I set out on the morning of 17th ,at 9.15 a.m. and headed straight for Sewri station. Originally iI had planned to get a first class tourist season ticket,costing Rs. 170. But the damn Q didnt seem to move. Since I didn't want to lose time, I headed to CST as the Q there is relatively less in the morning. As i waited for my train to arrive, a tree in yellow bloom, on theopposite platform caught my sight!
As expected.. there were just about 2 - 3 people at the ticket counter at CST. Bought my ticket, and then realised that I had plenty of time to kill. A railway station does not bore me at all, there is no place on earth where you can come across a variety of people .. people from all walks of life.. in such a short span of space and time. Proceeded to the Long distance section , where the Sinhagad express hauled by a WCG-2 had just arrived. A sea of people could be seen exiting the platform. Sat down on a rather comfy steel seat.As i sat thr looking at the ppl ...i was reminded of the grisly 26/11 massacre...scenes of blood and bodies strewn all over the place. Initially I had planned to take the Udyan, or the Kolhapur express, but then decided against it, as it was peak season and the general compartments would be very much crowded.Therefore settled for the 10.44 Karjat fast. The train pulled in at around 10 30a.m. I had been expecting a MRVC rake, but was piqued to find the old EMU waiting. I took a tour of the length of the train, and settled for the last first class bogie, as it was the trapezium shaped bogie, which is more stable , than the ones with the roundish edges. The seats were brown in colour and resembled the seats of the Garib rath!
We had a pretty fast and punctual run upto Ghatkopar, after which we had to stop at a signal, to let the 2542A LTT GORAKHPUR express pass. Caught up the express at Kalyan, waiting to move to the Kasara line. Afterwards, it was a slow run upto Karjat. Immediately after Badlapur, the scenario changes and places begin to look like tiny villages. The huge Sahyadris come into view, but being the peak of afternoon, the view from a distance was rather hazy.
At Neral, i was surprised to see the CST side of the station bustling with back-packers and picknikers. I tried hard to catch a glimpse of the toy train , but it was nowhere to be seen. Finally, after another 15 min run,we reached Karjat. The first sight that greeted me was of several WCG-2 bankers.We were now half an hour behind schedule.By now I was famished and looked around to find something to satisy my hunger but there were no stalls selling food .I was lucky enough to get bottled water. When I came to the station again, a pair of twin WDGs had pulled in. They paused for some time and left. My earlier memories of this station were that of rather clean platforms, but now what i saw was dusty, dug up platforms.
Time for the next destn, Khopoli!! The 1:22 p.m Khopoli local
had just pulled in. In the absence of any decent food, my only option was the Famed Karjat-wada-pavs!! Bought a couple of them, and settled down in the bogey, and gulped them down with the bottled water.The EMU started off at 1:22p.m sharp, and was giving a parallel run alongside the Pune line, till Palasdhari. At Palasdhari, the gradient of the Pune line is seen very prominently and one immediately appreciates the use of the bankers. Next in line was Kelavli,Dolavali and Lowjee.. stations where not a soul was in sight.The sight of an EMU amongst a desolate station in the mountains seems in stark contrast to the typical Bombay station. I wanted to actually get down and enjoy the scene but the sun and the sparse train service made me think otherwise. The EMU made its way through dry mountains and fields, while the Pune line can be seen climbing away in the ghats, if one looks carefully. Finally, I arrived at Khopoli. Its like any other bustling Bombay station at this hour, except that almost all the people are local villagers.A good half an hour journey from karjat. When the guard sounded the whistle for the return trip, there was a mad scramble amongst people to board the train. Some men were abusing the ticketing staff, for delaying the tickets! Train services to karjat are sparse here, hence the urgency. By now, i was feeling drowsy, so lay down for some time. Got up when we were nearing palasdhari, and to my delight, caught sight of a twin WCG-banked train climbing the ghats. See the pic below:
Returned to karjat at around 2 30 PM. Our next destn, being panvel, so the wait for the 14:45 Pune manmad express began. Had to cross over to the other side for the tickets, which cost 22 bucks. While in the Q, the hyderabad express with triple bankers led by a WDM2x , left towards pune.
At exactly, 14:55hrs, the pune manmad express pulled into PF3, hauled by a kalyan WCAM-3. I wanted to travel in the bogie immediately next to the loco, but was dissapointed to find written on the door" For female MST's"! When i peeped inside I found guys too, so boarded it without second thoughts.
The WCAM-3 started with a looong hoot. The accelaration was almost like an EMU. You could hear the traction motors giving out the characteristic " notching up" sound!! When we reached the tunnel, I positioned myself at the left door. This tunnel is dead straight, as when we were entering the tunnel, I could see the other end of the tunnel very clearly. It was only when we entered the tunnel, the enormity of the length struck me. Unline most KR tunnels, this one is very well lit( mercury vapor or fluorescent tubes, couldn't make out!), and has a couple of ventilation shafts as well. A continous wave of cool air seemed to blow inside , and it was a welcome relief from the heat outside. We were doing a constant speed of about 35-40kmph inside. It was a delight to hear the sound of 3 wheels going over the rail joints, something you never get to hear , unless you are in a loco or very near to it! Then suddenly we exited the tunnel, and hot air hits you like needles all over.After crossing chowk station, we caught up some speed but then again settled down to the same speed. After about half an hour, the WCAM-3 revved up like anything, doing about say 110kmph!!! We then came to a halt just outside the outskirts of pavnel. I inferred that it must be for the matysagandha express that was occupying PF3. Got down, to see the LP doing some inspections underneath:
Soon, the Matsyagandha passed by roaring, hauled by an erode WDM-3D, into the Konkan! We then proceeded to Panvel and were hauled into PF3. Got down, had a last look on the WCAM-3 dude , and proceeded towards the harbour line platforms. Settled myself into a rather uncomfy" dug up" seat! Closed my eyes, but was too tired even to sleep! After an hour, got down at Sewri, and walked home , with a sense of fulfilment, to have travelled in a circle!!!!
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