Trip Report : Across 5 states - Part III(A)

Hi to all,

Here's part III (A) of the trip-report-cum-Observations at
Asansol Jn.

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Part III (A): Observations at Asansol Jn on 28 Jan 2010
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After enjoying Kolkata enough it was time to return. Once again, luck
was against me and I had to cancel my plans to take 30 Jan's
2152 Samarsata Exp from HWH-R and instead take 29 Jan's 3288 South Bihar
again and that too at an awkward time of 03.45 from ASN. Not that I
complained too much, as I got LB confirmed ticket in A1 coach.

So I took to the GT Road to ASN in the morning of 28 Jan in order to
spend time in ASN. But that proved to be a mistake as I reached ASN by
15.45 with nothing to do except loiter around. To add to that, it was a
completely new city to me (though my father knew it well) and there were
very few restaurants on the main GT Bypass-ASN-DHN/CRJ Road. But I
finally found one and ate Chicken Chowmein which was both cheap at Rs.50
(surprisingly) and good.

I finally arrived at ASN at 17.00 and received yet another shock as
apparently Mamta Di's bid to remove the red colour off station seemed to
hit ASN as well which had turned a Light blue (& Navy blue stripes)
colour. I preferred the vintage Maroon/Red more. Thankfully, they'd
spared the BKP1 loco stationed firmly in front of a repaint.

So, I decided to take the retiring room (located on 1st floor of PF5/6)
but was told that it was only for those coming from some place on a
train and should take the Upper Class Waiting Room. But since it was no
better than the ordinary waiting room apart from the Pay-for-use toilets
and also, the party who had reserved that room had been delayed, I was
given a room on payment of Rs. 300 and given a GMO-ASN ticket of the
same day as proof of my journey by the Room Attendant, concreting the
fact that anything was possible in India.

I took to the AC room with 2 single beds and an attached toilet as big
as the room itself. I had never seen a toilet this big - even it movies!

Anyways, after locking my stuff in the room, I decided to hunt for the
ER TT and got it from PF4.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353450508/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4352702581/


At 19.00, I decided to position myself on PF5 to catch some late evening
action and wasn't disappointed. Here are the observations -
1. HWH P4 brought in 2020 RNC-HWH Shatabdi Exp on PF5 at 18.40(+16). It
went after 2 min.
2. HWH WAP4 #22286 brought 2304 Poorva Exp (via PNBE) at 19.07(+5.41).
Saw a GRP official banning entry of passengers into 2009 make SLR in
view of the accidents in UP. 2304 left at 19.15(+5.29). 2314 was delayed
by 13 hrs and expected by 22.15.
3. HWH WAM4P #20645 brought in Hatia-BWN Pass on PF6 at 19.15.
4. The biggie - HWH P4 #22611 came with 2313 Sealdah Raj at 19.20 on
PF4. The Rajs/Duronto/Yuva Exp along with the late running DN Rajs were
responsible for the shortage of chicken in the IRCTC restaurant that
day!!!
5. HWH-NDLS Yuva Exp came at 19.32 behind HWH WAP4E #22235.

After that dream stay at ASN PF, I decided to feed myself at IRCTC's
restaurant on 1st floor, PF5/6. As explained earlier, the delayed Rajs
caused a shortage of chicken curry and even though the restaurant
boasted of extravagant items on the menu like Chicken Schezwan Noodles &
Strawberry Pudding, all that was available was Egg Curry & Veg Thali.

Well, the interesting part is that while the cashier was talking about
availability of a single plate of Chicken curry, the caterers were
completely denying it. Here I witnessed one of the finest examples of
regional sentiments. My father, who knew Bengali, was able to talk the
cashier into giving us the Chicken Curry-Rice even though hordes of army
men failed to retrieve it.

In the end I concluded that probably the caterers were saving the
chicken for themselves.
Well, that concludes Part-A of my return journey. After the dinner, I
retired into my room to catch up on some sleep which I knew wouldn't
come.

Keep tuned in for Part-B which will cover the actual journey back
home...

Regards,
Animesh Kishore
Raipur

Trip Report : Across 5 states - Part II

Hi to all,

Here's part II of the trip-report

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Part II : 3306 Gaya-Dhanbad Exp [Gaya-Dhanbad], Date - 26 Jan 2010,
Distance - 199 Km, Time - 03.45 Hrs
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Well my initial plans to travel next day by 2302 to HWH were thwarted as
2302 had joined the list of trains running late due to fog and was
running late by 12-15 hrs daily. Anyways, So I cancelled the tickets and
decided to go to DHN instead to visit my uncle and continue my onward
journey to HWH by car. I decided to take the evening intercity Exp (3306
Gaya-DHN Exp) to DHN. Since there was no CC on this train I was forced
to travel by II (sitting, UR) which I dearly dreaded.

Another shock came on reached Gaya Jn. at 16.30 that this train comes
from DOS in the form of 702ECR DOS-GAYA Pass. That came as a rude blow
to my hopes of grabbing a seat. And on top of that, the train showed no
signs of appearing at 17.55 even as the departure time from Gaya is
17.45.

