WAP7
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My first choice is always sleep killer. But being vacation time,7 Mail was running full and there were no chances of getting a RAC berth let alone confirmed berth. I didnt choose Kaveri as it reaches SBC at an unearthly hour. So the only choice left was SSPN Express.
So, it all started with the delayed run of Ganga Kaveri Express which shared rake with SSPN Express. 12670 arrived MAS 2+hours behind schedule as per NTES. As a result,12691 was rescheduled by an hour which meant the scheduled departure was at 00:30 hrs. We reached MAS by 23:00 hrs which meant I had one and half hours left with me for railfanning. As we entered into the waiting area, I spotted Kovai Express on PF.No.5. It was hauled by RPM WAP4 22844.ED WAP4 226X4 pulled in the ERS-BJU Express at 23:05 hrs on PF.No.6. And the interesting spotting of all, RPM WAP7 had shunted the 7 Mail onto PF.No.4 which is a very rare sight atleast for me. That day, Kovai and Mail had interchanged their platforms. Announcements were being made about HWH,CSTM and SBC Mails' departure at regular intervals. The JanShatabdi from BZA was expected at 00:35 hrs. At 23:17 sharp, the guard blew the whistle and the legendary Bangalore Mail left. This was the first time, I was seeing Mail departing MAS without me travelling in it. And the WAP7 that shunted 12657 closely followed the rake after giving a strange,funny and a sore throat honking twice(First time it couldnt honk that well). Meanwhile,announcements were being made for 12522's departure to BJU. The display board did not show 12691's PF until around 23:30 hrs. Our train was allotted PF.No.3. As we made our way through the crowd, Kovai's rake was taken to BBQ yard. Simultaneously, 12522 departed after getting starter. The ED and RPM WAP4s on the PFs inched behind 12522 and 12676's rakes respectively only to stop at the BBQ end of the PF.
PF.No.2A was occupied by the CBE Shatabdi which was hauled by 30482. The loco hadn't been detached even after an hour of its arrival. At 23:35 hrs, the HOG cables and coupling were undone. It took 5 mins approx. for this process. Then CBE Shatabdi was also taken back to BBQ yard. Then 30482 gave a cute little 3 phase honk and moved towards ETS.Pics of 30482-
/blog/post/2245551. It was stopped at the end of the PF to give way for Mumbai Mail which would depart in a while. On the other side, HWH Mail departed bang on time. RPM WAP7 30354 also was in the queue waiting to go to the BBQ ETS. It must have been the link for Coromandel Express. At 23:55 hrs, WAP4 gave a long honk and Mumbai Mail also departed. CSTM Mail was shunted by TNP WDM7 11015. Now the lights in the station were dimmed. All the PFs were deserted. The entire MAS complex bustling with passengers became silent all of a sudden. It was 00:00 hrs and still there was no sign of our train. AJJ WAG7 hauled AJJ-MAS fast passenger arrived. In a jiffy, a shunter WDMX arrived and was coupled to it. After a long wait, at 00:20 hrs, a TNP WDMX hauled SSPN Express rushed onto the PF. Announcements were being made about 12691's departure. The CBC rake was clean. There was a Deen Dayalu coach. My coach was S9. The entire rake had bio toilets. My coach had charging points near LB/SLBs. There was no time to check the loco as my coach was in the other end as opposed to the CC which I spotted during December. We had just 10 mins left and there was no way I could rush upto the loco. The MAS coupling staff must be lauded for the smooth coupling of the loco as we did not even feel the loco was getting coupled to the rake as it usually happens in a CBC rake.
