Parallel run into SRR [ Shornur ]
Shornur ! yes thats where we met. The event, a get together of Rail kerala fans. Eventually only 4 turned up but it was fun Prof Venu was the early bird - Can you imagine a railfan being at the venue at 0500. Well Yes, he was there. Binai & Sandcho joined in from ERS on the now extended JS. I took my Bro in Law for company and we were in at the station at 0805 and that was after an eventful draggy bus ride from PGTN.
I am guessing that Shornur is the only true Junction.As i walked into the station building which was just a 10 to 20 metres from the main road, i was quite amused to see the ticket counter right at the steps of this Jn station. Thankfully it wasnt crowded, so i hurried myself to collect the platform ticket. There was no change and i decided to make it 3 tickets.. ofcourse the clerk returned 1 re with glee..
Its almost 2 yrs later that i would see Prof Venu, Sandcho for the first time and Binai may be 4- 5 months later. So i was quite excited and the station's PF 1 looked like a washing pit to me, i did get confused and called Venu sir and yes there he was patiently waiting on the FOB. The PF had the rake of NIL - SRR rake lying idle and the loco was a WDM2 of ED. As we walked by, the loco staff were shutting it down. On route 6 there were three WAP4's sleeping whose numbers i dont have.
After a quick greets... we rushed to the IRCTC food center on the pft 2 / 3. Masala dosa tasted raw, Tea was ok and the ambience was worse than a Pantry car i should think. It was quite a cold morning to start with the Sun still taking time to rise up after the super fantastic rain.... The three of us walked slowly across to the mini CDO across the pf's, the Running room is also beside it. There was a green bodied coach and we took it to be that of a GR, this coach had a sticker "Fit for Passenger Service ONLY". ... this however wasnt that of a GR on closer look, instead it was some mechanical store that was to travel between MAQ & ED only.
Away in the not so far distance, i could hear some drakes kooing. Yes, that was the first sighting - live ones - for our day. We rushed out of the CDO area onto the tracks and the first kanikanal was offered by GOC WDM2 # 17674. It was hauling the Executive and certainly the Orange was dead behind it... this i am guessing was mostly a failure. While almost half of this rake passed by, we could hear another sound. It took my anxiety to higher levels thinking that it would be a loco pushing this rake. . Sadly no, but interestingly it was a parallel run into Pf 2 and that was lead by ED WDM2 of the NIL passenger. That was a parallel run unfortunately none of us could properly enjoy ! We set of to receive the arrival of our Ikka's Janashatabdi and the train was scheduled to arrive on PF 4. Oranges never fail to disappoint in color and appeal and for sure this boy wasnt going to either... ERS WDM3A # 14054 was the Managing Director on show. A beauty of a color thats man... he sure needs to be adored. Sadly the paint on the baldie side has started to peel off , should we blamed GOC or ERS !!! i dont know. The throbbing sound of the loco was fantastic. We were there and Binai & Sandcho joine us. We set of to have a Ghee Roast and Idli.... while we were at it, Alleppey - Dhanbad and Nizamuddin - Ernakulam Mangala were also at the station and they were sure in demand.
Destination decided.. breakfast aychu... PTO for part 2
LS to PTB
The subject expanded to be read as ' Limited Stop ' to Pattambi Buses running in front of the station are numerous; however we wanted to take only the LS to PTB. This was to avoid kissing a stop at all places where there was a hand visible by the roadside. 35 mins is what it took us on the bus, that had seats designed to seat only 1.5 of two Butts. First stop en-route was proper Shornur, second was Kolapully. This name was something that i had heard in movies, something of a naughty name - sounded like 'Murderer'. The stand was reminiscent of an indoor stadium. After this we cross 'Vadanamkurussi' the station on the SRR - NIL route. The teak trees by the trackside looked all numbered and there was a timber yard just beside it... where monstrous looking logs were lying - must be teak. In some more time, we reached Pattambi, hold on that was Melepattambi !!!! Whats the difference? i still dont know and we rolled under a overbridge suddenly and that was the first glimpse of the Line that we came looking for.
