and then to Karwar by road.
By a long, yet crowded, YP-hauled Guntur-Gadag Passenger we reached Gadag at 2029 on 22 Sept. from Hospet on single track, m.g. The parallel broad gauge from Guntakal for ore traffic had ended at Hospet. Had dinner (my friend stays vegetarian while travelling) in the Dining Hall - it was filling for Rs. 1:85 P. each, but flat in taste. Seeing a foreigner dining, the manager brought out the Suggestions & Complaints Register, in which my friend wrote a few words of appreciation (which were duly taken note of by the periodic inspection committee, as he was informed by a letter received at Madras from the Railways months later). Both of us slept fitfully, myself on a wooden bench on the platform and my friend on a sheet of cloth spread on the floor of the upper class waiting room - for there was no vacant bench inside. The night was quite chill for me at this altitude. The week-long Ganesh festival was drawing to a close in the town, crackers being burst all around, much more loudly and continuously than during Deepavali in Madras. Trains, passenger and goods, kept roaring in and out - for there was considerable ore traffic out of Bellary on the m.g. towards Goa Harbour. Both of us got up by 0545, took bath in the UCWR, had breakfast and got Class III tickets (Rs. 4:40 P.) for Bijapur.
Gadag was a rather big station but with just a single, long platform, much of it sheltered, facing N, and receiving trains in three sections of it by scissors-crossings; had a bay on the southern side of its Wn. end. The main line was actually the third track, beyond which was another loop, past which were the shunting yards, loco shed and goods shed.
.. Gadag Jn. (2126') The long Hubli - Sholapur Passenger came in a few mins. ahead of schedue (0655), hauled by a YB. There was a reversal of direction here, and a YG was attached at the Wn. end. Was fairly crowded, but clambered into a carriage to occupy corner seats vacated by some getting down. d 0717.
Ran W, then veered steadily away from the Hubli line to assume a Nly direction. The land was quite plain, sloping gently down to E, with dark grey, slightly moist soil - the famous black cotton soil. But all lay bare then, with occasional patches of coarse grains. Ran mostly straight N, sometimes a little to the E or W of it [1].
(13) Hombal (2065' ) a ... d .... Pfm at left, loop to the right (E)
(22) Balaganur (1982' ) a 0748, d 0750, with one loop to the left, pfm. at right just past a brief siding.
(31) Mallapur (1938' ) a 0802, 0815. Pfm at right (E) with two loops and goods sheds and stores to the left. A small stall. Quite a few Mysore state buses in the stand just outside the station. The terrain was plain, broken by a chain of ridges to the E and NE, over 5 km. away, with similar, but less conspicuous ridges in the distant W. Quite some cultivation to the W. Waited for an up Pass. which came in at 0808.
That was cotton territory. As we ran further N, it became evident that the ridges closing in ahead from the E and the W actually the formed wall of a river basin.
(42) Somankatti Halt (1883' ) a 0828, d 0829. No loop of siding, nor any pfm. but a tiny corrugated G. I. booking office on the left (W). Slight right curve into N-NNE, across more of black cotton soil, bare but occasionally with crops of millets.
49) Hole-Alur (1770' ) a 0838, d 0847. A medium-sized station; pfm, partly sheltered, at left; 3 loops to the right, with a goods shed. Maize grown on both the sides around some tin-roofed houses. A ridge stared from ahead in the N. some 3-4 km away.
Within a km to the N. of the station crossed R. Malaprabha by 16 x 40' pony truss bridge and hit the SEn face of a 100' ridge, turned left (NW) to ascend it, after having descended 356' since Gadag over nearly 50 km. to the river. (I could not note down the gradients being seated on the other side). Hitting a low pass, curved right, again into NNE, to enter
(56) Lakhmapur (1882' ) a 0903, d 0905 - a long pfm. with a small office at the left; a loop to the right.
We were climbing up again; the soil had changed colour abruptly to red-brown just after we had crossed the pass; some maize amidst stunted trees. A few red sandstone hillocks to the left, but a chain of them arched out to the fore-right and in again to close ahead. Curved to the left, with a road closing in on the right and crossing over into fore-left as we cleared the pass.
