Satpura Salaam - The Choti line and Conclusion

After completing the high deck Auto rickshaw trip, we reached Itwari where 3 tickets were taken for Nagbhir and I took one for Bhandewadi. There were a few biggies , MIB Alcos, Raipur Alcos and a Tata P7 with a MEMU awaiting towards Gondia. Upon seeing the beautiful NG tracks, I was smitten. And the time was 10 am, 40 minutes before the departure of the train. Instantly, I canceled my previous tickets, booked a CC ticket on Bhagyanagar Express and took another ticket to Nagbhir. 

Our train rolled into the platform , swaying and dancing away. IR had arranged for special photographers for the occasion who were to record the penultimate run of the line running in NG. The little ZDM 3A with our 6 coach rake swayed in from Motibagh side. The train was unsurprisingly full from Itwari itself, with a few entrepreneurial souls going to Motibagh to board the train from there

The LP, ALP and LI and a SSE were became curious to know that 4 of us had travelled all the way from Hyderabad just to cover this line. We got talking, and we could see the touch of sadness, having worked this line for so long and it would be like bidding adieu to a good friend. 

The photo crew were busy clicking away, and and even got a drone to record videos and take pictures. We were detained at Itwari itself to wait for the morning narrow gauge service from Nagbhir to arrive. He did arrive with a full load of passengers and upon his arrival, it was Semaphores down, horn tooted, flag exchanged and proceed for us. 

As we left, we saw a graveyard of NG rolling stock, rotting away after having served for so long. Time certainly waits for none. The vast yard was also a reminder of how much the NG network had thrived in the Satpuras. 

Skipping away though the suburbs of Nagpur, we reached Bhandewadi,the first halt. To our dismay, we did not get a chance to pick up the coveted card tickets as they were no longer in use. The landscape changed further down the line, with cotton fields dotting the scenery now. The stations en route was nothing more than a board by the side of a banyan tree. Rural India!

The first crossing station enroute was Kuhi, where a tricolor liveried ZDM 4 was waiting with a train bound to Itwari. Kuhi also happened to be our pitstop halt. The small tea shop made a brisk business, selling hot samosas, garam chai, ice cold water bottles and snacks. The samosas and Chai were absolutely lip smacking. The TCs also joined us here for a quick photo.

Proceeding from Kuhi, we stopped before the Amb river bridge as the photographer team wanted to take some pictures of the train crossing the bridge. PVS joined them while I chose to take a pic from my spot , which was on the door. 

 The river was crossed slowly and we picked up speed before stopping at Umred , which was the largest town in this section. We were informed that a branch line would be built from here to the colliery which in itself is a branch off Buti Bori in the Chennai Delhi Mainline

The landscape now became that of a forest, with thick trees giving us company along with plenty of monkeys, birds and cows giving us company. 

At Bhiwapur, we had the final crossing, where we saw people taking pics with the tricolor liveried loco , to preseve for posterity and as a thank you for the yeomen service rendered by these locos

We finally reached Itwari and a heart warming sight was a field trip organised by a local school, for the children to explore the coaches before the train went back as the last service to Itwari. The teacher told us that the kids were brought to see the train as it was going away forever. A great gesture indeed. 

A points woman came to uncouple the loco, and reverse it back to the Pitlines for some refueling and rest for the loco. True women empowerment!

After having some Snacks and tea served in porcelain cups at the very clean VRR, 

We headed into town for some much needed food and found a nice restaurant by the bus station, where we had a thali and spent a long time in train discussions before moving back to the station for our MEMU to Balharshah. The train arrived 40 minutes late. It was a 3 phase MEMU, crowded and the journey was bound to get cold with with the winds. We settled down by the door, slammed it shut and tried to grab some 40 winks. We reached Balharshah at 2330, went outside for some poha and fellow Railfan, Subhash Dhavala came by at that odd hour, driving 40 km from his home to meet us and gave us some snacks for the remaining part of the journey. 

We boarded the Bhagyanagar Express at 0200 am and slept quite well, having a double overtake enroute by AP AC and Thirukkural Express. 

We reached Secunderabad at 1040, concluding a very successful and satisfying trip.