The Curvaceous Pattambi outer. On our left side, the mighty puzha was flowing in all its glory and that was a muddy brown sight to cherish. Can the Bharathapuzha swell also? Yes it could, we later realise through photos kept as posterity in most shops the June / July scene were this puzha breached the Pattambi paalam. Presently i saw the puzha flowing at least 5 ft below this same bridge, which is just behind the Municipal private bus stand. PTB our site for the day was also beside the road and that was almost lost on us, until Binai spotted the top portion of a rake. The railway line is almost 30 - 40 ft above road level. The spot where we saw it was just behind the KSRTC bus stand. Any rail fan would find his blood running faster on this sight and we lost no seconds, rushed across the road and climbed those so called steps rushed into the station [ this would happen again later in the day to us] and saw the first train of the day, helmed by an EDdy. Parasu is the fav name, Parusuram Exp the official on PF 2. The last time I saw this train was almost a decade back I guess and then it had all Paragon ad's on the body sides... they no longer existed and was looking quite a normal rake. As we sink the Parasu into our eyes that behold... the hooter blew and the train was off. Well, we missed it by a whisker must say. Never mind, Rail fans always get surprises.
Soon to speed shock us was the Green’s from GOC, they came tumbling into the PF 1, with a huge freight. Speeds were amazing and it appeared to me as a risky one – if only someone would trip on the PF, its Amen for he / she -, again it came with no prior notice to us. Walking on the PF towards SRR side... Platform One which was not used [did it exist?] before doubling, had a silent generator on it, couple of stalls. There was no coach indicator on the roof in-stead; they were all marked on the walkway. The PF apparently can hold a 24 coacher with ease and is on the curve towards the rear side. PF2 is slightly shorter I guess and has a, much lesser area of it under covers although it exists from the old time. The trains hurtle into the platform with speeds, that generally go missing usual stops, here the case wasn’t so – I did hear atleast couple of people murmuring at the speed of entry.
Curvaceous PTB - ... coming in Part 3
Curvaceous PTB
SRR was a definite yes for us to start with, while discussions began for the meeting. However, given that our discussions on Biriyani went on too long, the actual place for the rail-fanning was never decided. So over the last two weeks, Binai and I were discussing the proper place and Pattambi came up as a choice then. He sent me a Google Map link and as I went over it, amusingly the River and the Railway line had a curve at Pattambi. The PW curve is something that would attract any railfan – either he can see the tail & the loco or it’s the photographically optimum point. So I call this place the Curvaceous PTB
This curve on Google maps appear far from the station, it wasn’t so when we walked out of PF 1. The sun was shining bright and as Sandeep said, it drizzled to cool things down and when it was time to swish our click ‘o’ mera …the Suryan came out gracefully. As we were walking along, a KZJ Twin hurtled down road 3 towards SRR, KZJ WDG3A # 14941 in lead and 14620 trailed. These twins were spotted by me later on my return to PGT near OTP, they were fast again, this time 14620 zooming out towards SRR. The breeze from the mighty puzha not very far off cooled temperature. While at the curve, in the distant far appeared some wooded area, but that was too far and hence we decided to stay in wait on road 1 for the JS to come by.
Our wait was soon to be answered by the CBE – MAQ Passenger led by ED WDM2 # 16672. The Mickey waved a yellow and we were expecting the train to be slow as it ran in, but quite surprisingly he zoomed past us, letting out a chug not far before where we stood. A little across, we spotted a separation mark for the PW workers and stood at the R – Rescue bund. A little later, ikka’s JS was to make a grand entry and he sure didn’t disappoint. ERS WDM3A # 18755 was leading the train. He was offcourse fast, didn’t need to stop at PTB. The loco was disgusting, looked like it hadn’t seen even the incessant monsoon in Kerala. There were two coaches at the end which were of Central Railway [ CR ] and they looked totally different, although it had white the combination looked like a reversal of the normal JS. Is it possible that of the 4 additional coaches that were added, these were two of it?!
139 – phew it was working there too at 589/25 – this is the mile marker on the route to MAQ, where we fanned. Back to 139, they said Nethravati is late and that by a good half hour plus. We decided to call it lunch and walked back to the PF. On the way, Biriyani was on my mind :), so Prof Vaisakhan had said Rajaprastham, the hotel to be looked out for. However, Uvs didn’t tell us that this is at Melepattambi and not in the place we were, there was a Rajathani which had been peeled out only the boards were there on the exit road of the station. It’s Ramzan and we were no doubt left to fend for ourselves, no hotels were open. I soon decided to give-up the biriyani and we were looking atleast for some grub…. Little while and I didn’t have to be disappointed, we found a MGS Family restaurant and that had the style of a plush hotel, but sadly there was no power and we were to sweat it out while in wait for the Biriyani & Parotta. Waiting time was getting exhausting but some hot discussion on movies actively participated by Prof & Sandeep was keeping the tempo. The order arrived and soon a short monsoon shower was blasting out too. Biriyani was a delicious package, I loved it. Huge chicken pieces lay buried in the rice and it was sumptuous.
