Amazing Late Night Action with the MAJN Superfast Express (Rocket) & Tutari Express at Ratnagiri:
This is my experience from an action packed night on 1st April 2022 from the land of Mangoes. Here you go.
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The Tutari Express bound to Dadar entered Ratnagiri at 10.22 lead by a Kalyan Hunk WDP-4D 40361 on Platform no 2 while a goods bound in Madgaon direction was already waiting at track no 2. The routine crew change began for Tutari and the loco pilots handed over the duty to a new crew.
I checked NTES and found that the Rocket (12134 MAJN CSMT SF Express) had left Nivasar and hence calculated that the great overtake was going to take place at Ratnagiri itself. I saw a couple of Konkan Railway employees walking past me on the platform and immediately asked them about the MAJN Superfast overtake. They were shocked to see so much enthusiasm on a railway station at 10pm. They nodded their heads giggling with each other. The employees on Konkan railway are amazing to speak to and are very friendly. You may identify them in a crowd looking at their uniforms.
I wasconfident that the Rocket would arrive at platform no 3 as Mumbai bound trains get PF 2 and 3 at Ratnagiri but you can never be sure on Konkan Railway. The Public Announcement system confirmed this for me in the next 5 mins and announced the coach composition for the Rocket which I recorded in my phone recorder. A passenger came to me and asked whether D1 coach would be at the loco side or the far end (we were at the front side near the loco). He mentioned that he heard DL1 was at the start but not sure about his coach D1. That is when I played the recording on my phone and informed him that his coach would be the 17th coach thereby asking him to move to the fag end of the platform. It feels amazing when your railfanning information helps the fellow passengers.
Tutari express had already waited for 15 mins at Ratnagiri for the rocket to arrive. I enquired with the Loco pilot of Tutari on why the overtake was not being done at Bhoke or even Ukshi eliminating the long wait at Ratnagiri. The LP told me that there might be another train there already. At that very moment, I checked the Current Train Positions on KRCL website and found that 12619 Matsyagandha Express had departed from Ukshi and 12201 LTT Kochuveli Garib Rath was trailing it at Sangameshwar Road. As Ukshi and Bhoke have only 2 tracks, a simultaneous overtake and crossing is not possible and hence the Tutari had to be regulated at Ratnagiri for the overtake.
At 10.41 pm, I heard the ALCO chugging and the superstar from Mangaluru made a grand entry at Ratnagiri Platform no 3 with the customary Alco Kalyan WDM-3D 11356. The new LP crew was already waiting and the duty exchange was completed very quickly. The Ratnagiri starter gave a double yellow to the rocket at 10.43 while the new crew were still performing their last minute checks and the rocket departed at 10.45 thereby overtaking the Tutari at Ratnagiri.
At 10.57 pm, Tutari was still waiting at Ratnagiri and it was now time to check if the crossing with 12619 Matsyagandha was also bound to happen at Ratnagiri making the long wait even more exciting. I was just opening NTES and heard an EMD chugging into Ratnagiri platform no 1 with Matsyagandha. The goods waiting at track 2 blocked my view of Matsyagandha but the EMD sound was enough for me. As soon as the last coach of Matsyagandha crossed the loco of Tutari, it was given a go ahead and the LP gave a long horn immediately departing Ratnagiri at 10.59 to start covering the long halt of 37 mins. The Loco Pilot of Tutari would be aware that any delay in the Konkan section could still be covered with the enough slack provided in the Panvel - Dadar section.
It is amazing to be Railfanning in the Konkan section as the action is doubled due to the single line with amazing overtakes and crossings. Although trains get delayed due to the single line section, it is just a heaven for us railfans.
Thanks for going through my journey and being a part of it.
Cheers,
Vivek
