Rails Railfanning and Gastronomy II

One of the many trains I've always wanted to travel in is the Bangalore Hubli Janshatabdi Express. Why? It's a railfans delight, with its priority, aggressive schedule and the diesel monster upfront, that bellows and charges on like a wild elephant. Tickets were booked and the preferred coach was SL 1, the first coach which has a portion for the guard and is also like the poor man's vistadome, from there you can spot the locomotive staring at You.

Having woken up at 3am and the gastronomy trip began with a freshly brewed cup of filter coffee and heading to the bus stand at 4:15 am, in the hope that BMTC bus route number 222A, which will take me to the railway station from my home in the suburbs. The first service at 4:25 did not turn up and Ola came to my resuxe, with the 16 km trip completed in 25 minutes, thanks to the deserted roads which in a few hours time would be choc a bloc with vehicles and the traffic snarls that Bangalore is so famous for. 

As I was entering the railway station at 4:55, a white monster silently entered Bangalore, carrying with it, passengers from the neighbouring state, and having killed the sleep of those hundreds of passengers who would have departed aa 23:15 from Chennai. 

On Platform 1, the Lalbagh Express was resting before leaving for Chennai in 90 minutes time with 30417 from Royapuram at the lead. On the adjacent platform was its lesser cousin and rake partner, the Express to Chennai which would leave another 90 minutes behind Lalbagh. He was powered by 30409. Platform 3 was crowded due to the groggy passengers getting down from the 7 Mail and the Ernakulam bound Intercity on Platform 4. 

Platform 7 had the Shatabdi to Chennai, the loco 30577 in off mode. This fella would have a parallel departure with our train

At around 5:15, I heard a EMD waking up and wishing good morning to all the people before trundling out of the pitlines with the Janshatabdi. All hopes for an ALCO run put to an end now.  20034 was our loco while on the platform 10, the Tumkur Passenger had departed with 40329 KJM WDP 4D at the helm and 20019 20023 led Passenger to Hubli was put there. 

We occupied our seats which were near the door and at 6 am, we departed with a loud toot. The Shatabdi also departed at the same time and he took the FEDL path to Chennai, while we would be in UESL soon. At Bangalore Home, the Nanded Express gave us the guard of honor and we picked up pace. The beautiful Malleswaram station was skipped at MPS and we were allotted platform 2 at Yesvantpur, with 3 occupied by Hampi Express and 1 by the Tatanagar bound Express who would take a rather convoluted route to reach Vijayawada. A good number of passengers boarded the train here and after a quick halt, it was notch up again. At Yesvantpur yard, we spotted a kingfisher which was resting before it would haul the Tata Express till Guntakal. 

At Yesvantpur home, a pair of WAP 7 from Yell Gee Dee was waiting at with 2 LHB rakes. They were the Raj and the Chennai YPR weekly. The Raj got the priority first. 

These were the last electric loco spottings till the end of our Trip. We switched over to the Tunkir line and due to some works going on, we maintained a TSR of 20. Here, the Sampark Kranti crossed us. After clearing the TSR, the LP notched up and the WDP 4 went wild. Bellowing like a mad bull, he charged through the stations of Chikbanavar, Soldevanahalli and the other many tiny stations en route. We were waiting to cross the Queen of the section, Rani Chennamma but she was running late and it was the train from Akshays home, Gol Gumbaz that we crossed first. 

The TTE came and checked our tickets and he had a red badge that said Train Captain. Dobbspet was crossed which meant Tumkur , and the first port of calling for our stomachs was nearing. Dobbspet is a beautiful station thats on a sharp curve. We encountered yet another restriction here, but as we exited the station, it was all clear. 

Before we reached Tumkur, the Queen hurried past us. At Tumkur, we had a plate of the thatte idlis that would keep us going till Arsikere. 

From here, it was a single line all way till Kardi, albeit filled with a lot of TSRs due to the doubling work that was happening. The Idlis were polished off in no time at all, and we washed it down with a cup of hot coffee. We had a small delay till Arsikere where people were ready at the door to buy the famous Thatte idli and vadas. The vendor on the platform made  brisk sales, catering to the hungry tummies of a lot of passengers. We crossed the Bangalore bound Intercity from Shimoga here. 

The crew changed here, and it was off again

 The double line ended at Chikjajur, and at Chalageri, we overtook the Bikaner bound Yesvantpur Bikaner Express which had 16585 KJM WDM 3A at the helm. With each passing station, the crowds emptied and by Davangere, the home to Mandakki and Benne Dosa, our coach emptied out and we occupied two windows that was near a charging socket, to replenish our phone batteries. 

At Hubli south, we crossed the Chalukya Express bound to Tirunelveli. 

It was slow crawl through the yard and into PF 1 at Hubli, where the first leg ended. The return leg for Janshatabdi was to be powere by 14053 KJM WDG 3A, a role reversal. 

We then stepped out to Basaveshwara Khanavali for a hearty North Karnataka lunch and returned for a power nap at the waiting hall. 

After the nap and a bit of Railfanning later, where the train to Mumbai from Chota Mumbai left with a Katni WDM 3D and the slip to Nizamuddin departed, we moved to explore the lovely city of Hubli and a bit of rains provided the soothing balm that provided a relief from the heat. A fine supper of Girmitt, Special Missal, Mirchi Bajji and KT washed down with a glass of ginger soda, we took a long walk back to UBL to board our next train to Madgaon.