The Ferroequinologist's Blog

The Destination - Shillong (cont....)

2012-01-14T00:59:00.009+05:30

…From Bangalore to Shillong

One of the reasons for this trip was a conference on cancer research. Anyway, I was happy that I arrived at Bangalore on time and didn’t have to belt along to catch my train to Guwahati and the thought of being close to Lynda made me feel happy, in fact, it was on my mind since the day I started to plan for this trip and it remained unabated. I was wearied but was (mentally) prepared for another 4-day train trip. The platform#6 of Bangalore Jn. was totally crowded and I was not surprised to see the train completely full with no vacant berth and the passengers with RAC ticket status, as usual, started requesting for berths but the train conductor had only one answer i.e. “I am sorry”!!! Well..I really felt bad for those passengers who didn’t get proper sleep for over 50 hours.

My co-passengers were from different North Eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc. It was rather strange that initially we were mere looking at each other's faces and gave those pseudo-smiles but later into the journey we become like one big family. Anyway..it was 11:35PM but the train didn’t start (schedule departure time is 11:30PM), I got little curious and wanted to check but the passageway was too crowded with passengers trying to secure their baggage under the seats. Finally at 11:45PM the train started to roll with, I think, WAP-4 class loco from RPM shed/depot at the helm, 15 minutes late. I started to wonder if we will get further delayed or reach Guwahati on time. The first schedule stop, Bangalore Cantonment, was not too far just a few KMs away, nobody boarded the train, at least not in my coach. As the train rolled out again, I decided to sleep and thankfully I got a very good sleep for over 6 hours as I was tired…….The next day I woke-up to find myself at Chennai Central station (MAS) with vox of ‘chai-chai’ buzzed in my ears. This is the first reversal point of this train (there are 3 reversals in all). After about a 40-min halt, the train roll out of MAS, I thought it was a WAP-4 class from Erode shed/depot hauling my train but it was not to be!!! It was a WAM-4 class loco from Arakorram shed/depot. The run was not so good with a lot of unscheduled halts but once we left Ongole, the loco pilots stepped on the gas and we were at Maximum Permissible Speed (MPS) of 110KMPH constantly for a long time but, of course, the loco struggled. At this point I wouldn’t say we were running on time but we weren’t too delayed either and given the slack time to this train, I was sure we will be back on schedule.

I started to get a little bored but I was able to connect to the internet hence I got myself busy on my laptop for a long time. I also started to interact with my co-passengers and it was a good way to kill time. We discussed everything from my cell biology and molecular oncology to the Indian Army to the Chinese usurpation in Arunachal Pradesh etc; it was kind of fun yet informative. The next cubicle almost turned into a movie theater with loud Hindi movies being played on a laptop and around 12 people crowded the entire cubicle, exasperated a lot of other passengers.

Soon the train rolled into Vijayawada Junction, the next schedule stop delayed by 10 minutes. We’ve had a 30-minute stop because a parcel van got attached and that took a lot of time. Vijayawada reminds of my good old university mate Kotti Reddy, wanted to call him at the station but he stayed very far from the city center so decided against it. The run from Vijayawada to Vizag was a mixed bag, rarely touched 110KMPH maybe because this train has gotten a lot slack time and the loco pilots were in no hurry!! To give you guys an example: The time taken by 12842 Chennai-Howrah Coromandel express to travel from Chennai to Howrah (Calcutta) is ~26 hours but this train takes ~30 hours and both being superfast trains. Of course, the latter has many stoppages than former, almost double.

A WDP-1 class loco at the helm of Secunderabad bound express train at Rajmudry

I was lucky to spot a WDP-1 class loco at Rajmudry for the first time; it was at the helm of an express train to Secunderabad. This is one of the loco classes with BO-BO axle arrangement (Two bogies or wheel assemblies under the unit), the other (class) being high speed WAP-5 class. After we left Rajmudry, for around 3 hours I was at the door, doorplating as usual…...Where on earth do you get a chance to sit at the door while the train is running at good speed!!! I’ve always enjoyed this!!! Talking about the food served on this train, I’d say it was not very good and unsavory but I had no other option. The lunch and the dinner included a bowl of rice, the dal (preparation of pulses), and aaloo matar (Potatoes and Peas).

I was already 40 hours into the journey and another 40 more to go but I was enjoying the train ride. The only worry that I’ve had on my mind was to find a bus or a cab to Shillong after I reach Guwahati and try not to get cheated!! As the evening set in, we got ready for our next schedule stop, Vizag or Visakhapatnam another reversal point for this train. This station is a terminus which explains the reversal of southeast bound trains. The station looked clean and not too crowded and all of the ACs coaches of my train got cleaned. The schedule stop was for 20 minutes but the train took over 30 minutes stop, maybe an additional parcel van was attached or the one that was attached before got removed but I was glad because this time we did get a WAP-4 class loco. Here’s the photo I clicked:

12509 Bangalore-Guwahati express waiting for the starter at Vizag station

Around 7:50PM we departed Vizag, the acceleration of a WAP-4 was evidently better (than WAM-4 loco). It became too dark for me to take videos however I was still at the door enjoying the fresh cool air and chatting with the coach attendant. In no time the train reached the MPS i.e., 110KMPH and we soon crossed over from Andra Pradesh to Orissa state. This tain has a quite a long run in the state of Andra Pradesh, right from Morning ~10AM to ~8:30PM but it was nice. After being at the door and chatting with the coach attendant for over an hour, I decided to return to my cubicle and luckily the food I ordered was already there. I’d say the dinner was little better than lunch but I was really hungry so I didn’t care about the taste, just gulped it. I was also a little surprised to see a lot of unauthorized ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ trying to make some quick money inside the AC coach, normally they’re not allowed (inside the AC coach). Anyway…after the dinner, we (my co-passengers and I) got busy chatting about something new. One of the co-passengers was very curious to learn about cancer and this being my primary research topic, I was very glad to explain him about the Cyclins and Human Ras proteins, the signal transduction, the cell surface receptors etc. but I wonder if he did really understand all or any of this.

It was around 10:30PM and I started to feel groggy especially after having a lot rice so there was no second thought about sleep however I wanted to see the Chilka lake but I again missed it (next time I will travel on a train which covers the state of Orissa during the day and I know the name of the train!!). My sleep was disturbed around 1AM due to an ugly commotion between 2 passengers. One fella wanted to reduce the AC temperature because it was, according to him, getting warmer however the other lad (rather old) wanted to increase the AC temp. because according to him it was very cold. Well..what do you do in such situation???? It was fine by me either way!!! They summoned the coach attendant however he (the coach attendant) was in no mood to listen to them, he got annoyed and said that the AC has been put on auto mode and the temperature settings will not change, in rather inexorable voice. He also ordered these guys to return to their seats. This thing happens, especially when you are traveling a long distance on Indian train. I’d say this was not so bad; I’ve witnessed a lot of worst incidences than this. Luckily for me, it wasn’t too difficult to get back to sleep.

