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In a Quest for exploring new routes, two Railfans (my friend& I) end up in a deserted Guntakal Jn., as early as 04:55hrs. The Hampi Express from Mysore dropped us in pf2 at an hour to dawn amidst mild drizzles. Having scurried through on the shorter route from Kalluru Jn., we find ourselves at the divisional HQ station at same time as the delayed Nagercoil Mumbai express which is on...
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pf4. The Mumbai express takes a slightly longer route via Gooty Jn., and though it left KJM 35mins ahead of us, had managed to reach just 5mins before us. Surprisingly though, the Hampi express departs first after a quick crew change and the Mumbai express sashays out a few minutes later, both in their respective directions. A couple of hours rest is warranted, we move towards the retiring rooms, book ourselves a room for freshening up, the check out time is mentioned as 07:00hrs, and though we have less than 2hours for some rest, we take it. Meanwhile, the Kacheguda Yeshvantpur & Prasanthi expresses come, reverse and go. The next couple of hours sees a pretty busy Guntakal Jn., Passengers, express trains, freights, are all there. Then there is our train, taking a long& exhaustive route from Tatanagar to Yeshvantpur, connecting the Steel City with the Silicon Valley. If you guessed 18111, you guessed right. The route it takes is discouraging enough to make an end to end journey. The schedule is pretty relaxed& the train makes its way into pf3 at 07:30hrs, 20mins BT. The link for the day is KJM WDM3A twins, this train is known to get a variety of links. While the KJM twins are going about their reversal, we find our seats in S7 and occupy it till Bellary, from where we would switch to B3. Don't ask why, I didn't book the tickets. The train then progresses to towards the west, the barren landscape and the soothing wind is enough to refresh the mood, twin EMD hauled freights are all that one can see for a major part of this route, after diversion from Ballary, even that became rare. But a parting gift, Kingfisher liveried WDM3D twins from GY are spotted in Ballary, from where we venture into the route less taken, the Ballary Chitradurga Chikjajur section, so much so that most stations in this route have platforms designed for only 11-12 coach passenger trains. Our B3 being closer to the loco often went out of the platform in our halts. The wind turbine farms on the brownish landscape near Chitradurga are a sight worth admiring. We join the Hubli Bangalore mainlines at Chikajajur, from where the line is doubled till Arsikere. The KJM twins notch up& we are on our way. Being a Saturday, there are not many significant crossings till ASK, except the Katra bound Suvidha express. After ASK, we cross the Dharwad bound Siddhaganga Express& Chandigarh bound Sampark Kranti, both being looped as we rushed past. The stretch till Tumkur is undergoing doubling. At Tumkur there is a double crossing, the Chikkamagalur bound fast Passenger on pf3& the Shimoga Intercity which arrives on pf1. The last stretch to Bangalore is a known territory, the highway accompanies us for the major part of it. 18111 is the only train other than the newly introduced Intercity to Hassan; to have a halt at Chikkabanavara Jn. After a 2min halt, we amble along till YPR home, where we are held up for the Bagalkot bound Basava express to clear the line, and finally pull into pf4 at 18:03hrs, delayed by 8mins, completing a rather amusing between two termini in the same city; one which would hardly take 30mins by road, took 20hours by train.

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Rail Fanning

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