Updates for the month of May. Now with more potato-quality pictures featuring meme-level motion blurring.
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Electrification - Foundation Work
* Some more foundation work between Khemli and Debari, but not very significant progress here.
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more... Foundation work on Khemli station and the adjoining CONCOR depot is making good progress.
* The stretch between Khemli and Mavli is almost complete, with perhaps a dozen or so foundations that have been dug but not cemented.
* Work at Mavli Junction proper has finally begun! And not a moment too soon, given that the rains are just a month away.
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Electrification - Pole Work
* Major progress at Kapasan station. The majority of the station has poles, and they seem to be treating it as some sort of a local depot for poles. Maybe next month, I'll report polework between Kapasan and Bhupal Sagar!
* With the exception of Pandoli station (and possibly Netawal station which I didn't get a chance to observe), there's now total pole work between Kapasan and Chittorgarh bypass.
* This includes Ghosunda station, where, barring a half dozen poles, all poles have horizontal struts attached.
* For about 2.8 kilometres starting at mark 13/5 (about 3.5 km outside Ghosunda), free-hinged wire supports with insulation have been affixed to the poles.
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Electrification - Related Works
* The parapet at Mavli that marked the site of the traction substation now stands surmounted with a metal fence. Kids still find ways to sneak in and were using the well-leveled area as an impromptu cricket field.
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Overall, there's been pretty significant work over the past month. I've gone from viewing the December target with pessimism to guarded, cautious optimism. While I'm a little skeptical about Udaipur, perhaps we'll see a CRS between Chittorgarh and Khemli early next year.
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It's a good thing that there has been so much effort on polework. During the high rainfall months of July, August, and September, work on wiring in these sections can take place once the severe thunderstorms and squalls have settled down.
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Finally, there is no progress of any kind past the NWR-WR boundary near Berach Junction. Western Railway doesn't feel like waking from its slumber quite yet.
