Mangala Lakshadweep Express/12617

Part 2
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I knew I was taking a huge risk over here……but as a courageous mountaineer who does not fear the mountains, I did not fear the WL……they were just like eating vadapao….hhahaha…….rather I was more concerned about the International Marketing exam the next day……..and like a small child waiting for the presents on his birthday, I too waited for the D day to dawn………my ticket unfortunately could make it only till WL12 thogugh the preivous days it ran like a rajdhani exp……
Anyways my exams finished on the 2nd of may and I was more than happy to throw my bags and run away to home….i missed a party that evening hosted by frind since iy would delay ,my arrival...
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at home and leaving only a small time for packing ,,,,,,,
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I reached home at around 7 pm in the evening, had a nice shower and took out my Harley Davidson….aka my Honda Dio scooter for a ride through thecity and make some purchases and do some essential; things like topping up the mobile balance and some few eatables to munch on the way….i purchased a packet of Bhaakarwaadi and a few packets of Lays and some other eatables……the food for the journey would be prepared by my daddy who is an excellent cook .
I was not able to sleep properly that night owing to the excitement of the journey the next day………
The next day I got up and then it was the usual meleee that happens in every household before a member is undertaking a journey…..daddy got up at 5 am and prepared chappati and his trademark lemon rice………nice spicy with lots of Ginger and green chillies and a lots of tangy lemon………perfect to win any competition…he did not forget to add a dab of pickle as well as some pappad for me….in the meanwhile I prepared a nice and tasty tomoto curry……and was soon ready for departure at around 7.45………
Reached DI station on my Honda Dio and took a tickets for my dad as well as me for KYN………went to Pf 4…….and soon a fast EMU bound for KSRA arrived and we boarded it……soon the EMU started accelerating very quickly and soon hit the 90kmph barrier and was blasting through thakurli ….we slowed at KYN outer where I spotted some WAG 9 and WAG 7 of KYN shed waiting with their respective loads of freight ..possibly to TKD ICD…….
Soon the local brought us to pf 4 and soon we climbed the FOB and reached pf 6 where my train was scheduled to arrive……….
I had checked while departing from home and found that train was 0.5 hrs behind schedule….but to my surprise when I reached KYN train was 1.5 hrs late…..wow IR really rocked……
The wait at the platform is like an endless saga……and those who stand and stare are able to derive full maja out of it……thankfully I am a sloppy slowcoach and I always have a whale of time with me and I could easily sit and observe the people in the PF……
Most were families travelling to kerala or their respective native places,,,,,,,,,I took a quick glance at the chart hoping for some chamatkaar………..but alas……I was thoroughly disappointed……..there was sizeable crowd getting down at MAO and UD………hmm..some chamatkaar happened……usually such seats remain vacant and this assured me a berth for a good nights sleep……….
It was really fun watching the crowd on the pf……….right beside me was a couple of bachelors heading off to ooty and kodaikanal vacation……and there was a young couple going to native place somewhere in Malabar……..i did not talk to anybody but my ears were paying the fullest possible attention to their talks…..many times you get the company of a family with small kids……..the kids are always restless and wander around the station ….sometimes they play “ train –train”….only God knows what that game is ……usually it involves a child who becomes an engine and the rest follow him and become the coaches of the train …..
Soon MMR-LTT rajyarani exp made its arrival at pf 6 with wcam 3#21936…..it was a hopelessly dirty rake…..and its RSA with Godavari resulted it in getting some CR intercity coaches……..soon the train left at 9.10……
In the meanwhile theSBC bound udyan exp arrived with KJM dippy 20062…….it was a very fantastic loco and I was very happy seeing the ultra clean rake……..thumbs up to SWR for maintaiming this train superbly………SWR should make it a daily SF and should comfortably reduce its stoppages and travel time to around 18-19 hrs…..
It was 9.30 and soon an announcement was made that mangala exp would arrive shortly….and lo the train arrived 10 mins later with a WDG3a 13135…probably belonging to ERS……….i was deeply saddened because,,,,1. I missed the ERS WDM3a..and secondly WDG3a meant speed was restricted to 100kmph…………
Anyways I boarded the S9 coach and sat on seat no. 8……there was another uncle who too had WL ticket and was bound to ERS………soon the loco gave out its characteristic alco vroom and off we went……soon we crossed the tracks and we cruised at around 60 kmph…in the meanwhile the CST bound Deccan Queen overtook us on the parallel track…….and we easily crossed DI and then took a huge 150 degree curve towards PNVL …..the coach was in tatters the coach was 04223 meant that it was a good 8 yr old and was rusty and extremely dirty………..we then cruised at avg speeds of 70-80 kmph and soon made to PNVL at around 10.50…
To be continued…………….

