was raining all the way till Igatpuri. At Igatpuri we had
15 mins halt and I had to restrict my railfanning & photography due to
rains. After Igatpuri I was compelled to hear songs & watch movies over
cellphone, yes another good thing was this S-13 coach was 2013 made by ICF
and had charging points, hence battery draining of cellphone was no issue.
Let me introduce you all to my co-passengers - there was 1 lady over
seat#21, seat#19 & 22 was occupied by 2 halwais (sweatmeat makers), over
seat#18 was an old man who was to travel till Shegaon, when TTE came to
inspect tickets got to know that this old man was not carrying photo ID
proof but he somehow managed to bribe the TTE as his was overnight journey.
Till Nasik.Rd train was doing 70 KMPH after that it was over MPS & I was
periodically peeping outside to see, all this went till Chalisgaon when I
finally slept but woke up at Bhusaval.Jn to find out that this overnight
MPS was acheived by over own Mumbai champ - WCAM-3 KYN, from BSL we got
WAP-4 SRC loco, also spotted Pune bound Howrah Duranto which was behind a
WAP-4 (shed unknown). After departing from BSL I again slept and woke up
due to that old man co-passenger, he switched on lights to pack his belongs
and alighted at Shegaon. Intresting thing was that this man alighted not
over platform but over the tracks & walked down tracks to get over the
road, may be to evade TTE. Train was a bit delayed right upto Badnera but
mamanged to arrived Wardha.Jn good 15 mins before time, hence decide to try
luck by clicking loco's snaps!(pic 04, 05, 06) We were now having ample
time to reach Nagpur to before time now, at Ajni we were halted for good
15-20 (pic 07) & Nagpur.Jn arrived at 10:55 Hrs by halting over pf#03 (pic
08). Saw Howrah bound Samarsata Express halted over pf#01 which was having
rear end SLR coach of NER (pic 09). Clicked some pics while entering Nagpur
(pic 10, 11). At Nagpur we had good 30 mins halt & we proceeded (pic 12,
13). After crossing Nagpur outskirts we were trilled to witness SECR's
excellent track maintainence while we were blazing at speed to reach
respective stops. Bhandara.Rd arrived 05 mins late, here we OT'ed a MEMU
(pic 14), while at TTE alighted & was loitering over pf (pic 15). Gondia.Jn
arrived at RT, here was resting shinny empty rake of Vidarbha Express over
pit line (pic 16). Hereafter we skipped stations after station (pic 17,
18), we crossed Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border region ghs & forests too
well at acceptable speed (video will be separately posted) (pic 19, 20)!
Bid good bye to Maharashtra by crossing Darekasa - last station over
Maharashtra (pic 21). Dongargarh arrived 15 mins late due to numerous speed
restrictions over curvy tracks of MH-CG border sections, same delay was
maintained all the way till Bilaspur.Jn over all the stations (pic 22, 23,
24). In the meanwhile we were given company by a family which boarded from
Durg.Jn all the way to Bilaspur, they were to go till Anuppur. Bilaspur.Jn
arrived at 18:20 Hrs (pic 25, 26, 27, 28). After Champa.Jn I felt a bit
drowsy due to whole day railfanning, hence took a short nap to wake up at
Jharsuguda for dinner which was offered by pantry car, pantry food is
acceptable - It consisted of Jeera rice, 2 parathas, paneer beans gravy,
chhole gravy, thick consistency dal of lentils, dahi, soanpapdi as dessert,
salad was absent! Food costed me at Rs.110/thali. After having dinner same
saga continued that is to see outside till Rourkela arrived by 10 mins late
(pic 29, 30). After 15 mins of halt we cruised through Saranda forests to
reach Chakradharpur by 15 mins late, here spotted Mumbai bound Mail over
pf#03, after CKP I slept to wake up after Mecheda to witness river
Rupnarain, train was crawling at 40-50 KMPH due to super congestion of SER
network & light fog which was further diminished as sun rose over the sky.
At Sankrail we OT'ed Howrah bound Samaleshwari Express which was hauled by
WAP-4 SRC (pic 31). We were made to run over bi-directional middle line
till SRC (pic 32) santragachi arrived by 50 mins late (pic 33), after a
long halt of 10 mins we were again crawling to OT an Howrah bound EMU (pic
34). passed Tikipara to cross SER's limit & enter ER's territory (pic 35)!
At Howrah coaching yard of ER saw spare LHB rake as usual (pic 36, 37),
later couple of usual movements (pic 38, 39). Arrived Howrah.Jn at 06:45
Hrs by halting at pf#17, couldn't take snaps of loco here due to large
presence of RPF guys as Sainik Aramgah is next to it!
===================
Ratings :
Cleanliness - 09/10
Food - 07/10
Punctuality - 08/10
Safety - 08/10
===================
Thanks for reading it & do share your experiences or feed backs!