Post lunch, we headed back to the station, the top portion of the coach was visible from the road level again. Like before, we rushed upstairs and there it was the most innovative long distance daily train of all. 6108 Mangalore – Chennai Exp. Can you believe, this train is a daily, takes 24hrs 5mins to reach and also has a 1A coach and has a stop in Karur[KRR] for ONE hour.!!!, this is why I say innovative. Our Sandcho has travelled on this and he says that it’s quite occupied and in demand by Tamizhans. We couldn’t catch the loco, it was an Eddy 3D.
Time to head back home… it drizzled and then Dr Sandeep Sreedharan decided that he will take Mangala back to CLT / BDJ. So he went to take the tickets along with Binai and Prof Venugopal. In the distance I could hear the 3D honking and it was the late Netravati hauled by ED WDM3D # 11152. Quite fast and raced out of the station
Sandcho came back with his ticket and soon Mangala came in rushing with an ERS loco, this guy was very fast onto the platform and the people there were quite un-happy about it. The rake ran almost through and had a host of people including Sandcho running behind it!
Sandeep went away hoping that his medical camp would go well the next day and we climbed down the short exit to find a bus to Shornur rather than waiting for the MAQ – CBE passenger, which the station folks told us would always definitely be late and thus not allowing Prof & Binai and a guaranteed return on GR
16054R at SRR and WAG at PGT
At the municipal bus stand, we were finding it hard to get an LS to SRR !!! so we waited and then as we were deciding to take one of the kutti buses, a Malabar rushed in to save our day. We boarded it to reach SRR in time and from the bus, Binai spotted the MEMU – this meant that I could return to base earlier than planned on the CBE Passenger. At the station entry, I was very amused and disappointed seeing the humungous crowd at the 4 counters. People were jostling across to walk in / out of the station cutting through the queues and also people were cooly asking favours of people standing near the counter. This obviously was extending the waiting time – with one eye on the MEMU and other at the clerk, I waded through and finally managed to buy tickets for CNGR, ERN & PGT all in one go, the clerk did suspect me though.
The MEMU – aren’t we all waiting for it to visit Kerala often? …. Well all are I know. I am told by Binai that from RailK I am the first one to ride it, so be it. PF 1 that’s where the green & cream rake was. Walked all the way upto coach 2 and waited there for it to start, while Binai & Prof waited trackside talking about how ALLP is perishing whereas Chertalai has already been crowned the subset of Ernakulam. Few mins into the conversation, Sabari pulled out of SRR and a little later JS pulled in, the MEMU which I was on also started at 1455, 10 mins late I rushed to my right side to see why the ERS loco which went to CLT on JS became so dark and was quite amused to see the loco had indeed changed and it was a VSKP WDM 16054R. The hindi wording on the driver side looked to me like Bhagat ki Kothi and on closer look it read VSKP. Coaches on the JS at the loco end were all quite empty and soon I called Binai to let him know of this. He offcourse visited these and they were all booked from TCR onwards !!! I would later learn that Binai took the Dhanbad and Prof waited for the later GR [ by now you would’ve already read the accounts of Prof]. There was a dead WAG5 and ERS WDM2 18558 at the TCR end of the station. My MEMU was a quickie and raced through the SRR bypass and the Dhanbad Express was waiting on the mainline to crossover with an AJJ Loco. Just after Lakkiti I met GOC WDM2 # 16675 racing towards SRR with an Express. The MEMU reached PGT in 55 mins and as I wandered back to the FOB, I just turned back to see some different colouring on catenary masts. In the distant freight yard I could spot a green hood. Fully conscious that its very far, I trundled the platform and yes it was a WAG9 lying there dead. Since it was too far, decided to drop the exploration and get back home.
It was a great outing for me, the first time I did a rail fanning at Kerala. The last time few of us met, we travelled the complete QLN – PUU – SCT section. The climate helped us and all along my travel back to PGT from SRR, the Puzha Bharathapuzha was in spate and that was quite reflective on how happy I was.
How I wish that we could do this more often as suggested by Dr Sandeep !
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