part 3.......
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In the meanwhile I managed to strike up some random conversation with my co passengers……..it consisted of one lady her twin sons and their cousin who were returning from AGC and got down at PNVL , possibly after a vacation……….they were in tatters……thought the lady looked respectable , but she too was shabby in appearance……..there children were no less good looking……..they had tried very hard to be dirty and were quite successful in that……..all of them had stains on the faces and another co passenger suggested the lady that she scrub the boys well after reaching home……..
Co passengers become your relative when you are on a journey, there are different types of passengers……I try to explain and detail them...
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as follows…..
The type 1 is taken by the normal family man who is in a hurry to reach his destination.possibly somebody is ill over there……these kind of people usually are wl ticketholders and many times occupy SLBs…..some of them also achieve the indomitable task of taking a CK ticket………..he is quite moody , does not disturb others and is extremely co operative
Type 2 are family …….there are always very co operative and are the best travel companions……….they are a good timepass especially if the famiy has small children and if they are mischevious then its like icing on the cake……….they are actually very concerned about their co passengers and most often go out of they way to help others……….problem exists only if they have WL tickets , then your journey becomes a nightmare…….
Type 3 are the independent travellers singly undertaking the journey…the most apparent reson for their travel is that they have come to attend a wedding…..they are moody and always have a better opinion at almost anything and anything they say makes you like a fool in front of them. Very often they start discussing very sad topics like poverty corruption and go on giving GAALIs to everyone they can think of…….they are the people who lways give uncalled and unsolicited advice and always have a better alternative and does not hesiatate in saying out the mistakes of others blindly………..
In the meanwhile…..my train had reached nagothane and we were crossed by the 12617 mangala headed by WDG 4 PA……..soon we were back on track and started cruising .WDG 3a started showing its true power…………but acceleration was pathetic……and top spedd was limited to 100 kmph………my cell phine battery drained away like water and soon I was in no mans land…………
We then reached ROHA and thankfully blasted through it……….the LTT SWV holiday special was standing wth a WDMxx from GONDA……….i was the first time I was seeing GD loco that too in CR territory……
Iyer sir on IRI assured me that loco would pic up the speed but we crawled at only 100 kmph most of the time………
Soon we reached CHI where I saw SWV-DIVA passenger hauled by WDP4D from GOC…….i for the first time saw WDP4D with my own eyes…..
Oops I forgot mention that I had my luch comprising of chapatti and tomato curry….my co passengers bought food from pantry and by the look on their faces I could guess that they were not thaht pleased with the itmes……
We kept reaching all stns until RN which was arrived 2 hrs late……….i thought I would now be a superb run since KR LP have tremendous notching and that we would reach MAO on time…………sadly the latter failed to happen…….KR LPs notched highly but the WDG3a could be convinced to speed up snd hemce we were stuck at only 100 kmph…..soon started big troubles…….we halted at a nameless station where we were made to wait for 45 mins so that the Dadar bound Janshatabdi would cross……….soon she arrived with offlink ED WDM3a R……..usually the link is a WDM3D from ED….she was in full power……and blasted us at flat 120 kph……all myco passengers were stunned by this……I in the meanwhile cajoled and managed to coax one of my passengers to take a video of the JS but the guy failed to start the camera and by the time his camera was on.the train had already left…….
We again started our small pace…….and sadly it was a bad day for me…..we were alredy 2 hrs late further KR put all the trains waiting for us to cross on the mainline, hence we had to crawl through loop lines instaed of blasting these station…
I footplated till thivim and then quickly gobbled up my dinner..sensing that once pax from MAO boarded the train…I would not be able to have in peace……TTE failed to turn up …all I had was a KRCL squad…..who even refused to look at my ticket…he was convinced on my genuineness the moment I took my hand towards my pocket to take out the tickets………….

part 4...
prev parts can be read in the blogs in this thread........
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Soon we arrived MAO…..and a family occupied the seat in which I was seated.they had a baby who ws yelling at the top of his voice…probably due to the extreme heat since my coach was next to PC………I suggested that they should have booked in 3AC or atleast in Garibrath………the husband gave me threateneing looks…….and I decided not to speak a single word with them……….
Soon it was night time…….people decided to sleep and suddenly I found myself siting ….one of co passenger was a nun………the lady kindly said that she could adjust and sleep by sitting since she was...
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to get down at PAY……….i was moved by her generousity but declined ……she really deserved a nights sleep...there was motherly glow on her face and I was instantly remembere of my mother…..the ladys generodity had stuck me flat on the face…….
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I then sat near the door and doorplated till UD………one of the passenegers travelling with me took pains and asked the people of adjacent cooupe where they would be getting off so that he could adjust a berth for me……….it is very rare that you get such generous pax and I consider myself quite lucky,……the man enquired and updated me with the info that people some 2-3 bays ahead would be getting down at UD and personnaly came to me said that I have spoken with the guys over there u can sleep once they get off…..i thanked the man many many times…….
We were now blasting Loliem and Canacona and soon arrived KAWR……
BTJL and UD arrived and as arranged I went to the bay and lo…..a LB was waiting for me……….by now I had fallen sleepy and soon I was deep in mydreams…….
I opened up my eyes and soon we were departing from Thalaserry……….
Soon we reached vadakara koyilaandi and we made to CLT sharp 2 hrs late……..i did my morning chores and soon occupied my seat………..there was a TT who was checking tickets…..sadly the guy ignored me…….and went away…….
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Soon I had the darshan of the SEA at kadalundi,……….i very well remember the accident at this site a few yrs ago when MAS-MAQ exp had tripped and fall down into the river ………actually the river meets the sea here and one can see the confluence from the train itself…………
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On of the major change I saw was that OHE poles, SSP and even wires were fitted in sections between parappanangaadi onwards ……..most likely this section would be electrified till MAJN in a couple of years and soon we can have WAPS hauling…….
It was uneventful ride from CLT……….
I reached PTB at 8.30 a good 2 hrs late……..i then boarded a mayilvahanam bus bound to cherpulasserry and went to my home where I was awaited by Dosa and chutney…………
Thanks for your patienece and as well as for bearing with my poor literary and typing skills………hope I have not bored anyone……please feel free to write your comments ……….thnks…………