Bangarpet, and 8 different modes of travel in a day!

It was a 23-year old dream that came true for Anand and myself, and it involved travelling in eight different modes of transport in a day!

Switching gears back to one fine summer morning of May 1989, the story begins with the Green-liveried Brindavan Express accelerating out of Jolarpet Junction to climb the mighty Dakshin plateau between Mulanur and Kuppam. These two boys who were travelling to Bangalore for the first time after hearing the same old Brindavan Express stories of their grand father for nearly five full years, were fighting for the forward-facing window seat and finally came to an agreement that one will occupy upto Kuppam and the other will replace till Bowringpet. The train meandered through gentle curves chugging all the way with smoking multiple diesels from Erode, whistling a lot more as there were fewer subways and fly-overs at that point of time, busiest of those LCs was the Natrampalli gate in the Chennai – Bangalore highway. As the train reached Bowringpet Jn through the brown-boulder-filled hills of Deccan, their father did not forget to imbibe in them a vital piece of information that the branch line that joined just before BWT was the line from Marikuppam and that there is a Narrow guage line to Kolar and Chintamani that branched off there. And as the Brindavan was taking a breather at the platform 1, there came in a passenger bound for Marikuppam in pf 2. What created the interest is still a mystery, but the boys decided to ‘go’ to Marikuppam one day to explore what is really there! This scene became a routine as their travels to Bangalore became more-or-less an annual feature. This Marikuppam passenger continued to remind them of the pilgrimage that was yet to be performed.

Back to present (what an oxymoron!), April 21, 2012 was not as sunny as it was predicted to be. The day began for my brother Anand and myself at 5.30 AM with the alarm going off, very similar to the same time that it rung 23 years ago to indicate packing idlis and puliyodharais in mandharai leaves to be wrapped again in Hindu paper with a name written on whose pack it is! It used to be a quaint ‘alarm time-piece’ that day as against the dumb alarm of the mobile phone. Prabhu joined us shortly at 5.45 as he didn’t have any other choice but to join us because his weekend will be dull and boring without his hang-out-mates around. Took a ticket to Park for Rs. 5 (it was 1.50 then). The early morning treat began with #16565R bringing in the mighty ‘Rameswaram’ to Egmore, leading long hood. This hauled my 153 Dn and 154 Up Cholan Expresses on the weekend of April 7/8 to Tiruppadiripuliyur and back. The journey to Park in the unit was a bit usual, trying to play hide and seek with the Express train in the mainline. Egmore was buzzing with action – the noise of arrivals, the faces of half-awake-zombie-like people getting down from trains that may have arrived before time, the constant ting-ting-ting announcements from the PA system and a whistle or two from some of our familiar locomotives.

The rush lightened along the East side doors letting some fresh air in, indicating that we have neared Park. We cruised along the other door and rushed out before the crowd occupied every inch of the narrow lane connecting PH Road and MPK – lighter or virtually no luggage means negotiating these crucial bottlenecks with ease. A jump over the median at the ‘wee’ hour of 6.30 AM pushed us in front of Central. The environs of Central just resembled the one of Egmore with one exception – the unique brick red colour of the building all around. Cheran had just arrived in 10, 3 Mail in 9, 42 was in 8 with the expected now-not-an-offlink LGD WAP-4. The very sight of the Brindavan Express packed in Pf 3 of Central awakened all the goose bumps that were hidden in me. A lazy stroll through the narrow way between 2A and 3 took us to D4. To our utter surprise, we were offered an exchange for an Emergency-window window seat because that gang had kids who may peep out (nipping a railfan in the bud!). The deal was agreed and we were all set to explore in a rear-facing non-business-end EW seat, the middle one and aisle seat next to it. This time we were careful enough to draft and agree gentlemen agreements on who will occupy the EW seat and in what stretch.