I woke-up around 6:30AM and saw the train entering a small town of Balasore for a couple of minutes schedule stop. It was a lot colder outside, I guess the temperature was around 11 Degrees C. but I was enjoying it even without warm cloths on. After we left Balasore, the next stop was Kharagpur Jn., a good 118KM run and it was done in style as the loco pilot maintained 110KMPH speed for a long time, I stayed a put at the door. Here’s the videos I took:

Kharagpur Jn. has apparently the world’s longest railway station, the length is about 1072.5m. with biggest railway workshop in

India

, as well. Kharagpur as a junction station was established in Railway map in December 1898.

12509 Bangalore-Guwahati express waits at Kharagpur Jn.

Anyway, we have had a very long halt and to my surprise, a passenger train bound for Howrah was given a penchant by the section controller. This passenger train was hauled by a WAM-4 class loco from Tata shed/depot. Here’s the pic I took

WAM-4 class loco of TATA shed/depot at the helm of a passenger train leaving Kharagpur Jn.

I had to be very careful because there were a lot armed policemen, and nonetheless I clicked the photos without any problem. One of my fellow passengers wanted to know the reason for clicking so many train photos.Well..what do you do when you are a railfan and have gotten a camera in your hand and you are at the train station? Yes…start clicking the train photos!!! . I explained to him about my hobby and passion for Indian Railways and he, not unlike others, was very surprised. The food served on the railway station by the vendors was not too bad, I’d say a lot better than the food served on board the train however I decided to have only a cup of tea, it was very sweet and strong but I liked it. Soon the starter signal turned amber, this was a 2ACL signal which means the train was not on the main line but had to roll over to the main line with a speed restriction of 30KMPH. I also knew we will over take the passenger train which departed ahead of us. As the train came over to the main line, the loco pilots were in no mood to perambulate. The train touched 110KMPH in no time and I was again at the door. The coach attendant (jokingly) asked me if I had a ticket to travel to Guwahati, presumably because I spent a lot of time at the door than in my cubicle, not uncommon for a railfan. Soon we over took the Howrah bound passenger train at good speed and I guess couple of other trains, as well. All of the trains were hauled by a WAM-4 class loco.

We weren’t too far away from out next major halt i.e. Howrah Jn., we were already cruising through the suburbs of Howrah and running ahead of schedule. Albeit we were only 50KM from Howard Jn. and running before time, I knew we wouldn’t reach on time, let alone ahead of schedule. The reason being non-availability of platforms as this is one of the busiest stations. As we were nearing Howrah Jn., we have had a very long ~30 minutes stop right outside the station but I absolutely knew this is going to happen. Meanwhile, I spotted Dibrugarh-Howrah Kamrup express entering the station, delayed by over 5 hours evidently due to fog. I got a little skeptical that even though the train is running fairly on schedule, it will get delayed big time due to fog and, unfortunately, thats exactly what happened!!!

As I got off the train to buy a cup of tea but I was surprised to see a lot of people constantly staring at my feet. well, I guess because of my Ferrari Red shoes!!!! The Howrah station did not change much since my last visit in November 2001, the old Howrah bridge very much visible from the station, looked awesome as ever!!! Anyway, this was the third and the last reversal point for my train. I bid goodbye to WAP-4 loco, did a fantastic job all the way from Vizag to Howrah and got ready for diesel action all the way to Guwahati. My train got a WDM-3D class loco from HWH shed/depot and after about 30 minutes halt, we moved out of Howrah, 30 minutes delayed. The train was put on Barddhaman chord line section and though it was a total disappointment with regard to speed, I was happy to see the Eastern Railway suburbs of Howrah, looked rather rural.

After an unscheduled halt at Bardhaman Jn., we got branched off of the chord line onto un-electrified lines, rolled over a massive curve and into our final leg of the journey to Guwahati but still ~900KM to go. The next stop was Bolpur Santiniketan, arrived around 2PM, 45 minutes behind schedule. The engineer guy told me that the train gets delayed after Howarah and this is not uncommon. He also added that the punctuality of this and other Guwahati bound train from South India has improved a lot as compared with the delays of over 10 hours or even sometimes 24 hours. This didn’t affect me at all because I didn’t have at catch a connecting train from Guwahati, I was relaxed.

It was a very overcast day, the time was around 3PM but it looked like 6PM and it got very chilled and foggy outside and me without my warm cloths, it got a lot more difficult to be at the door. I still tried to take videos but due to poor light, I couldn’t see anything on my camera screen but I stayed at the door even it was freezing outside. The police patrolling got heavy with heavily armed guards arbitrarily frisking passengers. This is another dangerous route with the local terrorist groups targeting trains, their first choice!! Nonetheless, I was very excited to travel on this route, it is very beautiful!!! And, of course, with the kind of security provided on board, I was sure we were going to be fine.

The next schedule stop was Rampur Hat and by now the train was running over 1 hour late. We entered this station after 3:30PM, against 2:20PM the schedule arrival time. I still don’t know for sure but the schedule stop for this train is 20 minutes in here. One of the reasons being a single non-electrified line and/or slack time given to this train. We however had over 20 minutes stop and I didn’t see any train crossing from opposite direction. For the first time I had a tea in Kular (clay pot), it taste very different but was really very refreshing. In fact, I had 3 cups of tea. It’s really a good idea to use clay pots, it wouldn’t pollute the ground and besides it gives opportunity to locals to earn some money as these pots are hand made.

Clicked this from a moving train, while I was at the door.

I started to feel the heat of chilling climate and I couldn’t stand it anymore. Luckily, my fellow passenger was carrying some extra warm cloths and he offered me a thick jacket seeing my predicament in T-shirt and short, I was shivering. Finally after an agonizing ~30 minutes halt, the train started and I felt a lot better. It was 4PM but it became totally dark and thick fog outside. I clocked the speed of the train over my GPS device and it didn’t go over 50KMPH and quite understandably. The visibility reduced greatly and I could barely see a distance of 100 meters, hats-off to the loco pilots for driving a train in such difficult conditions and making sure it does not stop or even worst gets cancelled but we were getting delayed, and by now the train was running over 2 hours late. Well..I can only say one thing in this situation, ‘it’s better late than never’!!!

Departing Farraka Town

The train again took a 10-minute unscheduled halt to Farraka Town. Later in the evening the fog increased and the visibility got reduced to almost 50 meters. I couldn’t see the signal, except for a ‘red dot’ At this time the train was running around 3 hours late. The AC engineer lad asked me to get my camera to take a video of the train passing over the dam over the river Bhramaputra. Unfortunately due to very low light, the video didn’t turn out good but it was amazing feeling to pass over the active dam. The sound of water falling from over the dam was deafening. We passed at a very slow speed of 30KMPH due to, I think, permanent speed restriction over the dam. After this, I decided to return to my cubicle and turned on my laptop to see if I may be able to connect to the internet. I was, in fact, able to connect but the speed was way to slow so decided to listen to songs by Train (the American pop rock band). I like the songs My Private Nation, Save me San Francisco, and If It’s Love…and after listening to My Private Nation, I wish I had my private nation!!!!!

