Sun Kissed Howrah WAP4 Storms With Kaziranga Express

Sun kissed Howrah WAP4 (locomotive no. 22339) storms with Howrah bound Kaziranga Express (tentative) through Duan Railway Station of SER Zone.

Watch the video here:

Here is the RF Data: Date: June, 2018 Place: DUAN Railway Station. Zone (Spotting location): SER South Eastern Railway
Train: Kaziranga (Bangalore-Guwahati) Express
Locos: Howrah WAP4 (no. 22339).
Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

PhotoBlog: Magical Curves Of Shalimar

Online! | © Soumo's Railways

These lovely curved rail lines that goes to the freight yard section of Shalimar railway station (SHM, SER Zone), which is my and my blog's home staton, always fascinates me. Here is a picture of these curves I took earlier this morning (3rd Oct).

Though I travelled through Shalimar quite a few times in last few months, but it was today that after a long time I had the oppertunity to go for a morning walk to this area (Shalimar and Padmapukur section).

Since last few days the weather is good and clear after a long gloomy monsoon. Due to the non-stop rains and also due to work pressure I could not visit this place for a long time. I was greeted by several fellow regular morning walkers who saw me after a quite some time.

SHM's shunters on magical curves! | © Soumo's Railways

Here is another similar pic I posted back in March this year. Read the old blog post here.

I am happy to write this new photoblog after a long time again. Hoping that I will be able to keep up the blog with new posts and updates.

You can follow all my #PhotoBlog tagged railfanning posts here; find #PhotoBlog posts from the nearby PDPK Railway station here. Many of my PhotoBlog posts are based on PDPK station.

Here is the RF Data:

Date: October 03, 2018

Place: SHM Shalimar Railway Station & Yard.

Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway

Loco: WDS6 locomotive (shunter)

Loco Shed: KGP Kharagpur

Loco Zone: SER South Eastern Railway

(**Please report if any link above is broken)

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

Bhanjpur Shalimar Summer Special Intercity

Update: Sorry for the inconvenience as even after I wrote the full post, by mistake I forgot to hit the 'Update post' button for which this post was stuck at the old "Still writing this blog post..." message for sometime.

This is one of the rarely captured intercity of SER-Zone by railfans: the "(08094) Bhanjpur  to Shalimar Intercity rushes furiously through DUAN & Radhamohanpur stations with a WDM3A diesel Alco locomotive.

Though this is a 'Summer Special' Intercity, it is running for quite some time. While I captured this train in June, it was supposed to run till end of July 2018 which now is extended till September 2018. This is also among only a few diesel #locomotive hauled trains of SER Zone of the Indian Railways.

Meanwhile watch the video here in the link below:

Here is the RF Data: Date: June, 2018 Place: DUAN & Radhamohanpur Railway Station. Zone (Spotting location): SER South Eastern Railway
Train: 08094 Bhanjapur Shalimar Summer Special
Locos: WDM 3A
Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

PhotoBlog: VSKP WAG5 Trio Crosses Hirakhand Express In Rural Odisha & Some Updates

VSKP WAG5 trip hauls a freight | © Soumo's Railways

I am posting a PhotoBlog post after ages, and since June first week, this is also happens to be my first blog post here. In the last few weeks I was very busy with work and work related travelling. So I am very happy to re-start blogging here and I hope to update the pending blog posts for the related YouTube videos that you might have already seen, and that I kept posting regularly even though the blog was not active.

So when you visit the blog again in next few days, do check the section for June (click here) & July 2018 (and here) post archive for new updates. I see that I have around 13 blog posts yet to be updated for this period. I will hopefully link the blog post links with the respective YouTube videos when ready and published.

From tomorrow, or from this Thursday, ie. July 19th, I have decided to tune up the upload frequency of my YouTube channel to three times a week from the current schedule of one upload in every alternate days. The next video will go live on July 21st. Hence from July 19th (or effective July 21st), the upload days will be: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.

Last June I had a long 10+ day work trip across 3 states: Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. I had to pay a very short visit Jagdalpur from Visakhapatnam, and I was returning to my office at Bhubaneswar where I took the 18448 Hirakhand Express.

