I have to be in Coimbatore for a friend's marriage reception on 30th oct, sunday. I was able to confirm my presence for the auspicious occasion only a day before. I decided to reach CBE the previous night itself. The travel option that immediately surfaced on my mind was the 12083 MV-CBE Jan shatabdi. But to my dismay, the general quota stood at 190 while tatkal availability was hovering around 95. I know this couldn't be a walk in train atleast on weekends but the ‘hope and eagerness’ factor residing deep inside me made to book under tatkal option at 01.00 ‘just’ on the day of travel. When I checked the PNR status at 12.30, current status was shown as W/L 73.With barely minutes for the chart preparation, I believed TNSTC will have to be my saviour. But to my utter surprise, the ticket got confirmed after chart preparation.
A train journey after a span of 5 months - What else could be a cheering factor?
But nature had its own plan. It started to rain at 14.30 and didn’t seem to stop in the near future. My friend who would be accompanying me to CBE can leave his office only after 16.00. Our earlier plan was to reach junction by bike but the incessant rain posed a big threat. Now the only option was to catch a bus from BHEL but I was still a ‘doubting thomas’ of our on-time arrival at junction due to expected traffic snarls. Finally, we caught a bus at 16.15 but quite interestingly neither the rain nor the traffic on road proved to be an obstacle for us and we reached tollgate at 16.40 itself. Just as we were cruising through the good shed bridge, I saw the 12083 pulling into the station. So near yet so far.
We entered the station on time – 16.50. Jan shatabdi was stationed on PF1 and my coach D11 was third from the engine. D10 was covered with Joy alukkas ad and was also scribbled with chalk as ‘Booked to CDO/TVC’. My friend offered me a tea at this instance and I went to the front to see the 16867 GOC WDM2 getting attached to our train. In the mean time, 36001 GOC WDS6 brought 12653 TPJ-MAQ express on pf2. My casual perusal of charts in D10 revealed that TPJ was completely overshadowed by the bookings from MV,KMU,TJ while in D11, honours are even. But on the destination front, surprise didn’t beg me, it was completely Kovai all the way followed by TUP and Erode. On the extreme left side, quadruplet link of 22730 ED WAP4, 22010 RPM WAP1 (ex-AJJ), 22838/22787 RPM WAP4 were taking rest. The clock was ticking 17.00, signal immediately turned into amber and the loco crew signalled our departure with a blaring horn.
Our coach, made in 2002 had its share of wear and tear. We cruised through the outskirts of trichy but gradually slowed down before Fort and eventually halted there where an unpowered BCNA rake accompanied us. After some five minutes, KRR-TPJ DEMU pulled into fort thereby paving way for our departure. Our next encounter was a fully loaded coal wagons at mutharasanallur followed by empty coal rake at kulithalai. The monsoon rain combined with tropical wet climate made me to believe that I’m indeed travelling in God’s own country. The Alco at some occasions struggled to pull the train with ease. Meanwhile TTE came and checked our tickets. It was getting dark and we sneaked into PF2 of Karur at 18.35 with a delay of 15 minutes. 56843 Erode pass led by 16657 ED WDM2 was standing on PF3. 56842 Trichy pass departed from PF1 which was soon occupied by 16853 ED WDM2 led 16339 CSTM-NCJ. I was wondering how good it will be to capture 16853 (loco) hauling 16853(chozhan).
After KRR, the 2600 hp powerhouse meant business. Except for the speed restriction at Noyyal river, the Alco had a great time in hauling the 13-coach affair. 16108 MAQ-MS express led by super palindrome 11111 ED WDM3D was kept in the siding at kodumudi to continue our uninterrupted run. We reached Erode at 19.40 which wore a deserted look with an increased delay of 20 minutes. Kongu region welcomed us with a nice drizzle. After a brief stay of 5 minutes, We started to leave and at the same time, 22793 WAP4 from Royapuram towed the 16381 towards CSTM. It was then a non-stop action in the FEDL - a WAG5 headed BOXN rake just after vijayamangalam, BTPN container headed by a waggie just after uthukuli. We were able to cover the next 50 kms in just 40 minutes thereby reaching the textile city at 20.25. Pitiable TUP – one of the ill-fated developing cities to have just two platforms. We left TUP sharply at 20.27. All this time, I was door plating and so decided to return to the seat to give enough rest to my legs. As we were progressing towards somanur, a LED train crossed us (presumably late-running sabari?). We might be running at 80s but astonishingly at somanur, we came to a screeching halt. It was evident through the smoke emanated from wheels that the braking was not quite smooth. But then, it didn’t hamper our progress, we started to chug off quickly.
16610/12 NCJ/TN express whizzed past us just before sulur road. Reached Irugur at 21.05. I couldn’t see a reasonable number of people either boarding or alighting here – unable to understand the rationale of this halt. The mighty ‘Blue Mountain’ crossed us at peelamedu. I was waiting for an unscheduled halt at North as I could reach cross-cut road (my destination for the night) easily by walk. But you know, everything won’t go in favour of you – we crawled through CBE North at a nominal speed. As usual, we were made to stop at the outskirts of CBE station. It was quite visible that rain was creating havoc in both rail and road operations. After an obvious hold-up of 10 minutes, we were admitted on PF5 at 21.45 – In other words, No make-up of the delay.
The ‘Manchester of South India’ greeted us with its pleasant climate and customary ‘Kongu Tamil’.
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