Rail Fanning at Tuticorin (A day filled with Magic and wellwishes after some insults)
Tuticorin is my Mom's hometown and its from here i started my Railfanning at Childhood , once it was a Very huge MG Terminus with Both goods yard and passenger Terminal at the same campus as the station is located Just Behind the Wall of Old Harbour and one line used to go out of station cutting through few streets of tuticorin and would enter into the Old Port trust
I Have seen this place very Buzy during MG...
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days with 3 to 4 YDM 4's ready with freight train loaded with Salt and Coal or with oil takers and lorries comming and going out from the Back entry door and a YDM 2 will be shunting the rakes of passengers as Tuticorin had very Good Connectivity to other cities during MG days including PGT and RMM, as well its sad to see this station empty right now with only 2 trains staged at the platforms or on the PIT Line with , Currently this station has totally 6 daily trains and 1 weekly Express train
Accroding to People of tuticorin their only life line is Pearlcity express(12693/12694) aka Muthunagar Express to Connect them with Chennai ,the only superfast train that starts from this station , to tell about this train(late 80's till 94) , this might have been the 1st train that i should have travelled while i was a 90 days baby , During MG Days it was one of the few trains in SR to have FC class and AC coach unlike pandian and QLN Mail , Untill 2011 unlike pandian and rockfort this is another train to have all classes including FC 1A, 2A, 3A, SL and UR
I do Railfanning Across Globe but i had bad sight that i havent did railfanning at my ancestral hometown, i have several well wishers and Friends in Various other Department of Southern Railways including few Pilots of Madurai Crew
After about 5 years i stepped into Tuticorin for a family occasion , since tuticorin have flight connectivity i flied that morning in 7Am spice , after spending some time at our ancestral house which is nearby railway station , i started walking towards station, while crossing the GATE 1(Railway Gate) i was Surprised to see a WAP 4 22795 RPM WAP 4 backing to get attached with Pearlcity Express , Even though i knew that MDU-TEN/TN section was Electrified by Jan 2015 this the 1st time i am seeing an Electric loco live At tuticorin
with loads of happiness i just walked on the tracks and reached the platform 2 it was about 5.30pm that time where the station was completely empty with 2 pointsman and 3 or 5 passengers and few RPF's i walked into the Station Masters office and Requested him to Permit me to click some pictures for my own collection , the Station master asked me the reason and i gave a soft reply that iam a railfan and showed him few pics that i clicked in chennai, delhi , bangalore, and Shangai . The Duty Station master Mr David was stunned and Kind enough to permit me to take pictures inside the station without any disturbance to the staff's i wrote a requestion letter and he signed with a Seal
i purchased a Platform ticket for Rs 10 and started walking towards the northern end of platform , My heart was ponderring with loads of happiness to touch and feel the WAP 4 with Pearlcity Express , but unfortunately the shunter was very rude enough to insult me , i started clicking few pictures the Pionts man and the shunter started Blasting me with rough words asking me who iam and what am i going to do with these pictures and they were not even ready to look at my permit letter , i was polite enough to answer their questions and even then they asked me delete all the picutres , so i deleted the pics and was enjoying the WAP 4 and the station atmosphere till 6.30 i jst wanted to enjoy the WAP 4 Departure from tuticorin so i waited inside the staiton
i was just praying god that i should be able to take few snaps of Pearlcity Express with WAP 4 at Tuticorin but Within another 15 minutes happenned a Magic and the same Shunter and the points man who were very rough and rude clicked the pics for me
My Watch Clocked 6.45pm and with huge disfust i was standing at the corner of the platform , i found a Well Built , tall, dark man with a Huge grey Mushtash waving hands pointing me from long distance and he was walking on the tracks , i and confused and thought might be some of my family relatives
But as that man getting Close to me my heart bursted with happiness and i started running towards him and he was the most Senior and respectable Loco Pilots D.Krishnan Sir of Madurai Crew whom i had met several times in past journies to madurai and i was longing to meet him for the past 1 year, he hugged me and said its a grand surprise for him to meet me here, took me to the running Room and greeted with a cofee and few Biscuits
I felt very special as he called out the Duty SM , guard , Ticket Checker and Pointsman and Shunter and introduced me as a Software engineer and i fly across Globe for work with Buzy Schedule But still i love Trains and i am a Rail Enthusiast
The SM started his speech stating that i requested for Permission for a letter for taking pictures and he greeted me with a hand shake , time was about 7.15pm Krishnan sir and i moved towards the loco as the departure time was 7.45pm , i informed him that i want to take few Snaps of the train with Electric loco
he nodded his head , within that time the shunter came running and said i can take pic's and he made me stand next to Krishnan sir and ALp Sakthivel Sir and snapped us , as well he took me near the ED WDM 3D and took some snaps which was resting in the next pf
Mean while Krishnan sir had completed the continuity check after few minutes kind speech the starter became Green Krishnan sir took his position on his seats and ALP sakthi sir peeped out for Guards Authentication Green Flag to move the train
Sharp By 7.47pm the gurad exchanged light , i was waiting out side to enjoy the Departure , within few Second Krishnan sir Gave a Long Beeep and a Short Beep and the train started moving and i was jumping like a kid in the platforms , he waved his hands to me bidding Bye , showed green light to guard, picked up speed , and moved out the 23 rake pearlcity express
i was at cloud nine , By 7.55 pm the whole platform became Empty since the only Super-fast Train departed out and i started towards my home , while going near bike stand the shunter came near me and apologized for his rude behavior and said this is the 1st time he is seeing a Railfan and he would not do the same to any rail-fans in future, we exchanged our numbers and had some snacks in the nearby shop and became good friends
he dropped me at home
After Reaching home i felt that as though some magic happenned that evening my heart and mind was filled with the moment Krishnan sir Gave a Long and short whistle for departure , one unlucky instance was i had booked my return tickets in flight the next day morning , Hope Next time i travel to Tuticorini in 12693
Regards
Arun Pandian.M
Railfan Chennai