I do not recall the exact location at this very moment but it was somewhere before Jeypore (in Odisha, not Jaipur) and after leaving Jagdalpur, this gorgeous chocolate WAG5 trio from VSKP - Visakhapatnam shed [loco nos. 23777 (in the front), 23872 & another] crosses climbed down a lovely gradient and crossed my train. I could not read the loco number of the last one.

I was able to make a video of this trip and will share it on the YouTube channel in future, but for now, here is, for your viewing pleasure, the first of the trio hauling the freight train shared above. I found so many WAG5 locos in this region, and most were trios hauling freights in the uneven hilly terrain.

Here is the RF Data: Date: June 16, 2018 Place: Near Jeypore (JEY) Railway station in Jeypore, Odisha. Zone (Spotting location): ECoR - East Coast Railway
Train: Freight train (I was onboard 18448 Hirakhand Express)
Locos: VSKP WAG5 [no. 23777 (in the front), 23872 & another]
Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

Mega Offlink: Jhansi Tigerface WAG7 Brings In Bagha Jatin Fast Passenger

Jhansi's Tiger with Bhadrak Passenger!! | © Soumo's Railways

Yesterday on June 3rd, the Bhadrak Howrah "Bagha Jatin Fast Passenger" got a rare offlink, a Jhansi WAG7 Tigerface livery (loco no. 24670). It was also carrying a dead TATA WAG9 loco (no. 31639).

This was shot at the Shyam Chak railway station of the South Eastern Railway zone. Yesterday I saw about four (4) of these Jhansi Tiger WAG7s during my to and from journey between SRC and Shyam Chak.

Two of them were in charge of freights, one for this one and another hauled the Ispat Express from Howrah to Titlagarh route. Interestingly the Ispat Express got this WAG7 while the Barbil Janshatabdi yesterday got a WAP7 of TATA shed probably.

Watch the video of the Tiger from Jhansi shed hauling the passenger here:

Here is the RF Data: Date: June 04, 2018 Place: SMCK - Shyam Chak Railway Station, Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway Train: Bagha Jatin Fast Passenger
Locos;
- JHS WAG7 (no. 24670) and dead TATA WAG9 (no. 31639)
Loco Shed:
- JHS - Jhansi for the WAG7 & TATA-Tatanagar for WAG9
Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram

Timed Crossing: SriJagannath Express Meets Ispat Express At Bauria

Ispat Express entering Bauria | © Soumo's Railways

Sri Jagannath Express (train 18410) crosses with Ispat Express (train 12871) at Bauria Railway Station (BVA, SER). Both trains were hauled by SRC WAP7 locos (no. 30633 for Sri Jagannath & no. 30558 for Ispat)

Last week I had missed my local from SRC. There was a very big traffic jam between my home and Santragachi station and then after reaching at the station found a huge crowd at the counter. I wish I was just a minute early to catch my train as it went away just as I was climbing down to the platform from the overbridge.

Instead of waiting for the next train, I thought of doing a break journey where I would stop at a small station enroute and change to the next train.

I stopped at Abada then at Bauria where I was somewhat lucky to capture this very well timed crossing. A reason to stop at Bauria was that I was not feeling well. I was running since the morning, it was very hot outside and then there was that bad traffic jam. So a few minute rest at Bauria was something that I needed very much.

Find the crossing of both the trains in the video link below. Interestingly both trains were being hauled by SRC WAP7 locos (no. 30633 for Sri Jagannath & no. 30558 for Ispat). While the Ispat Express usually gets a SRC P7, Sri Jagannath Express's normal link is a SRC WAP4.

Sri Jagannath Express is a super popular train for those visiting Puri from Howrah. I personally do not like this train. The main reason to dislike is: in recent years so many stops are added to this so called 'superfast train' making it no less than a 'fast passenger'. Secondly since the rakes are shared with 'Geetanjali Express', the train often runs late if the link train (Geetanjali) is late. The rake sharing also makes rake maintenance very poor. The coaches are often found not in good shape.

