TATA-Tatanagar WAM4 locomotive (no. 21397) comes and takes out Aranyak Express for it's day's journey to Bhojudih from Shalimar Railway station.
TATA WAM4 is not a regular loco link to this train so it is naturally an offlink, but then also Tatanagar falls under SER (ie. Same zone), so it might not qualify as offlink to some. Still, it was cool to find this loco at SRC - SHM section.
My YouTube follower Mr. Rabin Saha comments "....only 8 WAM 4 are at TATA ELS and they will take retirement next year". Mr. Saha always pass on some great info. I am lucky to have such a great follower in him. But that retirement issue will make these locos very special as they will be extinct by next year!!
BTW, I spot the Aranyak Express, outgoing Shalimar, quite regularly, since it is a regular one from my home station SHM-PDPK. You can read all my past posts and even follow future posts about spotting the Aranyak Express here.
Watch the video of the TATA WAM4 loco coming in then later hauling out the 12885 Aranyak Express out of Shalimar Railway Station, here:
Here is the RF Data:
Date: January 19, 2018
Place:SHM-Shalimar Railway Station,
Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway
Loco: TATA Tatanagar WAM4 (no. 21397)Loco Shed: TATA - TatanagarLoco Zone: SER - South Eastern Railway
Train: 12885 Aranyak Express. Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.
I had a short work trip to Bhubaneswar last week. Since Mahashivaratri had fallen during the trip, I had two days off (13th and 14th). On 13th decided to visit Mukteshwar Shiva temple which is adjacent to the Mukteshwar Railway station (MKTP) under East Coast Railway zone. If you can see the video linked below, you can hear Sanskrit chants coming out of the temple.
This is a small station, actually a halt, and is served by a very few trains. I was stuck there for almost 8 hours unfortunately as there were no trains in between to Bhubaneswar and the scheduled ones were late by several hours.
While I was at the station, counting hours there was some nice oppertunities to spot trains. It was good especially as I had to wait for a long time there. AJNI WAG7 (no. 27184, Tigerface Livery) appeared first, silently with a freight train loaded with shipping containers.
Watch the tiger face livery loco coming in, here:
Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):
Uncommon visit of Kanpur WAG7 locomotive (no 28473) was sighted at the Shalimar Railway station yard of South Eastern Railway zone. Earlier that day it came in with a consignment of Ashok Leyland mini trucks. Here it is seen leaving after it's duty via the PDPK Railway station.
Read more about the Indian Locomotive class WAG7 here.
Watch the video of the loco leaving SHM via PDPK, here:
Here is the RF Data:
Date: January 19, 2018
Place:PDPK Padmapukur Railway Station, - but close to SHM-Shalimar Railway Station, Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway
I was returning home (to Shalimar) from Bhubaneswar from a work trip this Wednesday on the 22836 Puri Shalimar Weekly SF Express and while arriving at Shalimar I found that our regular Aranyak got one of those new SRC P7s (no. 30633) for the day's service. I was actually recording my trip to the station but also trying to note what loco Aranyak got while the train entered the station, so there that was, a SRC P7!!
After the train arrived at the station, I just ran with my luggage. Since I stay relatively at a walking distance from the station, I normally walk from station to home whenever I travel via Shalimar. So I ran really fast, crossed the closed 3rd level-crossing (sorry, but it was safe), and took a position before Aranyak started from Shalimar. Sadly the shunter blocked much of the view. Thought of raising a hand and asking the LP of the shunter to slow down, but maybe that would be much silly. Anyway hope you like the video of whatever I could record. The video is linked below or watch it on my YouTube Channel here. As I said above, this was last Wednesday, on February 14th, so maybe this is sort of a belated Valentines day special!
Now I really don't know if the loco is coming regularly for Aranyak. I was away recently and not visited SHM-PDPK area for sometime. I do remember that once TATA WAP7s were coming regularly for Aranyak and I was somewhat shocked then that train like Aranyak got WAP7s. I'll try to keep an eye on this train later this weekend just in case another of these elusive SRC P7s come in, which I will update in the blog.
BTW, I spot the Aranyak Express, outgoing Shalimar, quite regularly, since it is a regular one from my home station SHM-PDPK. You can read all my past posts and even follow future posts about spotting the Aranyak Express here. I also recommend you to check out my posts about the 22836 Puri Shalimar SF Express, which I also follow very often. The posts can be found here.