The train took a lot of unscheduled halts, evidently due to bad weather and we got further delayed running late by over 3.5 hours. Malda Town, the next major stop was reached around 8PM. I decided to have my evening meal from the food vendor on the station and for a change and I got to eat home-made rotis and vegetables comprising of potatoes and onions, it was very scrumptious. After a long halt, we moved on with cautious speed. The next stop was New Jalpaiguri (NJP), a major tourist spot and rail head for Darjeeling, a famous hill station. One of the other fellow passengers from Andra Pradesh who was kind of animated throughout the journey started to overreact upon learning that the train isn’t going to reach New Jalpaiguri on time. He was a honeymooner, which explains why he got restless and agitated and wanted to reach the destination on time!! Given the distance and the speed (of the train), I calculated the time it will take to reach New Jalpaiguri and when I informed him that it isn’t going make it before 1AM, ~4 hours late, his face told the entire story. The train was slowly but surely moving without any unscheduled stop and this lad constantly kept his eyes on my GPS device because I told him that if the train speed crosses 50KMPH, we might reach before 1AM but it didn’t happen, too bad for him!!!

Once we reached New Jalpaiguri, he was a lot happy man and …well..I could understand his emotions!!! Nearly half of the passengers in my coach disembarked here including my good friend who gave me his jacket…which means…yep, you guessed it!!!! , I gladly returned it and thanked him and he invited me to his house, I accepted it. This was so nice of him!!! After we left NJP, it was a complete silence in my coach and a lot of empty cubicles. I was extremely tired considering I was traveling for over 4 days and another 15 hours to go. At this time I thought the train was running indefinitely late because nobody knew when will we reach Guwahati, not even the coach attendant but I was not concerned. I turned off the lights (of my cubicle) and went to sleep.

The next day around 6AM, my fellow passenger woke me up (he too became a good friend of mine). I was very excited and happy because the distance between Lynda and me was getting lesser and lesser as the train moved ahead!! We had already entered the state of Assam and it very misty, overcast but beautiful and very rural. I inquired with the coach attendant about the arrival time at Guwahati and he said after 10AM (the schedule arrival time is 5:50AM). The train was made to wait a lot of time for other Howrah bound trains to cross as this was a single non-electrified line, saw Howrah bound Kamrup express from Dibrugarh, hauled by a WDM-3A class loco from HWH shed/depot. It crossed us at over 100KMPH speed and also spotted a couple of New Delhi bound Rajdhani express hauled by WDP-4 class locos and another passenger train hauled by WDM-2A class loco in beautiful livery. Here's is one of the photos.

WDM-2A class loco at the helm of a passenger train.

12509 Bangalore-Guwahati express

Guwahati station was not too far away, I guess 50KM but it took painful 2 hours to cover with hell lot unscheduled stops. Around 10AM we reached Guwahati outer and again we stopped due to non-availability of platform and in the interim I spotted New Delhi bound Poorvottar (Northeast) SK express hauled by another WDP-4 class loco. We finally got the starter and moved into the platform#6 of Guwahati station at 10:30AM, a delay of 4 hours and 40 minutes. I had an image of Guwahati station before I left Mumbai and it turned out to be true. It was crowded, dirty and complete chaos but luckily for me, my fellow passenger offered me a help to find a cab to Shillong. He was on his way to Zero/Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, another 20 hours. After negotiating through crowded station, he managed to find a cab (a TATA Sumo) to Shillong. I thanked him a lot for his help!! From here, I traveled another 104KM uphill but it kind of took eternity to reach Shillong.

The cab driver didn’t start until his cab got full, it made me very frustrated because it was already 11AM and I was losing time. After a long delay, the cab did get full and we moved on. The Guwahati city was crowded with lot of shoppers was getting ready for Christmas and New Year. Soon we crossed over to the state of Megalaya and my happiness doubled. Shillong is, in fact, a hill station and a big city, as well. One of the major tourist attractions of Northeast India and, of course, very safe as compared with other North East states. We started to climb a tough terrain but we got stuck in the traffic hundreds of time. The road to reach Shillong is very narrow with heavy traffic and once we got stuck in the traffic, we didn’t move for about 45 minutes to an hour. To make matter worst, a landslide blocked a major part of the road so the driver of my cab was very cautious and then due to broadening of the road, we were made to wait at lot of spots. At one such spot, I witnessed, for the first time, live dynamite detonation. The sound was extremely huge, it also juddered our cab and, of course, the security check points added to my wretchedness. It usually takes around 3 hours to reach Shillong from Guwahati but I reached after 5 hours including a 30 minute halt at Nong Poh, in Ri Bhoi district.

Upon arriving in the city, I was in a complete blissful state of mind and even though I was extremely tired, I was ready to sprint along the city to find Lynda (I didn’t have her address nor I was not in contact with her for over 7 months). It was extremely cold, the mercury dipped as low as 5 degree Celsius. I checked into a hotel and got ready in just 30 minutes to start a job of searching Lynda. I planned to be in Shillong for 2 days and was hoping to find her or, at least, re-establish contact with her. Unfortunately, all my efforts to search her turned sleeveless and after roaming about in the streets of Shillong and without any success, I decided to return to my hotel. I was deadly tired and the only thing on my mind was to sleep for good 12 hours. It gets dark very early in Northeast India; it was around 7PM but looked like mid-night. Most of the shops closed before 7PM and the crowded streets soon completely deserted. I was hoping for some good fortune the next day!!!

Woke-up at 4AM but it looked like 6AM. Soon the aurora broke and around 5:30AM it had became already very bright. Left my hotel at 7AM hoping to find Lynda but there was no success, I was little upset and depressed yet I was hopeful. After a day long travail, I still couldn't find her. Dishearten, I returned to my hotel room and hoped for some miracle as I had only 12 hours left. The same night I got 2 text messages from her, I guess the miracle did happen!! I was happy because I heard from her after about 8 months and I now knew she is perfectly fine, a worry which was kind of eating my head out since 8 months. My trip to Shillong was not wasted. The next day I was schedule to return to Mumbai via Calcutta and New Delhi. Unfortunately I couldn’t travel to New Delhi and had to cut short my trip and return home at the earliest due to death in my family. It was a very terrible return journey because my train to Calcutta from Guwahati got delayed by over 12 hours, missed my evening Indigo flight to Mumbai due to delay and traffic however I somehow managed to book next day morning flight, spent a night at one of my friends’ (Apoorva Chaudhry) place.

Finally reached Mumbai at 9AM the next day by Air India thus ending my eventful journey. It was full of ups and downs; hope to never experience such terrible return journey.

