I would love to witness as many overnight parades as possible in the Chengalpattu Jn. (CGL) - Kanniyakumari (CAPE) single line BG section hauled by a monster diesel locomotive.
I had booked my tickets in 2662 Pothigai Express from Dindigul Jn. (DG) to Chennai Egmore (MS) - I got S9 1 LB, fellow railfan Vivek's reaction was how did you manage to get a berth in 2662 under pooled quota! I was blessed with a lowerberth with window on the east side (where most crossings happen), even I can just walk upto the wash basin next bay (berth # 1) to watch live action along the rails by keeping the door open - this side, it will be hidden behind the berths.
So, I arrived DG at around 2115 hrs. Soon, Tuticorin (TN) - Mysore Jn. (MYS) Express rolled in. All major arrivals and departures are handled through Pf 2. Starting West to East, there are 3 loop lines without platforms (westmost being a goods yard), followed by island pf 1 & 2 (2 is the through line), 3 & 4. 5 & 6 handle MG services towards Palani (PLN). MYS express had an ED 18419.
My brother-in-law had his tickets booked in H1 of 2638 Pandian Express, Train Enquiry showed it was running late by 5 mins as against a scheduled 2155/2200. Sharp at 2155, a long BCNA rake was let go ahead of 2638. At the same time, the unmistakeable Hood-end horn of the dippy arrived. I told that 2638 is on its way, some 3 or 4 kms away from DG... even though, no announcements were made at that time. The countdown began - my heart was racing to see the LH of the dippy - a beautiful sight when you see from a distance, at night. A just-in-time message from Dilip ("look out for 20040") helped me raise my collar by getting the loco number out of thin air :)
Closely following was an on-time 2632 Nellai Express, again with a dippy LHF. An amazing 10-second long hood-end horn was more than what I was praying for!! It got dispatched to the next block in style - I will not forget the speed at which the last two compartments rolled out, superb pickup.
The next visitor was an on-time 2634 Kanniyakumari Express. Lots of UR passengers boarded this train as 2638 and 2632 had just 4 coaches each and they were full to the brim. My patient wait continued as an MG passenger rolled in at 2300 into pf 6. Soon, announcements were made that 2662 was about to roll in - it was 5 mins BT at DG! A surprise for me at that point was 2662 got WDM-3A #18555 ERS instead of the usual dp3a link of GOC!
So, the journey began - I checked with the TTE why the link was changed, he gave me a puzzled look and told, "enakku theriyadhunga" (Boss, I do not know). Listing of what I noted down follows:
*DG 2332 dep
*Tamaraipadi 2345
*Vadamadura 2352 - CO 25 meant we were crawling through the mainline platform
*Ayyalur 0000 - exact midnight, this station has OHE masts
*Kalpatichatram - 0011 / 0017, pulled into the NW loop for the first & expected crossing with 2633. The down train got an ED dm2. Good speed. When I travelled in 2633 once, it pulled into the SE loop. This time the SE loop was occupied by the BCNA rake that departed from DG at 2155 - headed by WDS-6 #36012 GOC GHF.
*Vaiyampati 0025
*Chettiapati 0029 - good speed from here - excellent acceleration (2633 / 2632 happens here)
*Manaparai (MPA) 0033
*Samudram 0040 (2633 / 2638 happens here)
*Kolatur 0045 GOC wdg3A with a BCNA rake in SE loop towards MPA
*Punggudi 0051
*Tiruchchirappalli Jn. (TPJ) Home 0056 - rolled into Pf 1 - 0101/0106. TJ DMU was in pf 3, 6123 was at its home / WDM-2 #14125 ERS LHF
*Ponmalai Golden Rock (GOC) 0113
*Tiruchchirappalli Town (TPTN) 0118
*Kaveri River was 1/4th full
*Srirangam (SRGM) 0122/0130 received in east loop, 2693 Muthu Nagar / WDP-3A #15517 GOC with blinking Guard/SM exchange light indicators fitted.
*Kollidam River was 1/5th full
*Uttamar Kovil 0135
*Bikshandar Kovil (BXS) 0136
*Valadi (VLDE) 0139, BCNA in south loop towards TPJ
*Lalgudi (LLI) 0144 - platform literally torn into pieces with continuous horns and amazing speed (I should have missed spotting 6101 here)
*Kattur (KTTR) 0150/0155 - rolled into west loop for 2665 HWH-CAPE Express / WDM-2 GOC
*Pullambadi (PMB) 0206/0211 - put in west loop for WDP-3A/2661 the counterpart!
*Kallakudi Palanganatham (KKPM) 0220 - 2631 was waiting in east loop with 20033 dippy SHF - jet speed run continues...
*Kallagam (KLGM) 0225 - goods rake in east loop
*Sillakkudi 0231 - 2637 Pandian was waiting in east loop with a dippy LHF
*Ariyalur (ALU) 0236 - simply blasting through, platform torn into pieces
*Ottakovil 0241
*Sendurai (SNDI) 0248 (2661 / 2632 happens here)
*Mathur (MTUR) 0252 - the train was blasting all the way, literally flying upto MTUR advanced starter!
*CO 25/30 brought this train to a slow pace for a few kilometres, followed by a back-to-form speed run
*Ichchangadu (ICG) 0300 - 2661 looked like it was swaying, rocking and dancing to the tune and horns of 18555
*Talanallur 0310/0317 - pulled into east loop to allow 6177/ED 3D 11101. Also, it meant I had missed 6107 in the fray... most probably at Pennadam.
*Vriddachalam Jn. (VRI) 0326/0329 - I ended my overnight RF here - in favour of my sleep at the cost of the last crossing with 1063 MS - SA / Mettur Dam Express
When I got up, the train was just rolling into CGL (0612/0615). This train reached 15 mins BT at MS. It was an amazing run all along.
Titbits - 18555 is ex-GOC. It can be seen in GOC livery in the movie 'Run' in the scene when Madhavan comes to MS in Pallavan Express (Courtesy: Ramesh).
I am sure you have enjoyed reading this post.
Ara.
