================A WAIT================
It was the summer of 2015 , a very warm day in Bhopal , not the best day for railfanning either . It was 18th June 2015 , Friends I am here to tell you one of my worst train journey experience . A journey which I will never forget . So lets begin . . . .
17 June |
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had been in Bhopal for a couple of days for some urgent work . I was accompanied with my dad , we had stayed in a hotel near the railway station . For the return journey to Patna I had successfully booked a tatkal ticket in 11071 from Bhopal to Varanasi in AC 3 tier (though I had plans to deboard at Allahabad to catch 12149 Pune Patna Exp) and a sleeper class ticket from Allahabad to Patna in 12149 on 18th June .
All things were going fine , but at 12:00 hrs I smelled something bad is going to happen . I was at Bhopal Jn just for railfanning . I saw a train in old Rajdhani livery 12172 Haridwar LTT AC Exp is standing at pf2 that too without a loco [[/blog/post/1515299|pics]|/blog/post/1515299|pics]] . And the suddenly came Pushpak Exp from Itarsi end and the announcement said 12533 Lucknow Mumbai Pushpak Exp has arrived on Pf 3 . Totally surprised . I asked one passenger about where the train was going , he said the train is going to Mumbai and had returned from Obaidullagunj station and will take a different route . Then an announcement was made “ Itarsi RRI me bheeshan aag ke karan 12172 Haridwar Lokmanyatilak AC Exp ab parivartit marg Ujjain , Nagda , Ratlam hokar Lomanyatilak ko jayegi , Yatriyon ke is asuvidha ke liye hume khed hai “ . FIRE AT ITARSI RRI –this blew my mind , I hoped everything was ok till my tonight’s journey . Meanwhile 12172 departed after loco reversal and 12628 Karnatka Exp too returned from some station in BPL ET sec and arrived Bhopal Jn.
I returned to my hotel and turned on the TV , The fire at ET RRI was really massive and has destroyed the whole signalling system , there was also a news of diversion and cancellation of many trains . Meanwhile I checked the running status of my train on NTES , it showed that 11071 had departed LTT right time at 12:40 and was not diverted , this was a sigh of relief for me but I didn’t knew that a major problem is still to come .
At 15:00 hrs I got a press release from WCR which was posted at IRI that 11071 will be diverted via Jalgaon – Nagda – Nishatpura – Bina i.e it wont touch Bhopal Jn [/blog/post/1515482|Press Release]
At 20:30 , while checking NTES again I got another shock , The NTES displayed 11071 has arrived Bhusaval at 20:22 delayed by 1 hr 12 mins and has been diverted via Jalgaon - Surat - Ujjain – Bhopal and will arrive Bhopal Jn at 08:30 next morning instead of its schedule time 02:35 . So we decided to stay in the hotel for this night .
To Be Continued . . . The journey day
#NiketKaran

TRIP REPORT
October is an exciting month . The month of Diwali . . . which we all wait for months . As a railfan and a student I was super excited for the upcoming Diwali trip to my home . . . The exciting day arrived on 25th October – the day of my most awaiting trip . . . The trip was even more special because I was to travel in one of my favourite trains in which I had not travelled in last 15 years – SHAKTIPUNJ EXPRESS . . .
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, It all began in September , the planning for tickets . . . As there are no direct trains between Bhopal & Bokaro Steel City so I had to plan my journey accordingly . The only direct train for Patna , Indore Rajendra Nagar Express was showing Regret in AC 3 & Sleeper class so Patna break journey link was not working . So after much planning I booked a break journey tickets on 13th September from Bhopal to Barkakana Jn in 12854 Amarkantak Express & 11447 Shaktipunj Express with change over at Jabalpur in AC 3 tier .
The Journey Day (25th October) :
It was a pleasant day , Autumn is one of the best season for railfanning . I reached Bhopal station at 15:00 hrs , Amarkantak Express was standing on pf 4 , ET WAP 4 was the loco link . My B2 coach was 2012 made and was nicely maintained . The train departed sharp at 15:40 hrs . The train reached Itarsi at 17:30 , the loco changed to ET WDM 3A twins . Also It was pleasure to meet railfan and our IRI member Suraj Parihar at Itarsi Jn . Train departed ET at 18:05 a delay of 25 mins . The twins rocked the journey , running flat at mps .Despite having 8 halts train covered 245 kms in 3 hr 50 mins with an average speed of 68 km/hr and reached Jabalpur at 21:45 . One thing was surprising that we had overtaken 22352 YPR PPTA SF Exp at Madan Mahal , don’t know why controllers allowed this overtake to happen .