The Destination-Shillong

2011-12-25T00:15:00.003+05:30

The Destination-Shillong!!!

By Deepesh Soni.

Prelude

This trip hitherto remains my longest train journey, albeit I was not able to complete my trip due to a minacious circumstance. My plan to travel to Shillong was set up very well in advance and Shillong holds a special place in my heart because my beautiful sweetheart Lynda a.k.a Ivy Syiem is from Shillong. And being a railway enthusiast, undoubtedly, I excogitated to reach Shillong by taking longest train route possible, eventually coming up with a plan to, first, travel to Bangalore from Mumbai, then take a train to Guwahati, and then a bus/cab ride to Shillong city, a total distance of ~4500KM and travel time of ~80 hours.

The return journey, however, was not gratifying at all and I was in hurry to reach home, missed my evening flight to Mumbai but did manage to board the next day morning flight from Kolkata (Calcutta).

Mumbai to Shillong via Bangalore….!!

I was very happy that I finally managed to schedule a trip to Shillong but being a railfan, I have always preferred to take longer route and this trip was no different!! After contemplating different routes to reach Shillong including taking a train ride via New Delhi, I opted to travel, first, to Bangalore by 11013DN Mumbai-Coimbatore express which is evidently quicker than its counterpart the 16529DN Udyan express and would be perfect for me as I wouldn't have to spend more time in Bangalore city before I board 12509DN Bangalore-Guwahati express. I was getting very excited as the day of travel (December 6th, 2011) was closing in and just a couple of days ahead of my trip, I was all set up with my backpack but what really surprised me was that even my mom helped me pack my bag which she never did before!!!! On the day of departure, I felt I was in a state of blissful happiness because I was going to be with Lynda after 5 years. Of course, my mom knows about her and she (probably facetiously) asked me not to return home without seeing Lynda..wow!!! Now that's really endorsable!!! Thanks mom for being so supportive!!!!

The schedule departure of my train (Mumbai-Coimbatore express) from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT, Mumbai) was 10:35PM and this terminus very close to my house, I was no hurry. I left my house after 9:30PM and I was sure I'll get a cab rather easily but I gotten blown out of water when nobody agreed to ferry me..wow!!! How am going to reach?? I thought!!! It was already 10PM. The other option was to board suburban train but this wasn't too easy as I'd have to change the train twice, besides not to mention the rush hour crowd in Mumbai suburban trains, but I finally did opt to board suburban (local) train and fortunately it wasn't too crowded. I reached LTT mere 20 minutes before the departure of my train. The Mumbai-Coimbatore express was already berthed on platform#2 and while entering the platform, I was about to get frisked by the security but they allow me to go without frisking maybe because I spoke with them in English and they kind of find it weird. Well...this is not unusual with me!!! This train being a 22-coach train and my coach being 5th from the engine (loco), I had to walk a lot of distance.

Anyway, whatever said and done, the rail-fan in me ignited upon seeing the loco link of my train, a WDP-4 20046 from KJM depot/shed, was facing long hood forward. Right at 10:35PM, the loco engineer (pilot) started to accelerate out of LTT and gradually gaining more speed as it rolled on the newly laid 5th line. The speed was just about okay until it reached Thane, the first schedule stop. The maximum speed it touched was 75KMPH however after Thane, the train took no time to reach 100KMPH, and once in a while it did 105KMPH.

The second schedule stop was Kalyan Junction and for some reason we reached 10 minutes late, maybe due to numerous caution orders…… however after we left Kalyan Junction, I guess the only thing the loco engineers did was to put the joystick in accelerating mode! We were cruising at 105 for most of the time after being hit by a speed restriction of 20KMPH and as a result we reached Karjat on time.

I started to feel a little tired and considering a very long journey, I didn’t think twice before taking forty winks ……however I did see the WAG-7 class loco ‘bankers’ (locos used to assist the trains to climb the mountains) getting attached to my train. I also saw the armed guards patrolling the train constantly as this train passes through one of the dangerous routes on the Indian Railways. I woke-up when the train was about to roll into Pune Junction, running on time. A bunch of passengers disembarked here however a lot of people boarded the train; I guess a few of them were genuine passengers while others were so-called railway employees traveling to Solapur. As soon as the train rolled out of Pune, I decided to go to sleep.

The next day I woke-up to find my train stranded at a small station on a loop line. I knew the reason, crossing of trains from opposite direction due to single line diesel territory. We were 15 minutes into halt but no sign of train crossing; however it was after 25 minutes I saw a passenger train bound for Solapur coming to a halt. We were still made to wait even after the passenger train left and I overheard from one of my co-passengers that ‘KK’ a.k.a Karnataka express bound for New Delhi will soon cross and sure it was. After about 50 minutes I saw this ‘KK’ with twin WDM-2A class locos from Itarsi shed/depot skipping the station from one of the loop lines. This ‘KK’ express has an interesting history, I will divulge it later!! We finally got the starter and rolled out of the station. I wondered if we were an hour late, well… not quite!! The run was reasonably good, touched 100KMPH speed regularly and I’d say the WDP-4 did a good job!! We were running on time thanks to the slack time given to this train. Meanwhile, I’ve had a good chat with the pantry guy, he sounded interesting fella with good knowledge of train timetable. He was very curious to know if I was from USA and didn’t believe me when I said I’m from Mumbai!!! I have noticed one thing while traveling especially by train that a lot of people are very curious to learn but finds difficult to initiate the talk but once they do start, they become very close to us…so close that we feel like we have known them for ages!!! I was as usual enjoying the train ride, seeing the beautiful countryside made me feel very happy and of course the cold climate outside.

Later in the day I was fortunate enough to meet one of the railway officials traveling to Bangalore from Guntakal. It wasn’t difficult for me to start the conversation with him; I saw the railway ID card and asked him if he worked for the South Western Railway, his reply was affirmative!! After taking about the basic operation of the Indian Railways, I started to talk about the technical aspect and he was quite surprised to learn that I know a ‘lot’ of technical things about the Indian Railways. He said that he is working in the signaling department of the South Western Railway Zone. I’ve had a nice time with him, got to learn a lot of new things about the signaling system on the Indian Railways. He also told me about the history of this KK express. The KK is actually prestigious Bangalore-New Delhi Karnataka express which in the 1970s used to run as Kerala-Karnataka express. One train used to start from Trivandrum as Kerala express and the other from Bangalore as Karnataka express and these 2 trains used to amalgamate at, I think, Secunderabad and hence the name KK express. Even after the separation of the 2 trains today, the name has stuck, sometimes for the one, sometimes for the other.

An unknown passenger train hauled by GTL WDM-2A class loco entering an unknown station

The Sun sets but the journey goes on!!

