A stint with the Taj Express | My Encounter with WAP5 ( Part-1 )
Date:22 September 2018.
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Well, a trip to NDLS will surely make a railfan excited especially the one from the South who can have a feel of the elusive(for us) WAP5. I was sure that I would get to ride behind a GZB WAP7. But little did I know that...
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I would be blessed to have a P5 in front of my train impatient to set the tracks on fire.
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It all started with an overcast morning with a light shower in Delhi. It was already past 6 when we started to NDLS station. It was around 6:25 AM when we reached the station only to find that our train would leave from PF.No.13. We had only 20 mins left. Now the railfan in me became nervous,tensed or whatever. Now,this was the first time for me in a LHB 2S coach. So I had my own reasons for being tensed. What if I dont capture pics of the rake? What if I dont capture the loco? What if I dont capture the TB? So on and so forth...
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But time is not that cruel. We somehow made our way to PF.No.13. Taj Express was standing ready to take me to Agra and back to Delhi on the same day. Now without wasting a moment, I just boarded my coach, kept the luggage and hopped down and sprinted towards NZM end. Lo and behold! GZB WAP5 30120 with no P5 fonts was ready to move out with our train. For me, this nothing less than a lifetime achievement, a ride behind a P5,the first ride. After taking pics of the loco and TB, I once again rushed to my coach fearing that the P5 would leave me behind. My seat was drenched due to rain. Thanks to a newspaper, I was able to sit during my journey. On opening the window(that was a Herculean task), I saw a train, Taj's twin, the Shan-E-Punjab that departed bang on time after a whine by the 3 phase loco. The clocked ticked . At 6:45 AM sharp, Taj Express and Dehradun Shatabdi Express(led by a HOG WAP7) departed bang on time with both locos whining to compete with each other.
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After a series of overtakes and re-overtakes, the DDN Shatabdi left us behind out of sight. We were about to halt near Pragati Maidan when we got last minute clearance and we started with a jolt. And the GZB WAP5 whined. I was pleased by that awesome whinning. We crossed NZM CDO. The Chennai Rajdhani was resting there. GZB WAP5 30014 was ready to shunt Gatimaan Express to NZM. We arrived at NZM slightly delayed. Goa Express was standing on the adjacent platform. Now the coach was completely packed with people leaving no place empty except for the luggage rack(that was later used by 2 kids to lie down). The Thirukkural Express was ready to depart with AJJ P4. We soon left NZM only to be halted for some time before TKD. We then overtook an EMU at TKD that trolled us. The next halt was at FDB. A mother-son duo boarded here and their seats were encroached. Unable to get their seats even after showing the ticket, they squeezed through whatever space they could find and begin to search the TTE. They were determined to the core. And they indeed were successful in finding him and bringing him. After a warning from the TTE to the UR passengers,they got their seats. Post FDB, it was a non-stop run till MTJ outer. I was on the non-track side. So, I could not spot much trains. I was expecting the Taj to be looped so that I could record Gatimaan overtaking us at 160kmph but it didnt happen. But Gatimaan was catching up fast.
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We crawled through Bhuteshwar and stopped on the curve before MTJ. After a brief halt,we entered MTJ. We had a good 25 minute halt at MTJ. I wanted to capture overtake of Gatimaan but it was futile. There were people all over standing and sitting on the aisle side and near the door. I had to be contented by watching 30014 with Gatimaan overtaking us from my seat. Then Thirukkural overtook us. Finally, after the long halt, we pulled out of MTJ. And then it was all MPS run. The WAP5 went berserk tearing all wayside stations. And then it happened. We halted on the mainline at Runkuta. A freight led by WAG9 was on the loop. From nowhere, policemen and ticket inspectors turned up and shouted on the UR passengers and forced most of them to get down. Almost nearly 1000 UR people who were travelling in 2S coaches were made to detrain. A few of the standees managed to escape as they were in the middle of the coach and the train started moving thanks to the starter.
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It was a blistering non-stop run till Raja Ki Mandi. Finally at around 10:15 AM, we pulled into AGC. We got down and had tea as the weather was such contrast to the usual hot and dry weather. As I had a sip of tea, the Taj Express pulled out of AGC loaded with more passengers as before not even sparing toilets. The entire rake was uniform with LHB 2S coaches in lieu of general coaches making it difficult to differentiate between 2S and UR coaches
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Part-2: /blog/post/4048916