I have also made a short update of my current trip on Puri Shalimar which I actually made from Uluberia to Shalimar. My ticket was in Puri Howrah Shatabdi on Saturday, but thought of returning home early. So I had hopped on a GS coach and slept all night after a tiresome day, so sadly didn't record anything.
I am also yet to update my return journey from Puri to Shalimar on this same train. oh I have much to share. I'll update them in due course and will also link those here. I always write the following note when I talk about the "22836 Puri Shalimar SF Weekly express", that this is just an awasome train. You would love if you travel in it. The train gains so much speed at night and it is just amazing. I really recommend this train if you are travelling from Puri/BBS/CTC to Howrah/ Kolkata and vice versa. If Shalimar is inconvenient, get your tickets from SRC.
22835 Shalimar Puri Weekly SF Express departs later same day evening (Wednesday) around 2055 hrs and reaches PURI the next morning on 0540 hrs. It touches SRC-Santragachi, KGP-Kharagpur, BLDA-Belda, BLS-Balasore, BHC-Bhadrak, JJKR-Jajpur Keonjhar Road, CTC-Cuttack, BBS- Bhubaneswar, KUR-Khurda Road and PURI-Puri. Read more about this train here and here.
Here is the RF Data:
Date: February 14, 2018
Place:SHM-Shalimar Railway Station,
Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway
Loco:SRC Santragachi WAP7 [no. 30633]
Loco Shed:SRC SantragachiLoco Zone: SER - South Eastern Railway
Train: 12885 Aranyak Express. Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.
This post is from my railfanning trip to Shalimar and Padmapukur Railway stations last January 19th. This was last RF session at my home station before our trip to Puri, Odisha later that same day. BTW you can find my trip to Puri, a full journey compilation video here, and read the blog post on the journey here.
I really enjoyed this winter but now by mid-February the weather is not so nice again, though fortunately still not that harsh as it will be in next few weeks time. This year I had some nice train spottings through foggy weather and it was really interesting and a good experience. Here was a Howrah WAP4 locomotive (no. 22326) that came in with the 22214 Patna Duronto. I was standing at the outskirts of the PDPK Padmapukur Railway station as it was approaching towards the Shalimar Railway station.
Usually a SRC WAP4 is a normal link for this train, but occasionally it does find a Howrah WAP4. I have seen a Howrah WAP4 so many times that I am not sure, or reluctant to call this loco as offlink for this train. Still it was cool to find this not so regular loco with this train.
BTW The Patna Shalimar Duronto (especially 22214) is a frequently spotted train on my blog, you can read all posted updates about the same here.
Watch the train coming in to Shalimar via Padmapukur Railway Station here:
Here is the RF Data:
Date: January 19, 2018
Place:PDPK Padmapukur Railway Station, - but close to SHM-Shalimar Railway Station, Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway
Loco: Howrah WAP4 (no. 22326) Loco Shed: HWH - Howrah
Loco Zone: ER - Eastern Railway
Train: 22214 Patna Shalimar Duronto Express.
Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.
Earlier last month, as a big offlink, BIA Bhilai WAG5A locomotive (no. 23712) came in to haul the 12885 Aranyak Express from Shalimar Railway station and I had the oppertunity to make a video from Padmapukur railway station.
In the January cold and fog, the loco and the train appeared so beautiful that I had shared a snap even earlier. So if you remember, I had uploaded a #Photoblog update on this sighting which you can re-read here.
One of my regular and beloved follower friend on YouTube Mr. Rabin Saha commented the following: "BIA WAG5s are very rare because , BIA ELS has only 11 WAG5. Some of them have this distinctive livery. Fortunately you're able to capture one of them. Thank you."
I spot the Aranyak Express, outgoing Shalimar, quite regularly. Mainly because this train gets so many kind of different locomotives which is a train spotters delight. You can read all my past posts and even follow future posts about spotting the Aranyak Express here.
BTW this marks my 100th post on the blog, I am thankful to all for the great support.
Watch BIA WAG5A comes in to haul our beloved Aranyak Express:
Here is the RF Data:
Date: January 08, 2018
Place:PDPK Padmapukur Railway Station, - but close to SHM-Shalimar Railway Station,
Zone (Spotting location): SER - South Eastern Railway
Loco: BIA - Bhilai WAG5 (WAG5A variant) [no. 23712]
Loco Shed: BIA - Bhilai
Loco Zone: SECR - South East Central Railway
Train: 12885 Aranyak Express. Thanks for stopping by. As always, corrections, comments, suggestions new ideas, travel tips (or anything) are very much welcome and appreciated.
