A call to cuttack gave me a good chance to have a train journey after a long 1 month. this trip was done on this Sunday (yesterday).
I booked Amaravati express for Balasore to Cuttack. My choice was HWH MAS Mail as i had to reach Cuttack by 9 am , so the last train was The Mail but sadly in the Mail , short distance reservations in SL is not allowed. Last option left was Amaravati. After booking i got WL 30 which easily got CNF due to Berth Multiplexing. Coach was S2 21 number berth allotted. I left my home at about 2 am. It was all fog here but it was warm. Not unlike the northern india fog...
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which also gives chilly cold. I reached BLS at 2.10 am. Just as i reached Pf 2, behind a Shinning WAP 7 TKD , the Oldie Kaling utkal Express left from there.
I hold to my fav bench on Pf 2 (which is infront the parcel booking office below the Old FOB) and waited for more action to come.
Next train was SER Aggressor YPR HWH SF express behind a SRC WAP 4. It came on Pf 3 and huge amount of crowd alighted here. As only 1 FOB (New FOB towards KGP side) was working (2nd FOB towards BBS side was in repairing mode) , there was huge rush on that FOB.
Then came the ECoR King Purushottam Express behind a shinning red SRC WAP 4. The sound of roaring EOG was audible even from a distance. The SL coaches were well cleaned and Both the GEN coaches were at the back. I intentionally went to check the GEN bcoz this coming sunday i have to catch this train to go from BLS to KGP.
Within 2-3 minutes (i was surprised as official halt was 5 min) , the King ran away. I thought may be some train is in queue. Within 8-10 min of the departure of Puru , again came a loud continuous honk. I assumed it to be a non-stop freight as it was non-stop honking. But to my utter surprise it was a CR BSL WAP 4 which was trying to prove a point that "He may be an outsider but he has got the guts to show." The train it was hauling was PURI KYQ weekly express which has non-stop run from BHC to KGP. (Joke made by NFR,Train halting at JJKR & BHC small stations but skipping BLS like big city).
Amidst all this the Coach Position Display on Pf 2 showed train no 18047 and my coach S2 was bit on the middle of the Pf near the RMS counter. I reached there and then when i saw the display, i was shell shocked. the train number got changed to 12839 and coach was S7. I was unable to grasp what suddenly happened to 18047 that even the SER officials at BLS didn't knew. I checked NTES & it showed No Update after Bakhrabad (35 min late) whereas it was On time at KGP. I got afraid. My mind said may be the Loco got failed thats why it is late. But still i waited. The Oldie Mail arrived exactly at 3 am on Pf 2 behind a VSKP WAP 4 (another Offlink). All the coaches were CBC but old except S 7 which was a brand new coach.
Within 5 minutes mail left and then it was announced 18047 is coming. I got relieved and after a delay of 40 minutes, 18047 entered BLS behind a VSKP WAP 4 (and yet another Offlink). I boarded the coach. It was bit old but it was clean coach. Charging Sockets were present near every berth. But Toilets were not up to mark. When asked about what happened after KGP , they told that at Bakhrabad , 18047 was made to halt and some train overtook it. I understood it was Mail overtaking Amaravati.
Soon the loco showed its full class with this puny 18 coaches load. The speed was continuously crossing 100 kmph. The whole coach was full vibration due to this. I went for a brief nap but my sleep got broke due to sudden jolt. I found that it was 4.40 am & we were leaving JJKR. The train seriously covered some delay between BLS-JJKR. Train again started roaring loud. But it was forced to halt at Byree. May be Mail was not running that much good. Soon i found the reason for this. The stretch from Byree to CTC Mahanadi Bridge, there huge amount of fog and the visibility range was shortened to just few metres. Thats why trains were running at caution.
Somehow after bit of lazy run 18047 arrived CTC at exactly 6 am (delay of 50 min) on Pf 5.
Images posted:
Purushottam standing at BLS station Pf 3.
Return Leg was in the Diesel King BBS Bangriposy Intercity. That will be in next post.