Part II : Pune-Miraj Journey!
1029 Mumbai-Kolhapur Koyana Exp departed from Ghorpuri (GPR) at around 13:48 hrs, now late by 28 minutes! Train was not
picking up very good speed, probably due to caution orders as well as few slums enroute and 2-3 manned level crossings!
Train picked up good speed after Sasvad Road (SSV), as habitation was very less and only fields (with...
more... crops of Bajari/Jwari) were
seen on either side of the tracks. We were held up at Phursungi (FSG) and I rushed to the door to see the crossing! Pune-Miraj
being single line, if a train is held at unscheduled halt, it must be probably for a crossing!
At FSG, 1610 Miraj-Pune passenger was seen hauled by green PUNE WDM2 # 17938. As soon as 1610 MRJ-PUNE passenger arrived FSG, my train 1029 was given starter signal. Now, Pune-Miraj section has color light aspects electrical signals (and not the old semaphore one and no more token exchanges here)!
Again, my train was held up at Alandi (ALN) station, just for 1 minute! ALN is not scheduled halt for Koyana Exp. However, few staff members got down at ALN and soon train started onward journey [Note: This Alandi village is called 'Chorachi Alandi', i.e Thief's Alandi by local folks. And there is other Alandi around 22 Kms from Pune by road, which is famous for Vitthal-Rakhumai Mandir and famous for Saint Dnyaneshwar. That Alandi, not on IR network, is called as 'Alandi Devachi', i.e. God's Alandi]!
We reached Shindavane (SHIV) and train speed got reduced (due to up gradient)! Nice journey now started! Lots of hills around!
Train passed through lots of rock cuttings and/or via ducts! Train reached Ambale (ABLE) soon and was held up for 10 minutes!
At ABLE, pairing train 1030 Kolhapur-Mumbai Koyana Exp was seen moving towards Pune behind blue GY WDM3A # 14031 balide loco (buldge face to Miraj)! I thought, as 1030 has passed, my train will be given starter! However, that was not the case!
After 7 minutes or so, 2781 Mysore-Nizamuddin SwarnaJayanti Exp arrived at ABLE behind twin GTL WDMx locos! The leading loco (towards Pune) was skyblue/yellow GTL WDM2A # 17278 and trailing loco was orange GTL WDM2A # 17944! This 17944 was in orange KZJ livery and GTL diamond logo was repainted and GTL words replacing KZJ words on loco side walls! 2781 MYS-NZM Swarna Jayanti halted at Ambale and my train started onward journey!
At lots of places on Shindwane-Ambale-Jejuri Section, I could clearly see old MG alignment, rock cutting between which old
MG tracks were running (and new rock cutting nearby where BG line was running)! Small bridges or water outlets/hole on MG
line are still intact and in place!
At Jejuri (JJR), my train stopped for scheduled commercial halt. Here, orange PUNE WDG3A # 14679 was ready with a goods train to proceed towards Pune. My train started journey towards Satara and goods train also simultaneously started moving towards Pune!
At Daundaj (DNJ), twin Shakti locos hauled goods train was waiting to proceed towards Pune. Leading loco was turquoise Shakti WDG3A and trailing loco was orange Shakti WDG3A. I could not see any details of locos due to high speed of my train. Similarly, at Valha (WLH), twin KJM WDG3A locos hauled goods train was waiting to proceed towards Pune. Again, due to high speed, I could not note the loco numbers of KJM twins!
At Nira (NIRA), where my train had stopped for regular halt, 6532 Yashvantpur-Ajmer Garib Navaz Exp speeded towards Pune
behind twin diesel locos. I could not see any details, except the fact that those were twin locos!
Again at Wathar (WTR), scheduled halt for Koyana Exp, I saw 1050 Kolhapur-Ahmedabad Exp speeding towards Pune with blue
PUNE WDM3A # 18951R! So, between Pune and Wathar, a distance of just 119 Kms, there were 8 crossings, viz., 1610, 1030,
2781, Goods, Goods, Goods, 6532, 1050! This shows how busy this section is, especially on Saturday, when we have weekly 2781, 6532 and 1050 trains! Also, lots of goods traffic on this single BG line!
Journey from WTR to KRD (Karad) was without any action, except the fact that train stopped for official halts at Satara (STR),
Koregaon (KRG), Rahimatpur (RMP), Targaon (TAZ), Masur (MSR) and Shirravde (SIW)! Local folks have long pending demand
that 1029/1030 Koyana Exp should be converted to a fast passenger, so that travellers will save more money!
We reached Karad (KRD) at 18:30 hrs, now late by 30 minutes! Here, 1039 Kolhapur-Gondia Maharashtra Exp arrived with
skyblue/yellow GTL WDM2A # 16752! 1039 KOP-G Maharashtra Exp was also late by 20-25 minutes! As 1039 arrived, my train
left KRD at 18:36 hrs, now late by 36 minutes!
Interesting observation was made at Karad! Karad station still has semaphore signals. I think, work of electric signal
installation is complete only on Pune-Karad section. Further section still seems to be with old signalling system.
Now, it was getting darker and outside view was not clear anymore! At Kirloskarwadi (KOV), one passenger train with complex rake sharing arrangement (RSA) boards (like Miraj-Pune-Kolhapur-Satara) was waiting to proceed towards Satara direction, headed by brown PUNE WDM2 loco. At Bhilavadi (BVQ), a single loco (probably WDS6 shunter or derated WDM2S shunter) was idling on the outer yard (with head lights on).
Finally, my train arrived at Miraj Jn (MRJ) at around 20:20 hrs, late by 30 minutes! My next train 1047 Miraj-Hubli Exp was scheduled to depart from Miraj at 00:20 hrs (next day!) and so, I had around 4 hrs 'free' time at Miraj. I decided to go out of station for dinner and return back ASAP to see some action at MRJ!
Observations at Miraj to follow soon as Part 3!