At 00:35 hrs, our train departed. I had to share an SLB with my mother as our ticket landed up in RAC. As our train curved towards BBQ, clearing the points, I spotted my favourite loco RPM WAP7 incharge of our train. Usually, three phase horns aren't heard at a farther distance atleast as far as I know. But that day,I was blessed to listen to the melody of the 3 phase honking throughout my journey as our coach was silent. Many locos were resting at BBQ. But there was no sign of 30354 at the ETS. So could it be 30354 which was leading us?The P7 whined madly and started accelerating through BBQ. The LPs and the guard exchanged the green signal through those torches which they have. We braked just in time to negotiate the switches at VJM. We switched onto the fast line. Once the entire rake had cleared the point, the P7 gave a long classic 3 phase horn and after the signal exchange between the crew members, we gathered pace and in no time, we were hitting 110 kmph. PER and VLK were thrashed at MPS. We crawled through KOTR due to a TSR of 10 kmph. Once, again after clearing the TSR, WAP7 showed its true power. A live WAG9 was waiting at Avadi to be overtaken by us. All the suburban stations were skipped at MPS. The LPs were good at handling departures and arrivals without the customary CBC jerks. We switched onto the fourth line at TRL. We did not slow down anywhere before AJJ. Occasionally, the train oversped upto 112-114. After, a quick halt, we took off from AJJ. And I dozed away gazing outside the window.I was woken up by the sounds of FIAT bogies. Lovely sounds they were, I must say. I enjoyed those sounds. :) It was none other than YPR-MAS SF with its brand new LHB rakes. My bad luck, I missed the loco. After watching the speeding 12291 cross 12691, I once again slept off.
Announcements blared about 12691's arrival. We had just reached AB. After a 2 mins halt,we departed. VGM was skipped at MPS. We crawled through VN due to a TSR. In the VN-JTJ section, 3 trains crossed us of which two were led by WAP7s and the other one was led by a P4. We crept into JTJ at a very low speed. SR must do something to increase speeds of turnouts at JTJ. We pulled onto PF.No.4. PF.No.2 & 3 were occupied by P4 hauled trains. 12682 led by ED WAP4 22646 skipped through PF.No.5. As the rake cleared the PF, we were given starter. After clearing the turnouts at a painfully slow pace, we accelerated to 80 kmph to negotiate the famous curve at JTJ outer. As we were about to take a turn to enter SWR, a WAP4 hauled train from TPT side sped past us towards JTJ. The train curved majestically when one can spot the entire rake from the tail to the loco. The WAP7 was honking madly all through to warn the staff at LC. The honking P7 with sparking panto speeding through the curve is anytime an excellent audio and visual treat to a railfan. We maintained a sedate pace in the JTJ-MAR section. The MPS was restricted to 75 kmph. After MAR, we started hitting MPS of 110. We came to a screeching halt on the mainline at KPN and departed after a 15 second halt. We overtook a WAP4 hauled train at VRDP.
It had dawned already at 05:15 hrs. At around 05:30 hrs, 12691 made a speeding entry into the suburbs of Bengaluru. We crossed DKN at a speed of 105 kmph. The train had maintained an average of 67 kmph till DKN which meant we had got good priority enroute. WFD was skipped at flat 108 kmph. We pulled into KJM onto PF.No.4 where we met TPTY-CMNR passenger led by WAG7 which was running bang on time. TB of 56214-
/blog/post/2245552. We were given starter and we bid goodbye to 56214. Now, I was keeping a watch on the signals on the down line to see if it was all clear for 12028. The LPs applied the brake post BNCE to enter BNC. It was already past 06:10 hrs and there was no sign of 12028. The signal at BNC outer was green, which meant that the Shatabdi would cross us anytime from then. As we pulled onto the PF, AJJ WAP1(probably 22015),standing on the pitline was waiting for 12028 to clear the line so that it can take charge of BNC-BZA Passenger. And finally, there it was, the Bengaluru-Chennai Shatabdi led by a red hot ED WAP4. At 06:15,The P4 gave a long honk and accelerated effortlessly with the puny load making wonderful track sounds. The entire rake except the EOGs were covered with insurance advertisements.
I wanted to have the glimpse of the road number of our loco.As we got down at BNC, I hurried past the crowd towards the loco. But, before I could scale half the distance, the impatient P7, gave a long honk and the rake jerked forward and the train accelerated towards SBC. And before I could realise what was happening, the SLR whizzed past me. And I was left pondering on the platform-was it 30354?
Overall rating:
Cleanliness- 10/10.
Comfort-7/10(Jerks were felt more in the AB-SBC section).
Speed & Punctuality-8/10(Given the average speed maintained between MAS and BNC).
PART-2 (SBC-MAS):
/blog/post/2252374.