Watch the video of this crossing here:

BTW last January, we took 18409 Sri Jagannath Express for our journey from Howrah to Puri. I was able to make a full coverage which you can find here in the link below:

Sri Jagannath Express crosses Ispat & leaves BVA | © Soumo's Railways

Here is the RF Data: Date: May 28, 2018 Place: BVA - Bauria Railway Station, Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway Trains:
- 18410 Sri Jagannath Express
- 12871 Ispat Express
Locos: SRC WAP7
- SRC WAP7 (no. 30633) for Sri Jagannath Express
- SRC WAP7 (no. 30558) for Ispat Express
Loco Shed: SRC - Santragachi
Loco Zone: SER - South Eastern Railway

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram

PhotoBlog: Finding Monsoon Clouds

Monsoon clouds coming in | © Soumo's Railways

Today I found the monsoon clouds coming in. These lovely isolated cotton ball like clouds are so beautiful. The pre-monsoon clouds are white, but they will be darker as monsoon will inch closer.

Here in the Kolkata and South Bengal, monsoon is expected to arrive around June 10th, which is the normal date. But I read in the newspaper that it will arrive a little early this year, probably on June 8th, 2 days early than normal.

It was such a terrible hot day today (as it is since last 2 or 3 days), I was almost grilled in the sun! In the early morning today, the weather was almost like the typical autumn season here in South Bengal - there was lovely blue sky, bright comfortable sun and these rain clouds. But become extremely hot by 10 AM or so.

This year weather Gods were somewhat kind to us. We in the Kolkata and adjoining suburban region had frequent rainfall throughout the summer, so the summer heat was somewhat bearable.

Summer is not an ideal season for railfanning. Monsoon is also not very ideal, but this season provides some very unique railfanning opportunities. Especially I would encourage fellow enthusiasts to plan trips on some very scenic rail routes which becomes more beautiful in the monsoon. The whole Konkan Railway zone, Kerala (and the whole South India perhaps), Odisha/ BBS - VSKP route along Eastern Ghats, the Visakhapatnam - Araku valley route are some worth mentioning. I wish you all a very happy monsoon, and also a very happy week and a great new month ahead.

I am very happy to write another PhotoBlog post yet again after a long time again. Again hoping that I can keep this section updated regularly. Find all my PhotoBlog Posts here. Thanks for your attention!

Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):

Date: May 27, 2018

Place: Probably outskirts of Panskura Jn (PKU), don't remember exactly.

Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway

(**Please report if any link above is broken)

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

Unique Blue Liveried MEMU Spotted

MEMU arriving at NPMR | © Soumo's Railways

If you remember my series on railfanning observations at NPMR railway station sometime back, then this is an unpublished one from the same session. I think that was one of the best spotting sessions for me in recent memory.

I was lucky to find this unique blue livery MEMU which arrived at NPMR railway station, and I guess this is pretty uncommon one if not rare. This MEMU is manufactured by the TWL group.

The train route remains sadly unidentified by me but I guess this was running on Kharagpur - Santragachi route - however I am not sure and it may be of some other service. Yes indeed I was lucky to find this one.

Watch the MEMU passing through the curves at the NPMR station, here:

Making music while passing; lovely livery | © Soumo's Railways

Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):

Date: December 26, 2017.

Place: NPMR - Narayan Pakuria Murail Railway station.

Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway

Train: SER MEMU, unidentified destination/ service route.

Manufacturer: TEXMACO Wagons Pvt Ltd.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

Speedstar Howrah Red Hunk Sweeps Through Rural Odisha

Howrah WAP4 on duty! | © Soumo's Railways

Earlier this year in the month of February, I had a work trip to Bhubaneswar. By the end of the trip, I had an oppertunity to roam around in rural Odisha for a day and with that also came an oppertunity to click some high speed trains on the way.

In this update, I spotted a lovely WAP4 (no. 22326) from the Howrah ELS cruising at high speed with an unidentified train through the MKTP railway station in Odisha.
Sometimes while photographing trains sadly I fail to read up the train boards. Which makes it hard to identify trains. I don't know about others but I find this a good problem. This happens especially at new areas where you are unfamiliar about trains, schedules and other references which you can refer to identify the trains. Often trains with special rakes/ liveries like that of Shatabdi, Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, etc are easy to predict or identify.  However in my home zone too I have found similar issues.

