After a short but marvellous attempt in December, it was time to visit the land without the wires once again! This time, It was IRFCAn Karan Desai who gave me company to explore new places!
Karan called me up on Saturday evening and asked if I would be free on Sunday to explore some place without the wires! I was waiting for such a call, and agreed almost immediately. We met at Panvel station at around 11 AM. A Pune WDG3A pair was the only occupant at the station. Just as I was moving into the station, and an announcement came that the Chandigarh bound Kerala Sampark Kranti would arrive shortly.
After clicking the WDG3A pair, we took positions to shoot the incoming Sampark Kranti Express. WDM3A #14075 of Ernakulam did the honors on the train. After some photography, we decided to explore more areas. We first went to a place hardly a kilometre away from the station, but proximity to a railway gate made be hesitant. We then moved out to another place. We hit the Pune highway, and then took a turn to the state highway towards Roha from Kon onwards. We first stopped at one place on noticing a closed Level cross. We spotted a WDS4 hauled Hopper rake there. We then headed off in search of a better place.
I knew of a rock cutting a few kilometres ahead, and we decided to finalize that location. There was one empty gang hut to keep us away from the direct sunlight. Our first spotting was the Nizamuddin bound Mangala Express - with WDM2 #16565 of Ernakulam doing the honours. Then came the Dadar Passenger with WDG3A #13366 of Kalyan in charge. After this train, the Trivandrum bound Netravati Express blasted past with Erode WDM3D #11207 in charge. We then decided to change our place since we had quite some gap for the next set of trains to arrive.
We headed back towards Panvel. We stopped at Palaspe to have some snacks and get some supply of water. We then went back towards Somatne. I parked my car somewhere inside the village, and we walked on to the railway line. We walked closer to the Pune Highway RUB and took positions. We spotted a BOXN rake worked by twin Kalyan WDM2s here. The Mangalore bound Matsyagandha Express was the highlight!
Karan called me up on Saturday evening and asked if I would be free on Sunday to explore some place without the wires! I was waiting for such a call, and agreed almost immediately. We met at Panvel station at around 11 AM. A Pune WDG3A pair was the only occupant at the station. Just as I was moving into the station, and an announcement came that the Chandigarh bound Kerala Sampark Kranti would arrive shortly.
After clicking the WDG3A pair, we took positions to shoot the incoming Sampark Kranti Express. WDM3A #14075 of Ernakulam did the honors on the train. After some photography, we decided to explore more areas. We first went to a place hardly a kilometre away from the station, but proximity to a railway gate made be hesitant. We then moved out to another place. We hit the Pune highway, and then took a turn to the state highway towards Roha from Kon onwards. We first stopped at one place on noticing a closed Level cross. We spotted a WDS4 hauled Hopper rake there. We then headed off in search of a better place.
I knew of a rock cutting a few kilometres ahead, and we decided to finalize that location. There was one empty gang hut to keep us away from the direct sunlight. Our first spotting was the Nizamuddin bound Mangala Express - with WDM2 #16565 of Ernakulam doing the honours. Then came the Dadar Passenger with WDG3A #13366 of Kalyan in charge. After this train, the Trivandrum bound Netravati Express blasted past with Erode WDM3D #11207 in charge. We then decided to change our place since we had quite some gap for the next set of trains to arrive.
We headed back towards Panvel. We stopped at Palaspe to have some snacks and get some supply of water. We then went back towards Somatne. I parked my car somewhere inside the village, and we walked on to the railway line. We walked closer to the Pune Highway RUB and took positions. We spotted a BOXN rake worked by twin Kalyan WDM2s here. The Mangalore bound Matsyagandha Express was the highlight!
Erode WDM3D #11152 did the honours for this train. We then decided to head back to Panvel station since Netravati was running late. We reached the station and enquired about Netravati Express. The train was expected at 1630. We went into the station, and spotted a twin Kazipet WDM3A hauled BCNA rake, and a single Kazipet WDG3A hauled BCNA rake - both headed towards KR waiting for us! An Itarsi WAG5 hauled Container rake joined the pack of "foreign" locos at Panvel. We took some photographs and headed to the station building to get some refreshments.
A twin Kalyan WDM2 hauled BTPN rake pulled in from the Roha side and we got busy photographing them as the arrival time of Netravati was further pushed ahead by 20 minutes. We were desperately waiting for the Netravati as the announcements said the she would arrive on Platform 3. We then decided to find out a better location for capturing the Netravati and headed to Platform 3 - but the train was already standing there! It was Kalyan WDG3A #13308 doing the honors! The train pulled out only at 1726. We then spotted Kalyan WCAG1 #21970 with a BCNA rake, and finished a day of eventful railfanning!
Images of the day can be seen here! Please do have a look a them, and let me know your comments!
A twin Kalyan WDM2 hauled BTPN rake pulled in from the Roha side and we got busy photographing them as the arrival time of Netravati was further pushed ahead by 20 minutes. We were desperately waiting for the Netravati as the announcements said the she would arrive on Platform 3. We then decided to find out a better location for capturing the Netravati and headed to Platform 3 - but the train was already standing there! It was Kalyan WDG3A #13308 doing the honors! The train pulled out only at 1726. We then spotted Kalyan WCAG1 #21970 with a BCNA rake, and finished a day of eventful railfanning!
Images of the day can be seen here! Please do have a look a them, and let me know your comments!
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