(68) Badami (1905' ) a 0920, d 0922, quite a big station with a pfm at the right (E), but stopped only briefly.
We were close to the historic site of Vatapi, the capital of the early Chalukya empire. The famous cave temples, the earliest dating back to the mid-6th century, some 5 km to the E, and the fort were invisible from the railway station. Pattadkal, 16 km. to NE by road and Aiholi, another 8 km in the same direction, had many temples, Hindu and Jain, dating back to the 7th or 8th century, but we had no time to go to these places.
Curved left, ran in a NNWly direction, cleared another gap in a chain of hillocks and emerged into a saucepan-like basin. Curved again to NNE, traversing an undulating terrain, covered with patches of grass on light red-brown soil. Did a steady 64 kmph, crossing a few streams that irrigated patches of jowar fields.
(81) Guledagudda Road (1843' ) a 0937, d 0942. Platform at right, with a couple state-run buses waiting just outside the station; a long loop and a shorter one on the right with a goods shed. The road curved ahead from W to E, with another bus held up at the level-crossing near some rock-walled houses.
Ran almost straight, first crossing a shallow depression, with scattered stones and sparse bushes, then across another depression with a little farming around brick-walled houses. Miles ahead, another wall of a ridge stared at us past open terrain. The soil again abruptly turned black, and the land flatter. Curved to the right to enter
(94) Bagalkot (1762' ) a 0958, d 1020. We were received on the main track which had no platform; pfm. for the loop at left (to W), on which waited a Hubli-bound train. The engines of both trains collected water. Two loops to the right, then a large GI goods shed, one half of it unwalled, past which were more sidings. The quite large town lay to the W. [2].
Part 2 (of 2)
184 km. 23 Sept., 1966
Out of Bagalkot ran NNE, with R. Ghatprabha to our left (W) for a while, turned away from it into NE, crossed a stream by a 60' girder bridge; then with the stream on our left, hit the ghat, ran into a gap between two hillocks. Past a bend in the stream on the left, crossed the dry bed of another by a 40' bridge. Gently curving to the right following the contours of a ridge on our left, we ran NE past some jowar cultivated in the gently rolling plain to the right; then curved left to hit a pass in the ridge, cleared through a 20' cutting, then kinked to the left to enter, due N-NNE,
(108) Kadlimatti (1912' ) a 1041, d 1052. The station was in a 40' deep cutting with a pfm. serving the loop on which we were received. A double-headed goods train came in from Bijapur at 1045. We had climbed up some 150 ft. since Bagalkot, with a descent ahead. Ran overlooking alternately at ravines and hillocks to the right (SE) and, on clearing the cutting, the plain to the left was exposed to the view. Descended, past some maize crops, curving twice to run into NNE, cleared the hills and passed through a trough with 20 - 40' high rises on both sides. Curving to the left entered
(121) Chitimani (1663' ) a 1109, d 1117. A foot-high pfm. at right, curving along with the left-curving track; two sidings 2 m above the track level to the left.We had descended nearly 250 ft. since Kadlimatti. A road had closed in just outside the station. On the elevations on both the sides were red-tiled shacks. Ran NNW, emerged out of the trough with the ridge on the right rising up nearly 100 m and ending precipitously, with a rock pillar atop, and poking like a finger towards R. Krishna, which was crossed by a truss bridge of total length nearly 4000 ft. Water was flowing over much of its bed, though not in depth. At the other end of the bridge, was a stream joining Krishna to our right, with a low ridge beyond, tiled shacks perking on it. The stream kept company with the 20' high embankment of our track for over a km. and we ascended to a low ledge with further rises on our left, but these receded rapidly.
(124) Almatti (1672' ) a 1124, d 1129. A quite large station, foot-high pfm. at right, three loops on the left (W). The environs were rugged, the bottom of the trough being nearly 3 km wide and occasionally cultivated [3].