I didn’t realize the time went by as I was so enwrapped in technical talk. Meanwhile, I saw a lot of trains passed by and though I don’t remember the name of each train, I did see Bhubaneshwar bound Prashanti express hauled by another WDP-4 class loco from KJM shed/depot and the other Chennai-Shridi express hauled by, I think, WDG-3A from GY shed/depot. But I did realize that my train was running late by an hour and I started to get a little worried because I didn’t want to miss my train to Guwahati and I’ve had a 1ittle over an hour to change over at Bangalore. When I enquired with one of the pantry guys, he said that the train would reach Bangalore City Junction (SBC) until after 11PM. I was appalled but I knew and was confident that we will make way before 11PM. As soon as we entered the suburbs of Bangalore I gotten very happy and even more so after I realize that the train is again running on time which means I will be at Bangalore City Junction at 10PM and will have about 1 hour 30 minutes. Fortunately the train didn’t take any unscheduled halt and entered SBC at 10PM, almost on time.

I was feeling a little tired after I got off of the train but was also excited to board Bangalore-Guwahati express for 2 reasons, 1) Getting closer to Lynda, and 2) I always wanted to travel by this train to Guwahati. The Bangalore city looked very nice and clean, saw the new Bangalore ‘namma’ metro train system. ......However I would be wrong if I say I was not confused at Bangalore station, so I called up my good friend Akshay Iyer in Mumbai as he is very familiar and knows in and out of this place. He advised me that the train to Guwahati will depart from platform#6 and sure it was confirmed by the digital indicators on the platform. The crowd at the platform got denser; I guess almost everybody wanted to go to Guwahati and the worst affected was steerage. The train was scheduled……. but there was no sign of train even after 11PM (the schedule departure was 11:30PM). Meanwhile I saw 11013 Mumbai-Coimbatore express departing Bangalore after reversing, hauled by another loco i.e. WDM-3D class from Erode shed/depot on its way to Coimbatore, another 7 hours journey. At 11:10PM, my train (12509 Bangalore-Guwahati Superfast express) finally got shunted and I was shocked to see the un-reserved coaches getting completed satiated even before the train came to a complete stop. My coach was once again 5^th from the loco (Coach# B3, a 2005 manufactured AC 3 Tier class, the coach was constructed at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala). I felt a lot better after I boarded the train and in the cold ambience, the only thing I wanted to do was to catch some Z’s………

...From Bangalore to Shillong cont...

The Cell Biology - One Question Multitudinous Possibilities!

2011-02-17T00:42:00.000+05:30

Telomeres and Targeting Telomerase- A Prelude

By Deepesh Soni

Telomeres are conglomerated of insistent DNA sequences at the end of one-dimensional chromosomes. There are 92 telomeres in human chromosomes at each end because humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Telomere, a ribonucleoprotein complex, is present at the end of the chromosomes to defend its haleness and furthermore to give one of the most indispensable things i.e. constancy to the chromosomes. Telomeres are a part of DNA rich in G base (TAAGGG) in almost all craniates. One of the most interesting things about telomeres is that they are bound by a complex called shelterin. Shelterin is composed of 6 complexes namely POT1 and TPP heterodimers, telomeric-repeat binding factors i.e. TRF1 and TRF2, and Rap1 and Tin2. Another interesting realism about telomeres is that they contain epigenetic modifications like DNA hypermethylation and modification of histone which, interestingly, acts as down regulator of telomere length⁽¹⁾. Sex hormones such as androgens and estrogens, on the other end, act as a telomere up regulators and this made me wonder if epigenetic modifications maybe used to target telomeres in neoplastic cells or in normally dissevering cells and decipher the change (if any) in the structure of a cell as a whole or part of it. Any change, however, in the structural integrity of telomeres or the protein complex will have substantial change in the functional property of telomeres. Shortening of telomeres is colligated with cell division over a period of time, telomeres gradually subjugates in size due to ‘end-replication problem’ as DNA polymerase cannot continue replication of the linear ends of the chromosome and this is one of the reasons imputed to senescence in vertebrates. In addition, any change in the chromosome structure will have DNA repair mechanisms activated barricading the crusade of a cell from one stage to the other of the cell cycle.

Telomerase is a cellular reverse transcription enzyme that takes care of telomeres attrition via addition of TAAGGG from the beginning. Telomerase, not unlike, telomeres consist of complex domains namely a subunit with reverse transcriptase activity (Tert), an RNA component (Terc) and Dyskerin (Dkc1), a stabilizer for Terc. In the absence of telomerase, telomeres will not be able to maintain shelterin integrity. Telomerase is an essential part of almost all tumor cells giving them the immortality however there is an exception to this statement. In some cancers such as Acute Myelocytic Leukemia (AML), it was found that (perhaps) telomerase does not play a role in the malignancy, or there’s an alternate pathway which floods the telomerase in the cells. Also, down regulation of telomerase is associated with aging of cells and cell death via apoptotic pathways.

Materials and Methods:

There are various methods available to detect the presence of telomeres in a cell. One of the methods is Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization (FISH). FISH is used to detect different types of DNA sequences using fluorescent probes which bind to the sequences corresponding to the probes and can be detected using fluorescence microscope. Other techniques include Southern Blot and Polymerase Chain Reaction are also equally useful. Telomerase, too, can be detected by using techniques such as Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, using antigen targeting specific epitope on telomerase. Other techniques involve the use of Southern blot, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis.

My Research Intent:

After reading versatile research papers on telomere, I marveled if it would be possible to target one of the complexes of shelterin by modifying epigenetic marks such as histone or DNA methylation and bypassing the telomerase activity in that cell. Secondly, to insulate telomerase from the tumor and normal cells and canvass the structures and the difference, if any, in both types of cell. Thirdly, to confirm the function of sex hormones in the up regulation of telomeres in tumor, as well as normal cells and compare the results.

Raipur Trip- A Report

2011-01-31T23:46:00.003+05:30

Yeppiee!!!! Got another opportunity to travel a long distance and this time to Raipur, the capital city of Chattisgarh state in central India. I traveled on 12/17/2010 and returned to Mumbai on 12/21/2010. I have always been an ardent train traveler and getting an opportunity to travel by train and in steerage class makes me feel very felicitous and on tenterhooks to figure out the loco links of trains in which I’m traveling makes me even more excited. Anyway, coming to the point…..I didn’t have enough time to book my tickets and was little discerning that I would have to clamber to get confirm tickets albeit it was not a peak season to travel. I made my choice to travel by Pune-Bilaspur express (rather weird choice if you’re not a train enthusiast) instead of traveling by train that would take me to Raipur from Mumbai in less time. Anyway, it was my choice and I always prefer to take a longer route. I looked at the availability of berths on 12/10/2010 but I wan’t surprised to see wait list and I knew it wouldn’t make a gumption to book my ticket and I, as a consequence, decided to wait until 12/15/2010 and why?????…well..to book the ticket in Tatkal (urgent) quota and hoped to get a confirm ticket.

