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