#Express | Coverage of the classic non AC
#FirstClass #carriage of
#IndianRailways-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ------
It was December 2015. We got the news that the classic Non AC Carriage of the Tirupati Fast Passenger & its RSA Tirupati Chennai Express was to be withdrawn permanently from Service. In a quickly planned trip, My friend Sriram joined me at Bengaluru & we boarded the
#Rajyarani #Express from
#Bengaluru City to Mysuru. This train was specifically chosen to see the customary overtake by the
#Shatabdi Express, which pounded us at
#Maddur. We reached Mysuru at 13:40 hrs, and after a quick lunch, came back to the station.
Headed by a
#Krishnarajapuram (KJM) WDM3A, 16296, the 56213 Fast Passenger from Chamrajnagar arrived Mysuru pf2, well before time. Sighting it enter the platform, we packed up & walked over to our coach, the F/F1, the classic non AC
#FirstClass coach of Indian Railways. Due to less demand & diminishing popularity, Indian Railways had stopped production of these coaches years ago, but the ones in service had to be aged out. This one was one of the last to be pulled out. So we tried to cover it while it still lasted. The diminished popularity of the FC coach was beyond me, it had offered the privacy of a First Class AC coach & the liberty of a Sleeper class like window.
The Journey began at 17:00hrs sharp; and after our first halt at Naganahalli, we curved into
#Shrirangapatna. Back then, it was still a single line station, with the new station layout still coming up.
#Tippu Express was missed due to its sudden appearance, but we got a beautiful sunset at Byadarahalli as we cleared the loop; so felt compensated. Immediately after; the Bengaluru Chamrajnagar Fast Passenger rushed past. It was roughly 18:15hrs, when we reached
#Mandya, the Sugar City of Karnataka. Darkness was beginning to set in. Between
#Channapatna and Kengeri, the SH17 gave us company, and the fast moving traffic illuminating the highway was a nice sight worth gazing at.
#Chamundi Express crossed us at
#Ramanagaram. We reached Bengaluru city at 20:05 hrs. The overnight Express to
#Kannur &
#Karwar greeted us as we entered pf6 for the loco change.
A WAP1 from
#Arakkonam shed, 22026 took over from Bengaluru to Tirupati, the same loco ferried us later to
#Renigunta. We departed just as the Chennai Express arrived, and the Udyan Express to
#Mumbai was waiting for departure. At Cantt., we crossed the Intercity SF from Tirupati & at Krishnarajapuram, the Lalbagh SF from Chennai. This was followed up by the evening Shatabdi from Chennai at Malur. Following this, we decided to take some rest so that we could get up at
#Gudiyattam and observe the barrage of overtakes that happens with this train, till date. It was around 01:00 hrs in the night when we reached there, and the patient wait began.
There were totally 5 overtakes & 3 crossings, all listed below. our painfully long halt lasted an hour, but we enjoyed it a lot. We went back to catch up on some sleep.The next morning we reached Tirupati 15mins late, to be greeted by the Tirumala Express from Visakhapatnam. We changed coupe here, as the booking was done separately for the onward Journey to Chennai. after an hour halt, we departed just as the Rayalseema Express from
#Hyderabad arrived. Between Tirupati & Renigunta, we saw 4 trains that day connecting Tirupati & Hyderabad, goes on to show the importance of train operations between these 2 cities. After reversing at Renigunta, a new loco took charge, yet another WAP1 from Arakkonam, and witnessed a parallel departure with the Padmavati Express. As we made out way towards Arakkonam, a couple of crossings came our way, and after Arakkonam, it was a non stop run to Chennai. Sriram got down at
#Avadi as that was nearer to his home, and I proceeded to Chennai Central. In all, it was a memorable Journey.
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The Plethora of crossings, in the order of their appearance:
- Bengaluru Chamrajnagar Passenger
- Bengaluru Mysuru Chamundi Express
- Tirupati Bengaluru Intercity SF
- Lalbagh Express
- Chennai Bengaluru Shatabdi
- Kerala Express (Trivandrum bound)
- Chennai Bengaluru Mail
- Puduchery Dadar Chalukya Express
- Rayalseema Exp
- Narayanadri SF
- Venkatadri SF
- Padmavathi SF
- Sapthagiri Express
- Mysuru Howrah SF
And the Overtakes -
- Yercaud Express
- Palani Chennai SF
- Bengaluru Chennai Mail
- Kerala Express (New Delhi bound)
- Nilagiri Express
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SteveRLF~ 16411 blog posts