To be very honest, I was a bit indifferent when I went to note down the power of the train, the first experience behind a white horse WAP-7 was very disappointing when I travelled in 8 Mail back to Madras a year ago. 30237 of LGD didn’t impress me at all. So I was not able to decode the voice of 30287 that was in front of me murmuring, “wait and watch”. The old and faithful 39 Dn pulled out at 7.16 and took the familiar mainlines to AJJ. An early morning wake-up kindled the energy in us to munch whatever that chugged out of the pantry. It started with Pongal and Vadai at Basin Bridge – we were done by the time it picked up speed at Vyasarpadi. VPY is the place where all trains, irrespective of the age, race, creed and gender pick up speed after joining the lines from Beach. If there was one soul which really prayed that I had a good run, it would be of Rakesh Joshi’s. He was waiting to hear that the run by one his favourite locos from one of his favourite sheds was fantastic – true to his prayers, the white horse made Anand say that the 10 Rupees that we paid for the Superfast Surcharge is really worth the expense. All the suburban stations between Madras and Arakkonam were tore apart – courtesy: the magic wand of BPCS. Arakkonam was reached in an hour. This loco also passed the acid test of ‘Arakkonam Starter to Sholingur Home in 16 minutes flat’ to prove its worth!

Walajah Road station now has three lines towards Ranipet and two new platforms constructed for trains to Ranipet side. I guess a revivial upto Ranipet is on the cards as this stretch forms part of the Tindivanam – Nagari new line. Katpadi soon followed with the familiar tall rise buildings belonging to VIT University. We pulled majestically into Pf 1 a few minutes BT. The loco, being an electric, did not require a refill, but our refill was done by way of hot bajjis, cutlets and big-size vadais. I was waiting for the standard moment of the Gudiyattam-Ambur-Vaniyambadi trio to be torn apart (unfortunately, Brindavan has a halt in the latter two). GYM was ripped apart at MPS of 110 kmph without mercy of any sort. It was repeated for the smaller stations of Melpatti and Pachakuppam before we came down to a jolting halt at AB. Vaniyambadi was soon stopped-and-started, and with two caution orders at Valathoor and Kettandapatti, we managed to reach JTJ in 75 minutes.

Had it been the 90’s, I would have walked upto the loco end to watch the traditional AJJ WAM-4 signing off in favour of the multiple diesels… this time, I had to feel contended with watching the activity happening in Pf 1 for 10 minutes. SWR adopted us 10 minutes late and let us through the narrow passage-ways along the Eastern ghats into the Deccan plateau. This section is where the magic wand of BPCS was doing wonders – we were able to maintain a constant 100 kmph while climbing the ghats which would have been a difficult task otherwise. An hour later, we were nearing BWT, the town that is set to entertain our gang for the rest of the day. As the train slowed down to take the huge left curve to enter the platform 3 (a déjà vu of what happened decades ago), the chill breeze that blew along seemed to welcome us for a treat ahead. I called Rakesh only to get to know that they were 2 km before the station from the other side, slowing down in a DEMU. “We are really close, Annaa!” is what he mentioned, to which I replied, “now, take a better look at the warrior in white!”

Sathya Narayanan Thirumalai and Natarajan Chandrasekharan were along with him. Although I had met SNTM once at SBC while jumping platforms for the Kaveri-Jan Shatabdi switch eventually passing through Pf 7 where his Madras Shatabdi was, I did not get a good chance to talk and chat with him in detail. I was meeting Natarajan for the first time. After the initial Hi, hello, epdi irukeenga greetings, we decided to finish our lunch. A stroll along the bus stand fetched a (pyooor veg  as how Tamilians say) restaurant that offered full meals with chapathi and appalam for Rs. 30 – it was a good deal. Mumbai – Nagarkovil Exp was entertaining us all along during our lunch time, while a bizarre offlink loco 16161 of Ratlam shed was attached as the power for the Marikuppam Passenger packed in Pf 4.

On-dot departure for a 30-minute, 15+ km journey that we have been waiting for was really eventful. The loco was really puffing out a lot of smoke as if a gas cylinder connection is not available in its home and it is forced to use a timber-stove. The horns were also loud and powerful and adding to it was the amazing ‘oooooh’ sound that we get to hear while accelerating. After a journey for some time, soon the way-side stations started to appear one-by-one from nowhere. The first 5 km of the journey is blank without stations enroute, just offering a breath-taking view of the plateau and the quarries nearby. We got down at each station and took photographs taking turns, to document the visit, much to the amusement of the locals. They found it quite strange to hear that people have travelled 300 km just to see what is there in this 15 km section that is nestled amidst low-rise hills. The photo session also included capturing the name board of the ‘Champion’ station really to say that we have been champions in realizing our dream!