Jabalpur Station :
The WCR headquarters was as clean as expected . . . I was accompanied by my 2 friends , we had nearly 2 hrs buffer time so we decided to have dinner outside the station campus in a dhaba . We returned to station at 23:30 hrs . 11447 was scheduled to depart right time at 23:50 from pf 3 . But the train was itself placed at 00:20 hrs . . .
Shaktipunj Express :
My coach was 2010 made and it was even more nicely maintained than Amarkantak Express . The train departed late by 55 mins at 00:45 . The bedrolls were given to us at 01:25 by the time train had reached Sihora Road station . The train was hauled by a WDM 3A of Patratu shed .
The next Morning (26th October)
I got up at nearly 07:15 , the train was standing at an unscheduled halt Mahdeiya station i.e it had entered ECR Dhanbad division , the train departed at 08:35 after crossing with UP 11448 Shaktipunj Exp . The train was very slow upto Chopan , at CPU the loco link changed to PTRU WDP 4 , the speed got better after getting an EMD . At 16:00 hrs when the train was approaching Latehar , which is naxalite prone area , the train suddenly stopped with a jerk , the reason was a tree that had suddenly fallen on the tracks . The tree was removed quickly with the help of passengers and the local police from the nearby station Hehegara halt . The train finally reached Barkakana Jn at 18:45 , a delay of 50 mins . All thanks to slack time . . .
Although Chandrapura Jn is the nearest station on this route from Bokaro Steel City I chose Barkakana because of good road connectivity . The Ramgarh Bus stand is situated 5 kms from Barkakana railway station . From Ramgarh bus stand we get frequent buses to Bokaro Steel City . Bokaro is at a distance of 78 kms from Ramgarh bus stand .
We reached bus stand at 19:30 , we boarded different buses , my friend went to Ranchi . The bus departed at 20:00 hrs and reached Bokaro at 21:30 . The average speed of the bus was 52Km/hr .
Thanks for reading my trip report . . .
Attached Pics :
Pics 1-3 : Hoshangabad Station , pics taken from Amarkantak Express
Pic 4 : #SB of Mahdeiya Station
Pics 5 & 6 : Shaktipunj Exp standing at Renukut Station, CIC section
Pics 7-9 : Shaktipunj Exp standing at Singrauli station
Pics 10 : Hehegara Halt , Latehar District where tree incident took place
Pics 11-12 : The broken tree fallen on the tracks
Pics 13 : Chhipadodar Station
Pics 14 & 15 : Random Clicks at CIC section
#NiketKaran

TRIP REPORT
It was an exciting day !! Last day of my exam . . . The journey day had come after a long time . Time to go home . All packings were done a day before journey .
The ticket was booked in 3A from Itarsi Jn to Danapur in 12791 Secunderabad Danapur SF Exp . The departure timing was 00:35 hrs on 5 August .
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was accompanied by one of my friend . We had planned to go Itarsi either by 11408 Lucknow Pune Exp or 18238 Chhatisgarh Exp , whichever arrives first . We Reached station at 18:00 hrs . 11408 was delayed by 1 hr 20 minutes . So 18238 arrived first but seeing the over crowded UR coach we didn’t boarded it . After 15 minutes 11408 arrived we boarded it & fortunately got 2 window seats . The train departed Bhopal at 20:00 and reached Itarsi at 21:50 . We had enough time so we had dinner in a restaurant outside the station campus .
After having a delightful night railfanning session at ET , the train finally arrived at 00:35 hrs . ET WDP 4D #40195 took the charge from ET. My coach B2 was brand new 2015 made and was neat & clean , there were two charging points present in each bay . I took the bedroll from the attendant . The train finally departed at 01:30 . The train followed 11065 Pawan Exp right from Itarsi to Varanasi . The train had a superb run , the next morning , the on board cleaning maintenance was excellent . The loco changed from WDP 4D to twin alcos at ALD. Things were going very well upto Mughalsarai , but after that . . . . to be continued
/blog/post/1953894 - Part 2
/blog/post/1953894 - Part 3
Attached Pics
Pic 1 : Bhopal Jn #SB
Pic 2 : My coach B2 at Satna Jn
Pic 3 : View of Satna Jn
#NiketKaran