This same thing happened with this spotting. I couldn't read out the train board and thus sadly the train remains unidentified. However since I live in the Howrah district, this is also the flag carrier of my hometown (along with Santragachi). So I was definitely very happy to see this fellow!

Watch the video here:

A few words about MKTP: MKTP is a beautiful station to see trains. But a word of caution - very few trains stop here, so before visiting please refer to the train schedules and carefully read them. I found about 8 RFP personnel who came and stayed at the station from 2 PM till I left the station at around 1930 (I had to stay as I was stuck there. There was no train for BBS; and BTW I didn't take out camera in front of them!). The station goes deserted after sunset and hardly any people/ passengers visit the station. I think in total 3 passengers incl me boarded the Brahmapur Passenger for BBS. Last train to BBS is at 2045 probably. If that is cancelled, you are likely stuck at the station till the next morning. The station also seriously lacks proper lighting: just about 6 tube lights light the whole station (only one side), often most don't work. I highly recommend to return before sunset. If possible visit very early in morning and leave by 1200 to 1400 hrs.

Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):

Date: February 13, 2018

Place:  MKTP (outer), ECoR.

Zone (Spotting location): ECoR East Coast Railway

Locomotive: HWH Howrah WAP4 (no. 22326).

Loco Zone: ER Eastern Railway zone

Train: Unidentified.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

Rarely Captured Parcel Van Trains

NKJ WAG7 on Khirai Bridge | © Soumo's Railways

Rarely captured and sighted 'Parcel Van only' freight trains of South Eastern Railway zone. "This is a new weekly/bi-weekly parcel train service commenced by SER from Sankrail to Kalyan . It is also first privatized mainline cargo service on contract basis for 6yrs where Railways is responsible for rolling stock maintenance" - reports Rabin Saha.

Locomotives as they appear in the video, (find the link below):
(a) NKJ - New Katni Jn WAG7 loco (no. 27897) with PV train passing through KHAI - Khirai station; and,
(b) Kanpur WAG7 (no. 28443) hauling the PV train at the outskirts of NPMR Railway station.

Watch the video here:

Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):

Date: April 2018 and December 2017.

Place: 

(a) KHAI - Khirai Railway Station, SER;

(b) NPMR - Narayan Pakuria Murail (outer).

Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway

Locomotives & Loco Zones:

(a) NKJ - New Katni Jn - WAG7 (no. 27897);

(b) CNB - Kanpur WAG7 (no. 28443).

Train: Parcel Van Freight Train.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.

PhotoBlog - Summer Blossoms At PDPK

Summer blossoms at PDPK | © Soumo's Railways

I thought of sharing this photo. I took this one casually, maybe two weeks back and this morning I discovered it from the memory card of my camera. This is a corner of the PDPK Padmapukur Railway Station which is also my home station along with SHM - Shalimar Railway station. You maybe have seen many blog posts and videos on my YouTube from this station. This is also at a short walking distance from my home and a regular meetup & socializing point for morning walkers like me.

Hope you like the picture. You can follow the blog tag "Padmapukur" to find my old posts from this station. Also if you visit my YouTube channel, search about the Padmapukur Railway station (click here to search) for several videos I shared there.

BTW did you notice SER was celebrating 50th anniversary of the first EMU service on it's network yesterday on May 1st? I was not aware of the same but still in a coincidence shared an EMU video on YouTube. Have a look at the blogpost and the video I compiled and shared yesterday:

I am pleased to present this PhotoBlog post after a long time again, and I should update this section regularly. Find all my PhotoBlog Posts here, and follow updates abut PDPK here. Thanks for your attention!

Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):

Date: April 20, 2018

Place: PDPK Padmapukur Railway Station (not for the video shared above).

Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway

(**Please report if any link above is broken)

Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.

© Soumo's Railways | Do connect with #SoumosRailways 
on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Instagram.