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Blog Entry# 1865583
Posted: May 26 2016 (20:03)

11 Responses
Last Response: Jul 03 2016 (18:05)
Travelogue
26023 views
48

★★★
May 26 2016 (20:03)   12124/Deccan Queen | PUNE/Pune Junction (6 PFs) | KYN/WCAM-2P/21862
 
soumitra.chawathe^~
soumitra.chawathe^~   34403 blog posts
Entry# 1865583            Tags   Past Edits
TRIP REPORT
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QUEEN OF CR HAS A TRYST WITH MURPHY’S LAW!!
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Its my pleasure to share with you my maiden journey on-board 12124 ( /pnr/post/1857982 ) since my joining the IRI. The
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trip was special in many ways – Though I’ve travelled umpteen number of times since childhood, I was just a traveller and not a railfan. Since my joining of IRI in 2012, train journeys are not just journeys but a process of learning, observations and recalling rail-knowledge which I have gathered, courtesy this wonderful website. My long cherished dream ultimately realised with me and my better half taking this train from PUNE-DR. This journey was special in many ways and boy, I was thrilled!!
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22nd May 2016 dawned like no other, but I was all agog with excitement to be on-board the most prestigious train of my home zone. We reached station at 06.45 and entered through the booking office entrance, leading to the fag end of Mumbai end of PF-1. We were cheerfully welcomed by the Queen herself who was being shunted. We walked to our coach C2 which was CR 99153 was placed in the middle of the rake. Our seats were 74 and 75, the last seats on the 3-seat side. The exteriors, now wrapped in Maharashtra Tourism livery were gleaming. We climbed onboard and were left delighted. The interiors were simply pristine. The gangway had a red coloured carpet, some vintage CR posters hung on the sideways while eye-catching scenery posters hung on the either ends. The washrooms were spotless and dry with everything perfectly in place. Train TT too was affixed on one side. DQ truly lives up to its name and the lofty ISO benchmark.
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The clock struck 07.15 and our loco KYN WCAM-2P 21862 honked. Drifting past the pitlines and yard, the LP notched up aggressively as were cruised past Sangam Bridge and scurried past SVJR at 85-90 kmph, completing the daily ritual overtake of 11024 Sahyadri Express. The catering guys (CR’s Departmental Catering Service) soon appeared on the scene and took orders, the wide selection of menu being Veg. Cutlet, Omelette, Baked Beans on Toast, Cheese Sandwich, Cheese Toast, Chicken Cutlets, etc. We had to visit a temple later, hence we took Veg Cutlets and Cheese Sandwiches. TTE came and checked the tickets religiously, checking ID cards as well. Usually some TTEs here just tick off the chart and ticket and orally ask whether ID card is in possession or not. Nevertheless with formalities done, we tightened the seatbelts for the wonderful journey that lay ahead. We were running at MPS wherever permitted, blazing everything that came in our way. In the meanwhile, we crossed 99803 LNL-PUNE EMU and 12940 JP-PUNE SF Express all along. The MPS feast continued till MVL after which we slowed down. Thanks to full sectional clearance and great priority, we arrived on PF-2 of LNL at 08.10. On PF-1 was 22105 Indrayani “Indu” Express. The two sisters meet each other here daily in perfect coordination. We got the starter at 08.13 and exited. By now, the breakfast was served which was really delectable. We relished on the same and washed it down with hot coffee. We arrived at KAD at 08.17 for mandatory brake testing, a tradition since ages.
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After the go-ahead, the mighty and enchanting Bor Ghats beckoned us to ride downhill. Everything was pretty smooth and we already begun our descent, striding through numerous tunnels en-route. We had a touch and go halt at Monkey Hill at 08.27 and Go-ahead at Thakurwadi Cabin at 08.35. Everything was perfect when at around 08.50, we were stopped in middle of nowhere, at KM post 109/05. We were on the middle line and two lines surrounded us on either sides. The line on the left was the line towards KJT, via Nagnath Cabin, while the line towards our right was the line bound to PUNE. No-one bothered much for initial 15 minutes, thinking it to be an unscheduled halt. But as the clock ticked, the question mark on the faces became more intense and restlessness grew. It was 45 minutes and no chances of movement. Many passengers had got down for a stroll, while a few were peeping out from the door. The rumours had reached a peak, some saying brake failure, some saying track fracture/damage while some saying landslide. In the meanwhile, 11007 Deccan Express crossed us, followed by 11031 Udyan Express. Our younger sister, 12126 Pragati Express overtook us, their passengers shocked to see us standing there, followed by 17222 COA-LTT with our passengers powerlessly watching and resigning to the fate. 2 triplets of WAG-7 bankers too returned light to KJT. The TTE came and informed the passengers that a boulder had rolled off to the tracks, hit the loco and damaged the brake pipe. He then requested for mobile phone. Being surrounded deep in mountainous area, there were issues with mobile networks and nearly 90% of passengers did not have access to mobile. One passenger fortunately had a working mobile and the TTE alerted the CR control room. The TTE informed that the controllers had asked Sahyadri Expess to halt beside our train and those who wished to proceed ahead may board Sahyadri and proceed. He also informed that that a rescue loco was already on its way. Minutes later, Sahyadri came and stopped beside our train. Many people jumped from ours and boarded Sahyadri. In about 5 minutes, Sahyadri departed. What a sight it was!! The train which gets overtaken by ours daily, now had a rare chance to overtake us!! The delay had now mounted to over 1 hour and it was past 10 already. Realising the hunger and thirst, the pantry guys made hay while the sun shone, with many passengers including us opting for another round of tea and snacks. At around 10.15, we got a backward jerk that sent cheers amongst the crowd. The rescue loco, a weird and wacky #offlink CNB WAG-7 had arrived and had attached itself to take charge of the train. The loco seemed fit and raring to go and why not, not even in its wildest dreams it could have thought that it would get to haul DQ one day!!
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At 10.25, amidst cries of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”, we had finally departed, after a 1 hr 40 min ordeal cum adventure. The descent was ongoing at a slow and steady pace and the LPs seemed extra careful now. We skipped RF heaven PDI at 10.45 and slowed down further. We crawled all the way to KJT where we were received on PF-2, with the local passengers, vendors awe-struck to see DQ stopping by and running so late. 11029 CSTM-KOP Koyna Express was on PF-1 for banker attachment. Within 5-10 minutes, CSTM-KJT Fast local arrived on PF-2A. We were closely followed by 17032 HYB-CSTM Express which arrived on PF-3 shortly. The wait at KJT seemed endless, the passengers got down for breather. The starter was still red and no one had an idea when it would turn amber. The 95120 KJT-CSTM Fast Local departed at 11.19. At 11.25, 17032 was given starter, with us still waiting for our turn. At 11.30, controllers showed us some mercy and gave us the starter after which we departed. The situation post KJT improved and we got good clearance. There were not much slowdowns, except for TSR/PSR along the way. We had a good run till KYN, where we halted on PF-6 for 2 minutes for signal at 12.20.
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Post KYN, the run to TNA again was good by “that day’s standards”, though not MPS, speed was decent. The run from KYN-TNA was completed in about 25 minutes and we skipped TNA at moderate speed at 12.55, finally something to cheer to see an important station being skipped. Some passengers already stood near the door to ready themselves to alight at DR, causing discomfort to those sitting and wanting to go to washrooms. I informed a couple of them that it was still half an hour atleast for DR, but they did not pay any heed to me. The Waggie literally unleashed itself for the penultimate run post TNA-KYN and tried best to cover delay, hitting MPS. The run from TNA-DR was covered in 20 minutes. Finally at 13.15, we had a breezing entry on PF-6 at DR, late by over 3 hours, having overtaken by 5 trains!! What a voyage it was, this avatar of DQ will be remembered and cherished for a lifetime!! Thanks for reading!! :-)
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Pic-1: Train Board
Pic-2: Interiors
Pic-3: TT affixed inside coaches
Pic-4: The rail poster
Pic-5: The beginning of the long wait
Pic-6: Sahyadri Express to our rescue
Pic-7 & 8: Another endless wait at KJT
Pic-9: Departing KYN

