The Chronicles of Chaos Part 4 - The 2200 km ALCOhaulics and the tale of the Chotu Line
Day 3 began on a sombre note as one of our crew chiefs was to go his chosen way to inspect the line that led to the Himalayan hill retreat of Darjeeling, spending 10 hours in a tiny train, trundling at a sedate 10 Kmph, zigzagging up the hills to transport holiday-makers and a Railfan to Darjeeling. The remaining three of us were to board 19602 New Jalpaiguri Udaipur Express all the way from West Bengal to Rajasthan. The train had arrived 4 hours late the previous evening, but thankfully it was not rescheduled, not until then. The previous night was spent on the edge, frequently checking NTES, praying that the train should not get cancelled or rescheduled.
Pawan came to see us off before embarking on his uphill adventure. The display board at the entrance showed a grim picture:
13149 Kanchankanya Express – Cancel
13274 Kanchanjungha Express – Cancel
12517 Garib Rath Express – Cancel
But the fourth line lit up our faces:
19602 NJP UDZ Express – Expt. Time 08:15 PF
Anubhab had informed us that there were a couple of steam locos in the yard that were most probably enroute to Rewari, before they could be made spic and span and in working conditions. There they were, laden on flat bed rakes.
With the mandatory photos of loco and selfies / groupfies taken, Pawan bid us goodbye. We loaded some light breakfast and settled in. Starter was given sharp at 08:15 but the train did not budge for the next 30 minutes. Panic began to set in. Has something gone wrong in Uttar Dinajpur district that was barely 30km away from NJP? Finally, at 08:52, we started moving, much to our utter relief. The sound of the ALCO notching up never sounded much sweeter. Points cleared, the WDM 3D showed off its prowess, effortlessly accelerating out of the station, past the trip shed that's being built for the Wappies and Waggies. Aluabari road was skipped at MPS, and we were eagerly waiting to capture the skip of Gaisal, witness to one the ghastliest railway accidents in IR history. On that fateful night 20 winters ago, the Brahmaputra Mail collided head-on into the stationary Awadh Assam Express. The station still bears a haunted look with the spirits ostensibly roaming around. In fact, apparently a spirit or two had decided to travel with us as we kept getting SMSs for several days, even after we had ended our trips that our train (mostly the Sikkim Mahananda) was late by 9 hours. This even when the train had been cancelled from destination itself! Spooky indeed!
Internet connectivity was intermittent and we toggled between WB and Bihar. Prayers were sent to the deities, for our safe passage out of WB. Once out, we were but not without drama as the train slowed down just before exiting the Chicken’s Neck, before eventually accelerating away into Bihar and into virtual safety. Or so we thought!
Tired from the restless sleep the previous night, I stretched out my legs for some much needed nap and the next thing I knew, we were in Katihar, well in time for a hot lunch of Puri Subzi with Chai. The P5 and P4 on the adjacent line seemed to indicate to the Ratlam Alco that it was an intruder in their area. But things may change soon, with one of their ilk taking over the link of this train soon. Katihar marked the end of the NFR territory and we were in ECR waters. Bright yellow mustard fields dotted the landscape and children could be seen playing Cricket in the chill. Oh, to be a child again and play those games with a carefree attitude, we yearn so much!
Samastipur was marked by the spotting of a few Alcos from SPJ shed. One of them was marked WDM 3B. The station itself was dotted with beautiful Madhubani paintings. Muzaffarpur was the next big junction ahead and as we diverted to the HQ of ECR, the line northwards led to Chakia, a mere 47 km away. Google the code for that station.
Elsewhere in WB, Pawan was already getting bored in that tiny tinny box on his journey to Darjeeling by mid day, the train huffing and puffing at a whopping 10 Kmph. His train was delayed by over an hour with the lunch mediocre while the breakfast of Khichdi at NJP had been excellent. The charm of the DHR increases exponentially as one exits Siliguri, peaks mid route before Gayabari and then starts going down as one starts passing by the crowded towns in the hills. He had crossed the pairing downhill train before Tindharia, where a switch had been designed amidst the hills to enable the crossing. However it was still an experience of a lifetime, as per his words – the delay increasing on the toy train by the minute.
Hajipur, the ECR HQ and an erstwhile RM’s constituency, was crossed with a delay of 2 hours as the progress was slow due to fog. Dinner was arranged to be loaded at Gorakhpur, courtesy Abhilash’s childhood friend. A visit to Bihar is incomplete without gorging on the Litti Chokha, which we had in Chhapra, once represented in the Lok Sabha by another former RM.