On 12/15/2010 I was prepared to book my ticket to Raipur in Pune-Bilaspur express and at 7:55am I was setup with my laptop and internet connection and at exactly 8am I hop-skipped to http://www.irctc.co.in and repleted my details but regrettably, and even after having high speed internet, the website didn’t process my reservation request….. and when I logged in again I blew out of the water to see wait list number 21 in mere 2 minutes but I had a kinda déjà vu that I will face this state of affair. However, I did have an alternate plan to travel by Pune-Howrah (Calcutta) Azad Hind express but I was not particularly interested in traveling by this train and….the reason??? Well…this and other Howrah (Calcutta) bound trains, due to increased onrush by Maoists, were and are still rescheduled and departs from respective stations to Howrah at around 4am ,…………but at the end of the day I didn’t have any option left and with rather hebetudinous mood booked my ticket in the least preferent train i.e. Azad Hind express..At the same time I also booked my ticket to Pune by Hyderabad bound Hussain Sagar express but I barely managed to get confirm ticket.

On the day of departure i.e. 12/17/2010 I was manifestly excited but also spooky about meeting my cousins because I didn’t see them for over 7 years and to see them at such short notice made me feel timorousness. ….I packed my bags and left my house around 2000 hours to Victoria Terminus(VT) station to embark the train to Pune, schedule to depart at 2150 hours. At VT station there was a Brobdingnagian herd of people ready to board Hussian Sagar express to Hyderabad and it was not unusual. The train was shunted by a WDS-6 class loco and thanks to the digital coach indicators, I didn’t have to hunt for my coach. The carriage was quite new, manufactured in the year 2007 by Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bangalore but one thing I don't like about BEML carriages is that the window bars of non-AC class are pretty 2-dimensional as compared with window bars of carriages made by Integrated Coach Factory or Rail Coach Factory which gives a clear view of the loco and the train while on curve. Anyway, as I ensconced at my berth, I felt dog-tired and wanted to sleep but the thought of seeing the train skip Dadar at good speed kept my energy level middlingly high…….. and this is the only reason I booked my ticket in this train.(This is one of the trains which skips Dadar). Well…..I knew the loco link even before the corresponding train arrived to Mumbai from Hyderabad (This is the train that shares its rake with 17031/32 Hyderabad Mumbai express). The loco link was, undoubtedly, Kazipeth WDM-3A (didn’t see the road number but I guess it was 18893) and exactly at 2150 hours, the loco engineer sounded both the low and high pitch hooters and we took off…..The train took around 7 minutes to join main line..well…quite surprising!!!! After it linked with the main down fast line, for some reason, the train stopped abruptly just before Sandhurst Road station and I couldn’t figure out the reason, maybe a train was being shunted ahead of us. After a 3-minute unscheduled halt, we picked up the speed and skittered Byculla station at 60kmph due to speed restriction. The loco engineers didn’t waste any time and floored immediately after Byculla and in no time we touched 90kmph approximately. My excitation reinvigorated me and the feeling of being dog-tired died out as Dadar approached, well….. we were still doing around 90kmph but I had no doubt that we will touch 100kmph at Dadar and ……..finally….. there it was!!!……skipping Dadar at good speed but not exactly 100kmph , a sight which is still very fresh in my mind. In fact, I still remember the day in the year 1992, 12/24/1992 to be precise, when I traveled to Hyderabad in the same train (this train at that time was known as Minar express) and I can still sense the taste of skipping Dadar then. As we skipped Dadar, the train started to floor even more and we skittered Kurla at over 100kmph, (I guess Arzan must have gotten excited on reading this as this (Kurla) is his best-loved place to take videos and yes!!!…Kurla is a nirvana for train enthusiasts like Arzan and me) however as we approached Vidyavihar we came to stand still and this time I knew the reason…. 18029 LTT(Mumbai)- Shalimar (Calcutta) ‘bullock cart’ express was given penchant to move ahead of us….. but after an abbreviated halt, we accelerated and touched 100kmph in no time, it was quite a sight to skip suburban stations at high speed. At Thane, we slowed down and thanks to ‘bullock cart’ express, we stopped again just before Thane station. We were already delayed by 15 minutes but I was not worried about it. We had a reduced speed run until we came out of Parksik tunnel but once we skipped Diva Junction, the loco engineers again showed that they are not here to perambulate. We entered Kalyan junction, the first commercial halt, at 2255 hrs, delayed by about 10 minutes. I started to feel a lot tired and decided to jump on the berth to catch some Z’s. After we left Kalyan Junction, I had no clue about the speed of the train or which station we skipped but the only thing I remember is hearing blowers of WAG-7 class locos ready to bank my train at Karjat, a territory once ruled by mighty WCG-2 class locos…(hey WCG-2s!!!, you guys will always be in my heart). Pune was schedule to arrive at 0120 hrs and by the time we left Karjat we were running on time…… but even if we were further delayed I was not in hurry because my connecting train to Raipur was not schedule to depart until 0225 hrs. The run was good after Lonavala and I was fully awake by the time we entered the suburbs of Pune with Kazipeth WDM-3A going strong with its melodious hoots still bombinating in my ears. After a long spell of high speed, we came to stand still just outside Pune station, now…this is a kinda modus operandi I guess, every time I travel to Pune I have always experienced the abominable wait due to non-availability of platforms, it’s so-close-yet-so-far kinda feeling. Finally we entered Pune station platform number 4 at 0125 hours, delayed by 5 minutes but that’s reasonable. I appreciate the efforts of loco engineers and thanks to the slack time given to this train I didn’t worry about getting big time delay. It was chilling in Pune with minimum temperature of around 47 degrees F and I didn’t even have warm cloths on but I enjoyed it. Well…talking about the city of Pune, I have always enjoyed traveling and this is one of the cities I like the most.

END OF PART I

PART II:

         It was 0140 hrs of 12/18/2010 and at platform number 3 of Pune Junction the crowd was getting denser and I almost horripilated but I tried convincing myself that this crowd wouldn’t board Azad Hind express and I guess it kinda worked for me because I heard the announcement that before Azad Hind express departs, LTT(Mumbai)-Coimbatore express is schedule to arrive on platform number 3. The train arrived, behind a WDP-4 class loco, on time at 0150 hrs and I was hoping to see, if not most, some of the crowd board Coimbatore express….but..to my horror! only about fistful of people boarded the train, leaving behind a massive growth of crowd to board Azad Hind express…NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At sharp 0200hrs, the loco enginner of Coimbatore express sounded high pitch hoot (ohh!! What melodious sound EMD locos make, makes you feel you are in the Americas!!!) and off it go on its way to Coimbatore via Bangalore. I was hoping my train will be shunted soon but it was 0220 hrs and still no sign of my train..wow!!! where is Azad Hind express????? and no promulgation whatsoever. I started to feel a lot tired without proper sleep and especially a hell lot of crowd around. It was around 0310 hrs when finally my train was announced…but hold on a second!!! …….it said the train is again rescheduled and will depart at 0345hours…well…okay….look at the brighter side of this..at least now I know the train will depart albeit further delayed. In a meantime, I spotted an IRCTC Bharat Darsan train hauled by a WDM-3D from Itarsi depot, a rather strange loco to spot at Pune but I was happy.

