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Trip report date 14-05-06
Well this trip report begins with a thanks to all those who put a “great” on my maiden trip report Today i undertook a small trip from kopar to vasai rd via the diva-bsr route. I departed at around 10.45 from my house and headed to kopar station which is at a 2 min walking distance. Kopar is an interesting station because
1) It...
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has two different sets of platforms pf 1 and 2 at the ground level and pfs 3 and 4 at an upper level.
2) The lower pfs are situated on an island pf whereas the pfs above are single ones.
3) The lower pfs are energized with 1.5kv DC traction whereas the upper pfs are energized with 25kv AC traction.
My earlier plan was to catch the train from kopar itself but a large crowd had already assembled at the station. So i thought it better to catch the train at diva only. I purchased a ticket via the ATVM smart card. As far as i can say this system is a total nuisance. At most station for eg dombivali has around 9 ATVM machines but only 4-5 work in proper condition. Rest are known for only displaying their screen just for timepass. I then walked into pf. As i was strolling i happened to have glance at the indicator. It showed 10.37 ST meaning the 10.37 local(emu) bound for CST. He heh ! 10.37 train at 10.50 ! Good that railways followed IST(Indian stretchable time). Only a few premier trains have the reputation of reaching on dot time.why so? Soon my mind was distracted by the hooting of a WCAM-3. These are the current workhorses of CRs Mumbai Divsion and can perform on both AC as well as DC traction. The train was the rajendranagar-LTT exp. The train had 3 HCPV`s 2 at the front and 1 at the back. The one at the back was filled with people. I wondered when had HCPvs designated to carry passengers?.soon my emu came and i boarded it. The rush was less which was quite unusual since the peak hour traffic had not yet ended. Diva is the next stn after kopar on the CR main line.soon the train arrived at Diva and i got down. As i proceeded towards the ATVM machine, a huge crowd greeted me. Guess what all of them were waiting to purchase tickets via the ATVM. actually it works like this, a ticketing staff fills money in a card and then gives the tickets to the passenger using the machine. However card holders were given preference and hence i got a ticket for myself. While taking the ticket the staff told me that return tickets are not issued for the return journey strange!.as i proceeded towards the FOB i saw a WCAM 3 liveried loco approached me. For a second i thought this might be a repaint of the WCAM3 but as the loco approached closer tears welled up im my eyes for the loco was not a WCAM 3 but a WCAM 2P in WCAM3 livery. I could not control my anguish at this site. WCAM 2ps are lovely in their raj livery and painting then in yellow and blue is lilke giving a paint job to TAJ MAHAL. I am sure soon all the WCAM2 and 2ps will be repainted in the WCAM3 livery destroying their old charm and legacy.
Forget the part and let us move on . the train was already on the pf . it had a WDM2 from KYN shed 17735.the train is actually a DMu though it is mentioned as a sawari gaadi meaning passenger. It had 8 coaches with the loco in the middle. As an enthusiastic rail fan i settled down in the 5th coach. Here one could hear the clear loud grunting of the beast. Diva station has different codes for different pf. Ie pf 1 and 2 cater to the suburban services and they have the code as DW whereas pfs 3 4 5 6 cater to the DMu passenger and some pass trains and they have the code as DIVA.
Soon an erode liveried loco approached pf 6. The loco was WDG3a 13222 of ERS with the LTT bound KCVL LTT garib rath exp. Like many SR trains that depart from Mumbai this rake too was cleaned only during the rainy season when the rakes were drenched by the rain. However this time it ran with the front eog. This is another surprise . the train usually runs only with 1 eog . the loco was very clean and tidy and looked as if it was recent transfer from ED.
We were then given starter at 11.30. the WDM2 had clear loud beats and was very quick on its heels.we crossed tracks and joined the Diva bsr line we crossed the KCVL bound amirtsar kcvl exp headed by Ratlam WDM3a. Soon the LP started accelerating. To be frank throughout the journey he was driving the train as if he was playing some game on the computer all the time on full throttle. My ears were bursting with the sound from the loco.i couold now very well imagine the plight of the poor LPs who had to endure this for hours and years. Soon we reached kopar. the train which was empty at diva was filled to its capacity at kopar. There are no exciting crossings on this route since this is mainly used by goods trains. Soon we approached Bhiwandi(BIRD). BIRD is the only station where exp trains halt except at BSR. There was a emty CONCOR BLCB rake without a loco. The run ahead was quite eventless.the train never exceeded 65kmph. I had a GPS on my mobile. Now some guys may be disappointed but i could not measure the speed since i did kn0ow how to track speed using the GPS.soom i reached kharbav here a BLCFS rake was standing these rakes were used to carry agricultural produce.the train then mived ahead. There was no fun till in reached BSR. BSR was reached at 12.20. 50mins for a approx 45kms ride not bad actually. I was hoping to catch some WAP action at BSR. I was not disappointed when i spotted a GZB WAP7 with the BDTS-ASR exp blasting aty MPS in BSR. So part one ends here. Part 2 follows
Part 2 the return journey.
I reached BSR at 16.00 to catch 16.45 MEMU from BSR to kopar. As i approached the stn a diesel loco was bringing a train slowly. The train wasKCVL- porbander exp with WDM3a 14074 from vatva at its helm .by the time i reached the loco the lps had changed. A RPF personnel was standing near the SLR and i did nor risk taking a photo. Soon the train was given the starter. Then i saw the most touching sight i have ever seen in a loco. The lp then took out a photo from his pocket looked at it and said hey bhagvaan sabh sambhaal lena( o god please do take care of everything). I have seen many LPs starting their shift but this was a true moment to signify that they too relied on the almighty to safeguard the train and its passengers. Soon the train left stn. At around 16.10 the MEMu arrived and i settled myself at a window seat i was very tired hence immediately dozed off. My eyes opened and found that we were actually reaching kopar. My hopes of catching some wag 9 went up in smoke. So i am extremely sorry to disappoint you readers who would have looked forth for a trip session of the second part.
So the trip ends here. i reached kopar at 17.45 and then walked home, had some tea and then again fell asleep.
So thank you for reading this report. Feel free to send in your suggestions and feedback will upload the pics soon .