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May 27 2016 (11:06)
kingmaker~
kingmaker~   16979 blog posts
Re# 1865583-8              
Parso To ALCO Mila thha.... :D
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Jul 02 2016 (16:01)
Upendra   20 blog posts
Re# 1865583-9              
A incidence with 11010 Sinhagad Express:
13-July-2014 an early morning 11010 Sinhagad Express started it's journey towards Mumbai, sharp at 06:05 AM, after taking all scheduled halts 11010 reached MPS after CCH with 2-3 slowdowns till Kamshet around 07:15 AM just after MVL suddenly a hard breaking sound heard with 11010 stopping all of sudden, we were having no idea what happened, hoping train will start moving in 5-10 minutes but after 15 minutes a breaking news came that track is damaged ahead with one small piece separated from it (it was really breaking news :-) ).
We
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were very fortunate, as one of the worker seen the broken railway track and immediately reported to MVL & LNL and controllers took a prompt action to aware Loco Pilot on time and a mishap was averted
Now the restoration activities came in to force and Pune/Mumbai division of CR started emergency repair of track which took almost 1 hour to complete. It was 08:25 when our train started moving and crawled to Lonavala. It was 08:40 when our train departed from LNL and after completing all halt formalities of Bhor Ghat it reached KJT around 09:25 and departed at 09:30 after one local train reached EMU platform.
It was 10:15 when Sinhagad Express reached KYN and kept on hold (guess why?). Her Highness Deccan Queen was closely following Sinhagad Express and finally overtook us at Kalyan, soon after DQ crossed KYN, Sinhagad Express got clearance and started heading towards Mumbai CST and finally reached Dadar at 11:10. We alighted at Dadar happily giving blessings to to that worker of CR who saved us from mishap.

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Jul 03 2016 (16:35)
AW25392~
AW25392~   7460 blog posts
Re# 1865583-10              

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Jul 03 2016 (18:05)
IndianRailwayslover~
IndianRailwayslover~   2234 blog posts
Re# 1865583-11              
You are too good with your travelouges Soumi Bhau..
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