        After a while, finally I spotted a beam of red light flashing on the rear SLR coach and I knew this is it, my train is being shunted. The crowd started to get ready to board the train and I, too, got ready. Before the train came to a complete stop, the unreserved carriages got wadded completely. Again, thanks to the digital indicators, I didn’t hunt for my coach number but to my horror again, a massive crowd was to embark on my coach and they were already restless and started to bang the door to open and some over enthusiastic guys (not train enthusiastic) :) tried to enter the coach through the emergency window but unfortunately it didn’t open..well I guess if they participate in Olympics…they have a fair chance to raise the bars for India …:) . I knew the doors were locked from inside and will have to wait until the coach attendant arrives. The moment the door opened, people entered the coach like cervids trying to take to the woods from Osteolaemus species in some African country. I, too, was a part of the cervids and after I barely managed to enter my coach, due to total darkness (no lights), I found it very unmanageable to find my berth but eventually I did and momentarily the lights and fans were turned on and I felt a lot meliorate… It was already 0340 hrs and the only thing I wanted to do was catch some serious Z’s. The train was hauled by a WDM 3A class loco of Pune depot and later (from Manmad station) the train was suppose to get a WAM-4/WAP-4 class loco of Bhusaval depot. …At around 0350 hrs, the WDM-3A sounded its hooters and we took off from Pune and I felt a lot better yet at the same time knew that the train wouldn’t reach Raipur until 0100hrs the next day.I enjoyed the acceleration of WDM-3A and in no time we touched 105kmph and I enjoying the Alco sounds. We arrived at Daund junction, our first commercial stop, the loco transposed and attached at the other end of the train. We started after a 15-minute halt and I was absolutely exhausted and didn’t think twice before sleeping.

      I was awakened by the sound of a WAP-4 class loco at round 9am and there I was….at Manmad. I was really hoping to get a WAP-4 class loco attach to my train but…as my ‘luck’ would have it, it (my train) got a WAM-4 class loco and I was totally disappointed…well..not that the WAM-4 locos are bad but the joy of traveling in a WAP-4 hauled train is something very different…the smooth acceleration of a WAP-4 locos cannot be compared with a WAM-4 locos. After a rather long wait at Manmad station, we took off with WAM-4 apparently struggling to accelerate a 19-coach train but finally we touched 110kmph and it was a top-drawer to see some quasi–major stations skip at top speed, especially on curves. I was as usual at the door, door plating for most of the time, I didn’t even care to have my lunch and even though I was very hungry I forgotten all about it while door plating. We reached Bhusaval Junction, a major sation. Here, New Delhi bound Goa express overtook us with twin WDM-3As of Pune depot and both locos were live. I wonder why this train didn’t get a WAP-4 loco from Manmad??? Also, Howrah bound Geetanjali express from Mumbai arrived at Bhusaval right beind Goa express. I was skeptical that Geetanjali express will leave before us however, it didn’t happen but I was sure Geetanjali express will overtake us somehwere. Unfortunately, after Bhusaval we didn’t run at top speed and rarely touched 90kmph until Badnera (According to Arzan, this section got lot of gradients and sharp curves) After a brief spell of consistent run, we were taken on a loop of a small roadside station (I don’t remember the name) and I knew the reason and my worst fear became true…The home signal of that station turned proceed on the main line and I saw a WAP-4 hauled Geetanjali express overtook us though at not so good speed. At this time we were running late by over 2 hours but I was hoping that the train will cover up the lost time due to slack time given to this train, as well. Meanwhile I felt the hunger strike my stomach real hard and without giving a second thought, I ordered a veg-meal. The food was reasonably scrumptious but I was not worried about the gustatory sensation as much as I was worried about obliterating my hunger. It was getting warmer outside and after a heavy meal with lot of rice, I felt dopey and took a catnap while door plating (well…good that I didn’t fall off from moving train). We entered Badnera around 4:30pm another major stop, still running late by over 2 hours. The food vendors didn’t waste any time to sell their preparations and the vox of ‘chai-cahi’ by tea vendors made me feel very nostalgic. We left Badnera in about 10 minutes and the loco engineers showed WAM-4′s real performance. We were at 110kmph in no time and I, still at the door (and alive:) ) started to enjoy the high speed run again. Nagpur, the Orange City, was not too far away and I was hoping to reach around 7:30pm while keeping a close look at the km marking on OHE poles. The train abruptly slowed down, temporary speed restriction I guess, as we entered the suburbs of Nagpur and crossed Ajni station, I experienced the so-close-yet-so-far kinda feeling again. The train stopped at Nagpur outer for over 20 minutes due to non-availability of platforms (FYI, Nagpur is a major and extremely busy junction connecting trains from North to South and East to West)We finally entered Nagpur around 8:30pm, now delayed by almost 150 minutes and we halted for over 30 minutes, one of the reasons being crew change. I was assuaged after we departed Nagpur and even more excited as the WAM-4 loco showed its real class and maintained 110kmph speed, for a moment I cerebrated that a WAP-4 loco took charge of my train but I was wrong. I was very tired and wanted to sleep but I knew if I sleep, I might miss my stop so I decided to enjoy the high speed run. At this time, we were running late by 3 hours and I demurred to reach Raipur around 0100hrs. Soon we entered the state of Chattisgarh and I was feeling happy and excited to meet my cousins. The run in the state of Chattisgarh was middlingly good with, I guess, lot of speed restrictions and of course, this section is dominated by freight trains….kinda henpecked the ardor of the loco engineers to run at top notch….It was getting colder outside and..I started to feel a little uncomfortable by now and regretted that I didn’t carry warm cloths…I thought I was cashing in one’s chips..

We soon entered Durg station around 0000hrs and again we have had a long halt for some unknown reason, maybe a freight train was ahead of us. After we left Durg, the run was not too good, yet the loco engineer tried best to maintain top notch but I guess due a to freight train ahead, we struggled to reach 110kmph speed. I was again door plating but it was not that easy this time as it was chilling with temperature as low as 43 degrees F. Finally around 0100 hrs my train entered Raipur station and I was ready to disembark. My cousin had arrived at the station at 10pm to receive me and I regret that he had to wait for 3 hours at the station……but I guess this is how we become rail enthusiasts!!!!!