At Marikuppam, the loco reversed and got attached LHF to the rake, and we got another round of ‘looty’ to perform in the 75% empty passenger to BWT. The entire section was full of ups and downs so it was a nice experience all along. We bought direct tickets to Kolar. Without any other choice, we decided to settle down in pf 3 of BWT after the first leg of the trip. Clouds that were gathering at the top hampered the movement of fresh breeze so it was more humid that what it promised to offer. Soon, Seshadri Express rolled in with 22031 tagged along with a failed 30290 p7 of LGD shed. I was questioning Rakesh why can’t this loco be sent to LGD via DMM, the quickest route along with some train that has a lesser load, he chose not to answer!

As the clock ticked 4 pm, we switched platforms and went to Pf 5 where the Kolar Railbus was parked. We were joined by Harisharan, a local railfan, who goes to SBC on weekdays for work. After a few customary photos along with the railbus, we stepped in and occupied the first few seats. It was a very difficult task for vertically-advantageous-persons like me who are above 180 cm, to park the legs. The space between two seats was just enough for half of my femur bone to fit in. We had to turn and adjust in the available space. Soon, crowd started coming in and we had loud cacophony inside the bus. It started exactly at 4.30 pm and was happily whistling all along. It would have been an amazing sight to see big lorries waiting at the LCs to let this tiny boy cross. Half an hour worth of bumpy ride along a moderately-maintained track at an average of 40 kmph took us to Kolar station. I really felt happy to see the state of a well-maintained NG station building despite the BG encroachment. There was an exchange of crowd waiting to happen, however, people on platform were surprised to see that a bunch of 7, instead of getting down, was moving from one corner to the other to grab the front rows!

The return journey was equally interesting and we rolled into BWT sharp at 5.40 pm. The MEMU to KJM was already there in the adjacent platform 4 to receive our crowd. A DEMU from MKM was called in pf 5 and soon, our MEMU started to roll. It was another high speed journey in the MEMU with stoppings at Varadapura, Tyakal, Byatarayanahalli, Malur, Devanagonthi, Whitefield and Vimanapura SGT. A brief stop at KJM home hampered the timings a bit, but we were able to pull to KJM pf 1 in style. We took a bus to BYPL Metro station and took the metro to MG Road. After the regular ‘checking bags and persons’ ceremony, we went to the second floor to buy tickets. The stations were well maintained and the crowd control was wonderful. A quick ride took us to the heart of the city, MG Road (Coach ED203).

After deciding on the place (where to have dinner), we bade bye to Rohit (who joined us at BYPL) and Natarajan, took an auto to Majestic. A wonderful, wholesome and sumptuous dinner was awaiting our arrival at Priyadarshini Restaurant that included a plate of Special Masala Dosai, Champakallu sweet and Vadai with delicious Udupi Sambar and chutney as side dish. A brisk walk after a sweet pan in the mouth resulted in us reaching the majestic Bangalore City station complex. We sent off SNTM and Rakesh at the bus stand and went in to Pf 5. Given the level of being tired, I chose to sleep in one of the benches in the platform. The revving sound of a hood-end leading WDP-4 #20005 pulled me up at 11.45 pm. We got into our S11 at the far end of the consist and hit the be(rth)d immediately. The train pulled out at 0.12 am. I was briefly woken up by the TTE at Cantonment at 0.30 am. The next minute I remember was the PA audio during the stop at Tiruvallur. 20 Up Mail was given precedence in Pf 1 as we were waiting in Pf 2. Perambur was hit at 7 am, and we finally came back to the same old Pf 3 of Central, a day later!

We got out of the station, took 500B Volvo to Saidapet and reached home around 8.30 am. A well-earned rest was taken on Sunday to prepare for the next week’s routine to office.

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