LDH Ludhiana WAG7 locomotive (no. 28302) appeared like a mini blue mountain and passed me like a mini storm with a freight train consisting of super heavy boxn-box wagons.
I am not sure but to me the box wagons or the boxns seemed to be bigger than normal ones. It was quite windy and probably the train too created much wind as it passed on.
This post continues to be part of my last year's railfanning session at the outskirts of NPMR or Narayan Pakuria Murail railway station which near to the city of 'Panskura' in the East Midnapore district of West Bengal. This station lies on the very busy 'Howrah - Kharagpore' line of the 'South Eastern Railway' zone. Please find the RF data below for more details about the train and the locomotive. Find the video here:
This blog post will continue to be updated in the next few days. Since this is supposed to be a detailed travelogue, and I am trying to write it through my busy work schedule, I might take some time to fully finish it. I invite you to bookmark this post and return again for more updates and pictures. The video link is shared below which can be followed in the meantime.
I, along with my family had been to the temple town of Puri in the state of Odisha for a vacation. We started on 19th January, 2018 from the Howrah Junction and our ticket was on the the 18409 Sri Jagannath Express. Our train was hauled by a SRC Santragachi WAP4 (no 22504) for the whole journey from Howrah to Puri.
This is my first attempt to make a complete journey compilation. However I made another journey compilation before of a short journey from Santragachi junction to Shalimar railway station (click here for the SRC-SHM journey video), but that I am reluctant to match that with the stature of this one. This compilation journey to Puri is made with whatever footage that I could manage. There were several difficulties.
Note that not all stations are covered in this video. Big misses are the Kharagpur Junction, Cuttack, Balasore, etc.
We were travelling in the sleeper class and everyone was asking to close windows in that mid-January cold night. Doors were also kept closed for obvious reasons and I did not argue about keeping them open.
Travelling with elderly members also slows you down and makes things difficult. Especially when you get to hear constant warnings about not to use camera on the moving train, which obviously a railfan ignores somewhat religiously. We definitely try to be safe, and there should be self note for being safe in future trips.
I have intentionally kept the video a bit lengthy and extensive for the purpose of archiving the same for the future. I mean I want to keep the whole journey archived on my YouTube channel . However I hope the compilation will be an interesting watch. I recommend watching it on a big screen for better experience.
We returned home to Howrah on January 24th morning. We took the 22836 Puri Shalimar SF Express which you have frequently read about in my blog. It is our favourite train and I also made a video of that journey. I shall share the same later on and will link the post here as well.
Here is the RF Data for the journey from Howrah to Puri: Dates of Journey: January 19 to 20, 2018 Journey via Zones:
- Howrah Station: Eastern Railway & SER-SouthEastern Railway
- South Eastern Railway
- East Coast Railway Train: 18409 Sri Jagannath Express Route: HWH-Howrah Station to PURI-Puri railway Station.
Last month on January 19th I had a nice railfanning session at the Shalimar and Padmapukur Railway station. The first sighting of that day was our tri-weekly regular Shalimar Adra Rajya Rani Express.
When I arrived at PDPK early in the morning that day, it was still dark. Santragachi WAP4 loco (no. 22680) came in through dark and it was a cool sight - which you will find on the first part of the video enclosed below.
Later it would lead the scheduled Shalimar to Adra '22861 Rajya Rani' Express. I noted the train cutting through dense fog out of Shalimar. It was so beautiful. Pity that such nice weather condition will disappear in a few weeks time. Do note how it crawls through some cool curves while slowly gains speed.
Watch the video of 22861 Rajya Rani Express going out, here:
Here is the RF Data (for the current observation):
Date: January 19 2018
Place: Outskirts of SHM-Shalimar Railway station (Near PDPK Padmapukur).
Today I wish to share a compilation of twin WAP4 action on the busy 'Howrah - Kharagpur' line of 'South Eastern Railway' zone. This post continues to be part of my trainspotting session at NPMR railway station last December which was a very successful one with some very interesting train sightings.
In this compilation you will find the SER's pampered train, the 12814 Steel Express from Tatanagar, and following it, the Howrah bound '12828 Purulia SF Express' cruising at very high speed. It is always such a pleasure to see these trains with the fiery red P4 locos. Both trains as you can see were hauled by SRC Santragachi WAP4s (no. 22503 and 22877) respectively for Steel and Purulia Express.