Chasing the Maharajas'- A Trip Report

2011-01-29T12:49:00.000+05:30

Chasing the Maharajas'- Well….yeah! That’s exactly what we (Arzan Kotval and I) did today i.e on 01/22/2011. Sounds kind of eldritch but…hold on a second…….our Maharaja for the day was….any guess????…..well…. It’s the Maharajas’ express which runs every fortnight..one of the expensive trains and the ticket costs up to US$ 20,000 for a single trip, besides, it is hauled by all sorts of weird links,…links as remote as Shakurbasti………but..hold one a sec again… where on earth is this place?, I guess half of the people in Mumbai (Bombay) would start scratching their heads and for me, I’ve already started to scratch my head and while I’m typing this, I still didn’t Google it. Anyway, coming to the point……first, I’d personally like to thank the individual(s) who invented the cell phones…and why???…… Because, had it not been for the call from Arzan, I’d have missed our Maharajas’ and also thanks to Arzan for coming to my place a little too soon.

I was in the middle of my lunch when I got a call from Arzan asking me to rush to Vidyavihar as the Maharajas’ is on it’s way..worming out of LTT (Mumbai)…well…..I didn’t blow out of the water when I saw my poor results in exams while in school as much as I got blown out of water when I heard this piece of news and I told to myself….rushhhhhhh!…I guess my mom must have gotten a shock of her life to see me missing so abruptly and without informing her. …but I’m happy she didn’t file missing report at the police station.

I left my lunch incomplete…and in the excitement forgot to wash my hands and, of course, forgot to flush my mouth with delicious mint flavor mouthwash and…… countenanced the bacteria to relish the banquet of scrumptious food prepared by my mom and, my mom probably received a lot of benedictions from those bacteria and….well… just in case if you’re wondering, …..they’re dead now…RIP!!!!!!

I sprinted to Vidyavihar train station with my camera and other contraptions,……it usually takes 5 minutes to walk from my house to the Vidyavihar station but this time I guess I kinda fractured all records and reached Vidyavihar in about 1 minute and 50 second..wow! Where’s my prize???? (kidding). J

I was all set up with my camera and on the foot-over-bridge I took this picture….(below)

WDS-6 class loco

The WDS-6 class locomotive of Kurla shed got the opportunity to convey the Maharajas’ express to Victoria Terminus, Mumbai.

And then came a series of clicks and not really disquieted about the police and security presence at the station…

Here’s another shot after I descended from the foot-over-bridge….

WCAM3 and WDS-6 seems to greet each other

Our Maharajas’ started to kick the dust while a WCAM-3 at the helm of Pune bound Singhad express waits patiently for the Maharajas’ to clear.

And this shot (below)..I guess I was not really happy for an EMU bound to Victoria Terminus arrived at wrong time and kinda obdurately obturated the view of the Maharajas’ when I didn’t want. I always get things when I don’t really need it but have to wait really long when I really need it..Wonder why this happens with me almost always.

The smiling face of the lady on the EMU car (beside the number 76277) seems

to be telling me that…..”there you go! Missed your chance to see and click

Ratlam WDM-3A”.

We boarded the same EMU to feel the joy of parallel run with Arzan’s handycam and my camera gaining other passengers attention…. The WDS-6 didn’t seem to floor well..or so it seemed….An idea stuck in Arzan’s mind (An idea! Wow! How remote is that in my mindJ)………not that it does not stuck in mind but it is a rare event J…….Arzan asked me to disembark at Sion and click smoking pictures…..smoking who???? Well..of course the locomotives… and I couldn’t disagree with him.

Here is a picture taken at Sion station….The WDS-6 going strong and, of course, flooring well !!!!!

WDS-6 flooring well and seems to be in hurry to reach Victoria Terminus

And another picture, this time, however, I managed to click the Ratlam WDM-3A (below) with no smiling lady around this time, however there were a few bunch of lads requesting to take their pictures…

Finall I got you pal!!! Ratlam WDM3A trailing the Maharajas' express.

Wow!!!! What a clean looking loco! Guys at GZB, are you listening????????

Arzan’s another idea (wow!! Another idea!!! ) was to board an MRVC (Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation) EMU…those white and swanky looking trains with the maximum speed of 100kmph but to our complete disappointment, the next train turned out to be a Dadar bound DC EMU…well…well..well….we still boarded it, in a hope to find an MRVC EMU at Matunga (next station)..and sure we did this time, but not too soon as our Maharajas’ rushed to its destination quite fast… I guess I underestimated the WDS-6 loco. We, too, arrived at Victoria station in about 20 minutes and found that our Maharajas’ taking rest at platform number 19 of Victoria station before a really long trip…Meanwhile we met Abhishek Bajpai and his group, they were on their way to Braganza valley for a 3-day rail fanning trip….wow!!! You guys get time to go on a 3-day rail fanning trip???..How I wish that the rail fanning was a paid job!!! J

.Later they boarded the Deccan Queen express to Pune and from Pune they booked Ernakulam (Cochin) bound Purna express to Magdoan (Goa)..One of the trains I traveled frequently while I was studying in Kerala…In a meantime, I took the opportunity to click our Maharajas’ resting at platform 19 of Victoria station (below)

WDS-6 resting at Victoria Station with the Maharajas'

All these while I was aware of the heavy security presence at this station and Jan 26th round the corner but as my ‘luck’ would have it (I guess the ‘luck’ seems to have an animus relation with me) one of the security guards wanted to run a ‘check’ me but….. later let me go without any checking…wow!! I wonder what made his mind change!!!!

We bid goodbye to Abhishek et al’ and proceeded to catch an EMU to experience another parallel run. Again….. an idea stuck in Arzan’s mind (hey Arzan! Quite a lot of ideas stuck in your mindJ) and we decided to board Kurla bound DC EMU. We expected to see, first, Nagpur bound Nandigram express and later our Maharajas’. We were at the door, keeping a close eye on down fast line and at Sion we encountered a parallel run with Nandigram express and I was impressed with WDM-3A acceleration. As we entered Kurla (the last stop) we were hoping to see our Maharajas’ blast past at high speed but just when we had a coup d’oeil at track number 5… and repugnance!!!!!!! Again as our ‘luck’ would have it…another Victoria Terminus bound EMU, with a face of smiling lady, stymied our last hope of seeing our beloved Maharajas. Ohhh!!! geeez!!!!!! I was absolutely disappointed and tempestuous and even more was Arzan…The look on the Arzan’s face told the complete chronicle and if a mere look could obliterate …I guess the driver of that EMU would have had popped his clogs hundreds of time…… As we bid goodbye to our Maharajas’ express and in rather sad way….I rushed home…and those bacteria still procreating but were minutes away from their death…and Arzan with his deplorable face went to capture the Deccan Queen.

I guess my mom was brimming with anger…no, not for leaving abruptly but for leaving lunch incomplete….I was exhausted and in critically need of water after a stint with the Maharajas’ but I was ready for another stint and this is all for the love of the Indian Railways!!!!!!!!

And yes!! Before I may conclude this report…I guess I can stop scratching my head now because I found that Shakurbasti is in New Delhi. Thank you! Google baba!!!!!

I dedicate this trip report to Jack McKinnon

And, of course, to all the hoi polloi who loves trains

And yes!!!!!! Thank you for reading all the way down!!!!