Sleep again took over, and as I woke up, we were entering PF1 of Gorakhpur onto the world’s longest platform. The sheer length could be adjudged by the fact that the Awadh Assam Express, which had overtaken us at Gorakhpur Cantt., was berthed behind us on the designated PF2, and we were taken in front of it. Two gentlemen delivered our dinner here. The delicious spread, comprising of Rotis, Paneer gravy, Mixed Veg, Dal and Rice ending with a rich dessert of Khova topped on sweet dahi served in kulhad, was finished in no time.
The next morning, we were delayed by a whopping 6 hours in NER Lucknow division and woke up to the train speeding past the historic Kakori station. Khudiram Bose Pusa, Chauri Chaura, Kakori and Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil were few of the legendary stations that we passed through on this line, giving us goosebumps as we recollected the valiant efforts put by the young revolutionaries who gave up their very lives to realize their dreams of a Swatantra Bharat.
At around 11:25, we positioned ourselves near the doors, to capture the newest addition to the railway family at their home sheds, the Amreeki WDG 4G and 6G at Roza, and we were not disappointed. Two locos welcomed us at Roza while a further two awaited with their E loco counterparts.
Fulfilling! Heading up further north, Bareilly was crossed. But we had no time to retrieve the fallen jhumkas from Bareilly ke baazar! Eh??? Never mind. Moradabad saw a WDG 4G on the adjacent platform as we were entering it. Braving the extreme chill, Abhilash and I ran back towards the GE loco, snapped it to our hearts content, purchased some guavas and headed back to our seats having seen a WDG 6G earlier at Moradabad home
As we were near Gajraula, Adithya (AV) pinged us. "Take a video of Garhmukhteshwar bridge". Courageously, Abhilash and I positioned ourselves on the door, ready to take a video while the Alco was merrily chugging away at MPS at temperatures near freezing for us Bengalureans. The bridge over the mighty Ganga maiyya was an amazing experience. Crossing it at MPS is something that will be etched into the memories forever. What a run! Take a bow 11562. As we came back to our seats, a pleasant surprise sprung up in our WhatsApp group. AV had shared a video of our train at MPS near Gajraula which in turn was shared with him by a friend’s friend. Truly proves that the railfans’ network is stronger than all the Telecom companies put together.
The Hapur Ghaziabad section is a favourite of AV’s and he requested that I take a video of the skips of the stations between Hapur and Ghaziabad which I promptly obliged to. Oh, did I mention, we spotted a couple of WDP 1 locos too! As we reached Ghaziabad, a flurry of high-profile departures out of Delhi began and we happened to witness 4 Rajdhanis, the ones to Sealdah, Dibrugarh, Bhubaneswar and Patna. The DMRCL Metro criss-crossed us and we finally reached Old Delhi at 18:20. To our dismay, there was nothing available on the platforms, except for vendors selling egg thali and a lone stall that did brisk business of chai, biscuits and chips to the famished passengers. Just as the train departed Delhi, we placed an order for Domino’s Pizzas that would be delivered to us at Alwar. Our neighbours requested one pizza for them to be clubbed in our order.
By this time, Pawan had finally reached Darjeeling after a 2 hour, 15 minute delay. He headed towards Mall Street for some shopping and dinner.
Skipping through the suburbs of Delhi, we passed by Indira Gandhi International Airport, India's busiest airport, preparing to handle the busy hour. We entered the penultimate state of our trip, Haryana, with a quick halt at Gurugram and then into the final state of Rajasthan. We had travelled far indeed, braving freezing temperatures all along with the sun going AWOL.
We pulled into Alwar at around 22:30, famished but the pizza delivery person was nowhere in sight! Frantic calls later, he had the hot pizzas delivered in the nick of time. By the time the train crossed the advance starter, I'm sure we had polished off a slice of pizza each and the second one also had made its way to its destination.
The third day of our journey finally saw the sun making an appearance, after a long vacation, at Chittaurgarh, the seat of the mighty Rajput empires. We bid goodbye to the Ratlam boy here as BGKT WDP 4B 20098 assumed charge for the home run. A breakfast of steaming Poha and chai was gleefully devoured.
As we chugged out of Chittaurgarh, the weather suddenly became foggy, reminiscent of the previous days. At 09:02, 48 hours and 10 minutes into the journey, we finally pulled into Mavli Jn. - tired, weary and dirty, but immensely satisfied, for such a long distance run by Diesel may never be possible in future again. This was also the longest journey, by duration, for us ever in a single train hauled by a Diesel loco!
What did we have in store us for? Well, that's for the next part. Stay tuned…
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