Entire 22 kms Gurpa- Gujhandi Ghat section covered by Sealdah Duronto Express!!!
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The Grand Chord line, which connects the important cities of Kolkata and Delhi, is an alternate to the Main lines, and connects Sitarampur (near Asansol) with Mughal Sarai via Dhanbad, N.S.C.B. Gomoh, Hazaribagh Road, Gaya, Dehri-on-Sone, Sasaram and Gaya. It covers the distance in 454 kms, as compared to the...
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534 kms Main line via Madhupur, Jasidih, Patna. And in between the stations Gurpa and Gujhandi, the Grand Chord line cuts through the Ghat section along the Chota Nagpur Hills. The location is undoubtedly the best one in the entire journey, and provides awesome exotic scenery, consisting of magnificent curves, gradients, triple tunnels, viaducts and overall, lush greenery all around.
On this video, I record the entire 22 kms journey in between Gurpa and Gujhandi stations that our 30 minutes late running 12260 New Delhi (NDLS)- Sealdah (SDAH) A.C. DURONTO Express covers with 30222 GZB shed WAP- 7 in the helm. In the meanwhile, we skip the small station Dilwa, andwhile doing so, we also have a crossing with a couple of freight rakes as well.
Here is some interesting facts about this section:
The Burdwanan- Asansol line was first extended to Barakar in 1858 and then in 1894 East Indian Railway Company extended the line to Jharia and Katras, opening up the Jharia Coalfield. Dhanbad emerged as a premier coal loading area. One railway-related source says that the line from Sitarampur to Dhanbad was built in 1880. Once the rail link from Howrah to Delhi was completed in 1866, the East Indian Railway was making constant endeavor to reduce the distance of the Howrah-Delhi main line. After several surveys, one in 1888-89 and two more subsequently, a route was determined from Dhanbad to Mughal Sarai via Koderma and Gaya. The major works in this section were a bridge across the Son River at Dehri, and tunneling and ghat line construction between Gurpa and Gujhandi.
The 22 kilometres (14 mi) Gujhandi (altitude 370m)- Gurpa (altitude 193 m) section, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Koderma, is a ghat (mountain/hill slope), with the Koderma Plateau sloping down to the Gaya plain. The Grand Chord was opened on 6 December 1906 by Lord Minto, then Viceroy and Governor General of India with a function at Gujahandi. The Viceroy and Lady Minto travelled to Gaya, from where they travelled in a special observation car to Gujhandi. Two special trains, running from Howrah, carried the invitees. The Viceroy screwed on a silver bolt with a silver spanner to formally complete the line. A repeat of the historic event was organized by East Central Railway on 6 December 2006, with a special heritage train "Grand Chord ki Rani", pulled by a 1965 steam engine, carrying the guests from Gaya to Gujhandi.
The Howrah- Gaya stretch was electrified by around 1960. In 1965, Asansol-Bareilly Passenger was the first long-distance train on Eastern Railway to be hauled by an AC loco.