Then suddenly, out of dusk and smoke-filled air, suddenly came a white
beauty, Gomoh WAP7 #30213 and our ride along with it.
I quickly thanked the Gods for compensating the missed P7 encounter
aboard The mighty HWH Raj. After some heated glares and exchanges, I was
able to grab a track side window. The white beast jerked forward at
18.10(+25); making me wonder if the LPs for these intercity trains are
given P7 training before handling established trains like Kalka or
Rajdhanis.

Nevertheless, the P7 started showing its true mettle after clearing
Phalgu River Bridge and in no time we were doing MPS of 110Kmph. I think
giving P7s to intercity trains is a good idea, given that 3306 itself
has 15 halts en route a distance of 199 Km, which comes out to a halt
every 13 Km. Since it was already night, I couldn't enjoy the
Gurpa-Ghujandi ghat section fully, but could thankfully open the window
as temp. was O.K here in stark contrast to the chilly conditions in
PNBE.
Koderma was reached at 19.30(+23) while Parasnath, which came at
20.44(+18), gave me a pleasant shock. The last time I was here, it was a
small station with 4 underdeveloped PFs and the Raj/Poorva halt had just
been introduced. But this time, the Jain community had proved their
influence in the form of and additional PF and richly crafted sculptural
designs on the PF wall/building.

In the meantime, announcements were for the announcement of 2301. As
soon as we left, I went to the door asking a gentleman to occupy/reserve
my seat and surely enough, the King of ER 2301 blasted past us behind
the customary GZB P7.

The power of the 6000 horses was clearly evident as 3306 reaches NSC
Bose Gomoh at 21.00(+6) & reached Dhanbad Jn. at 21.23, ahead of
schedule by 7 min, thereby covering the 29 odd Km between GMO & DHN in
20 min at Avg Speed of 87 Kmph.

Finally, Dhanbad gave me another couple of surprises -
1. It was so clean & organized that it resembled a Shopping Mall!!!
2. The Ambassador taxis were back at the entrance, this time in a white
livery. There's a bit of history as I've learned from my father. There
used to be plenty of these Ambassador taxis in the 80s-90s era, which
one could use to travel throughout the then Bihar or even in WB. But
they disappeared lately due to pressure from modern cars. They used to
sport Yellow livery those days.

It is good to see them back!!!

Regards,
Animesh Kishore
Raipur

Trip Report : Across 5 states - Part I

Hi to all,

I never miss an opportunity to get aboard a train and since this time it
was a question of travelling across 5 states - Chhattisgarh, Orissa, WB,
Bihar & Jharkhand, it was a thrilling prospect for me as a rail fan.

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PART I: 3287 South Bihar Exp (Raipur(R)-Patna Jn (PNBE)), Date: 24-25
Jan 2010, Distance - 1083 Km
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The first leg of my journey started on board 3287 Durg-Danapur South
Bihar Exp from Raipur-Patna. This train is only part of a couple that
operates between Raipur-Bihar. And since it is a super-crawler, I
thought it would be fun, considering that it was my 1st trip towards
JSG-ROU-TATA-ADRA.

I reached Raipur stn. At 06.45, an hour before the scheduled arrival of
3287 from Durg. Bought Sambhar-Vada from Celebrations restaurant at
station at 25/plate (2 Vadas+Sambhar+Coconut Chutney). 3287 arrived as
scheduled behind WAM4 BIA #20435.This train surprisingly has a lone 3A
coach along with 4 2A coaches (2 AB, 2 pure A). I was in AB1 - for which
I was happy as that would mean wider windows as compared to regular 2As.
The coach was a 2006 make and had modern facilities like Eye-socket type
reading lamp, compact and classy sanitary fittings and seat-tables that
retracted inside the window wall.

The train left bang on time at 07.55. The WAM4 did a fine job with the
load of 21 coaches. At Bhatapara(A: 08.58), we met 2810 HWH-CSTM Mail
led by SRC P4 #22742 which was 55 min behind schedule. Some fine running
took us to Bilaspur at 09.51, delayed by 6 min. We left BSP at sharp
10.00. While leaving, I noticed the rake of Chhattisgarh Exp with ET P4
#22778.

Thereafter, smooth running continued till Sakti (200 Km from R) which we
reached at 11.19(+9). Here we were detained for Mamta Di's brainchild
Duronto (CSTM-HWH) to blast past us behind a shining HWH P4 at 11.25. We
finally left at 11.30(+19).

Thereafter, we maintained this delay up to Raigarh [A: 12.18(+19), D:
12.23(+23)] encountering a freight train on Maand river bridge just
before RIG


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353418622/

Some fellow which certainly wasn't IRCTC officiated came to take lunch
orders after RIG which I didn't want to but obviously didn't have a
choice so ordered 2 plates of Veg food. I later regretted this as the
food was awful:
1. Cabbage curry (Sweet actually)
2.Watery Dal
3. Rice
4. A pouch (200ml) of H2O.
I wonder why the railways inflict such torture on people travelling by
such trains which travel for 11ooKm with 5 AC coaches - Good enough for
a pantry. Certainly, people in super-crawlers do not pay less to deny a
pantry car.

