****EXCITEMENT****
**Last Run of Special Train**
Date: 27 June, 2018
It was a cool morning in Madurai. Our plan of leaving the hotel at 7 am. proved to be just perfect as we reached the station well in advance. The first thing to notice was the escalator. It bypassed the entrance of the station and took us directly to the Foot Over-bridge.
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Now, where to go? I and my dad decided to keep the luggage with mom and go enquire about the platform on which our train would arrive. So, we came down on platform 1 and proceeded towards the exit. Luckily, the enquiry desk had just opened. The person there told us that our train would arrive on platform 2. So, there we went.
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This is where my short railfanning session began. The Punalur-Madurai Passenger was shunted back to the yard in uncanny fashion by a Green Golden Rock WDP-3A. The first coach went away with the loco at first. Then, the rest of the coaches were shunted as if the driver was in real hurry. The platform 5 was large enough to accomodate this train on the Southern Side and the Palani Passenger on the Northern Side. The Palani Passenger departed at sharp 7:45 am. without disrurbing the surroundings. The Mysore-Tuticorin Express had arrived and departed in meantime with a Golden Rock WDP-4D in lead.
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Then came the announcement. Our beloved train was arriving. Atlast, it arrived at 8:20 am. sharp with a Ernakulam WDM-3A in lead. The train was reasonably empty for a special train. One interesting thing was that each coach had a Bio-Toilet. Anyways, we chugged out of Madurai after a 5-minute halt. There was a sharp bend for branching out of the Main Line towards Manamadurai. We were going through the suburbs of Madurai, and at quite a low speed. The speed picked up post Madurai East. Soon, we were hitting between 105 and 110 constantly.
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Manamadurai came at around 9:15 am. It was a fairly large station considering that there were hardly any people at the station. We soon left Manamadurai and entered a territory which was unique. We were going more and more away from the mainland. Paramakkudi came at 9:45 am. Something happened and our train departed after 40 minutes. The delay was now over an hour. The train then again picked up speed, frequently touching 100, but not going above that.
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Ramanathapuram passed, and the landscape started to change dramatically.
Palm Trees....Sandy white beaches....
We had started to come closer to the sea. The approach to Mandapam was as beautiful as anything.
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Sea on both the sides....
Then came the most awaited moment....
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The PAMBAN BRIDGE
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At first I thought it would take around 45 minutes to cross the bridge. But then my dad told me that it was not that long. Anyways, I started clicking pictures of the train, and then I realised the velocity of the winds blowing, the scary nature of the water below with all the pile of rocks in it. And then the train had finally crossed the bridge. The highway crossed above us. The Pamban Railway Station had passed soon.
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The entry to Rameswaram was sleek. No hold-ups. Just that the crossovers were too bad. The jerks almost threw me off the basin. Anyways, our train arrived at platform 1 at 11:45 am with a delay of 45 minutes. Darnish's prediction on the delay proved just right. As I realised later, the platform was small enough for the crowd from that train. The sleepers were packed like anything. Still, it felt exciting to come to the place I had been waiting to come for such a long time.
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THE END