Extremely complicated departure from pl-21 of Howrah!!! Never ending action follows simultaneously
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A Very Good Morning to all railfans. On a frosting and foggy morning of January, the 12703 Howrah (HWH)- Secunderabad (SC) FALAKNUMA Superfast Express headed by 22644 WAP- 4 of SRC shed departs from pl- 21 of Howrah station (New Complex) after a delay of 5 minutes. Since the...
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cab road is situated between pl- 21 and 22, so reputed and prestigious trains are generally made to depart from either of these two platforms while heading for SER. For ER, another cab road is situated between pl- 8 and 9 in the Old Complex.
At pl- 19, the empty rake of 18006 Jagdalpur (JDB)/ Sambalpur (SBP)- Howrah (HWH) SAMALESHWARI Express headed by 13369 KGP shed WDG- 3A was waiting to get shunted to Santragachi (SRC) Coaching Yard.
At pl- 18, the 1h 30m late 12809 Mumbai CST (CSTM)- Howrah (HWH) Superfast Mail (via Nagpur) had just arrived and was taking a breather.
At pl- 17, it was the empty rake of 12896 Puri (PURI)- Howrah (HWH) Weekly Superfast Express standing with 16381 WDM- 3A of KGP shed getting ready to be shunted to SRC yard.
In the side lines situated between pl- 16 of Old Complex and pl- 17 of New Complex, 16312 WDM- 3A of KGP was standing idle with an EOG at its tow.
And just as we clear the platform, and enter the spider web of tracks and points, we witness a wonderful parallel action with the empty rake of 12346 Guwahati (GHY)- Howrah (HWH) SARAIGHAT Superfast Express with an idle 20071 WDP- 4 of SGUJ shed getting shunted to Liluah Coaching Yard, and HWH DLS respectively. As a matter of fact, the twin Liluah Coaching Yards, the HWH DLS, HWH ELS, and Liluah Electric Loco Trip shed are situated adjointly. So the empty rake, and the loco is shunted out of the platform coupled together. And after entering the yard, they are decoupled, and are moved to their respective places. Same thing is followed in SER, as the SRC ELS, Diesel Locomotive Trip Shed, and Coaching Yard is situated adjointly.
After crossing the old bridge (which carries a cement board reading "EIR 1933", I rotate my camera, and you can notice the signal given to the approaching WAP- 4. The signal was caution with "20" being flashed in the display board. It means that the train is assigned to pl- 20. Is this system used anywhere else in India??
Behind the SARAIGHAT, you can see an ER's Howrah- Burdwan Main Line EMU giving yet another parallel action.
The WAP- 4 was 22865 of SRC shed hauling the 12864 Yesvantpur (YPR)- Howrah (HWH) Superfast Express, which was more than 1 hour late.
Just after the train passes, you can notice numerous rakes kept at the distance. Those are the side lines, and are used to keep spare rakes, and rakes of the lesser priority trains.
The 36191 WDS- 6 of HWH shed was shunting the rake of 12303 Howrah (HWH)- New Delhi (NDLS) POORVA Superfast Express (via Patna) with 22531 HWH WAP- 4 attached, which would be its ultimate link for the journey.
As we bid goodbye to the ER section, and take a massive curve, we meet a SER EMU having parallel action with the 22839 SRC WAP- 4 hauled 18616 Hatia (HTE)- Howrah (HWH) Express, which was also 1 hour late. We also see another SER EMU getting shunted to SER's Tikiapara EMU Car Shed.
Finally to end the action, we spot the rake of 12262 Howrah (HWH)- Mumbai (CSTM) A.C. DURONTO Express getting shunted to HWH, and another shunting EMU.