Anyways, the run from RIG-BRJN was smooth amidst thick forest which
people on evening trains like 2129/2809 might miss:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353419328/


Brajrajnagar was reached at 13.10(+24) but the enormous slack up to
Jharsuguda(48 min for 13 Km) ensured we reached there by 13.21(-14). I
was disappointed by JSG which was a down-on-facilities & dusty looking
station in comparison to the biggie that I was anticipating. 3287 left
JSG at 13.40(0). The run towards ROU was initially slow but later the
LPs put foot on the pedal and we were doing about 90Kmph in no time.

About 25Km from JSG, the train hit something which resulted in violent
noises and sideways swaying. I, who had tuned on to the latest songs of
My Name is Khan on my MP3 player, was shaken by this incident. The
culprit turned out to be COW which sneaked through the Cow-catcher and
got shredded to bits before the LPs could stop the train. By that time
it had already travelled 7 coaches beneath the train. I now understand
the shudder Mr. Shantanu Biswas must have felt when his 2302 hit a
Nilgai at 130Kmph last Nov & swayed badly; this one was just doing
90Kmph.Anyways, the cow was removed and the affected coaches checked
thoroughly for any aftereffects.

The LPs for some reason backed the train by a few yards before starting
again. We were 30 min late now. The run became more sedate as the train
continued to stop every 15 min at a nondescript station and I began to
question my decision to travel by a super-crawler. We crossed Brahmani
River just before Rourkela:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353420142/


Rourkela was reached at 15.50(+40). I was planning to alight here to buy
evening snacks but decided against it as the train had arrived on PF4
and also ROU station that day wore a deserted look with most food-stalls

out to be a right decision as we moved out after just 10 min instead of
the scheduled 20.

Anyways, we started and were treated to the marshaling yard at BNDM.
The run from BNDM-CKP was nice and we reached Chakradharpur at
17.37(+22), just at dusk.
Just a question - I observed overturned coaches of TATA-BSP Exp at Km
365 between Manoharpur (373Km) & Goilkera (344 Km).Was that a result of
an accident? If yes, then when did this happen?

Moving on, we departed from CKP after a scheduled 5 min halt and the
smooth run continued till Adityapur where there was an unscheduled stop.
I couldn't understand the railway's logic. There's no stop at Adityapur
while going to TATA but instead it occurs after the reversal. As a
result, impatient passengers pull chains to alight here, causing further
delays. Some crawling & stopping while entering TATA meant we could only
reach Tatanagar at 19.15(+40). Here the passengers took the 40 min halt
meant for reversal/crew change as a chance to buy dinner from IRCTC
stalls which were ready with food. The new set of LP's made up 15 min by
starting at 19.40(+25).

I had bought Veg Biryani hoping for the best but instead it turned out
to be Rice-with-Veg. The Raita served alongside saved me from further
misery. The train continued to play the stop-start game as Purulia Jn.
(For Adra/Ranchi) came at 21.53(+37) and Adra Jn. came at 22.57(+37).
Here we had a 2nd reversal I witnessed the WAM4 travel from back to
front to take charge.

3287 left Adra at 23.17(+37) after a 20 min halt and thereafter there
were no more halts till Burnpur which we reached at 0.07(+38) after
crossing a large river which later I learnt was Damodar river:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.6441016&lon=86.8978858&z=17&l=0&m=b


But again a huge slack (50 Min for 5Km!) between BURN & ASN ensured we
reached Asansol Jn. at our scheduled time of 00.20. The 3rd & final
reversal (couldn't believe my luck) for the journey occurred here and we
left at 00.45(0).

After ASN, I dozed off too wake up next morning amidst heavy fog & chill
through the Gangetic plains which avoid SECR regions. Owing to the fog,
we reached PNBE at 08.40, delayed by 1.35 hrs. A few photos of the fog
at PNBE.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353421136/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mask_kishore/4353421462/


A few observations at PNBE & Rajendra Nagar (T):-

1. 2310/09 RJPB - NDLS Raj's rake stood in RJPB yard with plenty of
damaged windows. I wonder what caused this. WAP4 MGS #22750 was attached
with the rake.
2. Ratlam WDM2A #16849 was shunting rake of 9322/21 Indore-RJPB Exp into
RJPB yard.
3. MGS P4E #22064 hauled Ganga-Damodar Exp into RJPB.
4. MGS WAM4s - 21391 & 20615 "Surubhi" stood in the side-tracks.
5. WAM4 #21337 + Palamau Exp on PF7.
6. MGS WAM4 #21380 "Barbie-Doll" hauled in 2334 Vibhuti Exp on PF1,
delayed by 10.30 hrs.
Most other ER trains were running late by 5-15 hrs.

That's it. Keep tuned in for parts II & III

Regards,
Animesh Kishore
Raipur

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PS - The figures shown in brackets indicate the deviation from scheduled
A/D time. For e.g.,
(+24) stands for Delayed by 24 min
(-15) stands for Ahead of schedule by 15 min
(0) stands for Right time running
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