Then NNW across a shallow depression,
(132) Wandal Halt (1824' ), passed non-stop, with a tiny office level with the track. We had ascended nearly 150 ft. in 8 km. since Almatti just past the river. Then across an undulating plateau, with the tributary at some distance to our right
(140) Telgi (1880' ) a 1150, d 1208. Arrd. on time. A compact station, but with quite a few loops and sidings. Aligned N/S, with foot-high pfm. for the loop at right (E) with the town just outside. A goods shed on a short siding jutting out of the Nn. end of the pfm. Two more loops to the left with shunting lines beyond. A larger goods shed on that side [4].
Past Telgi ran across a 3-km wide plateau which dropped ahead.
(145) Kudgi Halt (1824'). a ... , d 1219. No loops nor sidings; a tiny hall with walls of wooden planks and roof of tin sheet.
Hill range some 10 km to the left past a shallow depression; a deeper, wider one to the right extending for about 15 km (Long distances can be deceptive to estimate). Very little cultivation; coarse grass with a few scattered trees. We were ascending again along the tongue-like plateau as the depression to the left became as wide as that to the right. Then plots of jowar.
(159) Mulvad (2043' ) a 1239, d 1241. Lantern posts and a small VLR stall on pfm. at right, with a few houses outside (E); two loops on the left and a brief one on the right just past the Nn. end of the pfm. An ascent of 220 ft. since the last station. Dry wasteland on light brown soil, spotted with a few trees.
Descended the tongue, crossed R. Don by 8 x 100' pony truss bridge with a little water flowing on its bed; joined by a road on the left
(166) Honaganahalli (1924' ) a 1250, d 1251, a tin cubicle serving as booking office. Little else.
The road crossed over into our foreright as we ran across a mostly waste terrain, overall level, with longitudinal undulations, parallel to our track; occasional patches of maize.
(171) Jumnal (2054' ) a 1300, d 1302. A small brick-walled and tiled office on a foot-high, sand-filled pfm, with lantern posts, at right; two loops on the left. No dwellings in the vicinity [5].
Curved right, ran N, then NNE, across a shallow depression, descending a little as the grey, basalt structure of Gol Gumbaz came into view at a distance ahead. Dry wasteland all around with stunted trees and bits of jowar here and there. Curved left and, skirting the En wall of the fort-city, entered
(184) Bijapur (1963' ), a 1321 (4 min. ahead). A rather large station with just a single, long pfm., aligned N/S, on the left (W) of a loop, track 2 being the main line. The pfm. had a number of offices, stalls, cloak room and a vegetarian dining hall. To the right (E) of the main track were three lops, the last tunnelling through a long goods shed, beyond which there were a few small buildings and nothing else - just open wasteland.
The historic city, lying just to the W of the station, had too many monuments to be seen during a brief halt. But who would miss the Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (d. 1656), which has the world's largest dome (124 ft. dia.), second only to that of St. Peter's in Rome, but covering a larger area. After lunching in the dining hall, we walked 400 metres through a gate in the En wall to the tomb. It did not impress me at first, looking very simple. Only on getting inside, after paying an entry fee of 20 paise, it slowly dawned on me, a person not much taken to art or architecture, what a magnificent edifice it was. It is better seen in person than read described. Climbing up the winding stairs, we reached the eighth corridor just below the dome, where even the faintest whisper was echoed manifold. We snapped our fingers, clapped our hands and my friend even played a short melody on his recorder (a flute) and everything reverberated many times, magnified in intensity. Exiting reluctantly, we hired a tonga for Rs. 5/- to take us around the principal monuments in densely built, slightly elliptical town.
Returned to the station and caught the 1755 YG-hauled Passenger back to Gadag.
Source: A collection of writings on metre gauge branch line travel by "Mr. R. Sivaramakrishnan." Most of the material in this section has been compiled from posts made by Mr. Sivaramakrishnan to the IRFCA mailing list.
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click hereReading all this i came to know Gadag junction was important rail head with Having good facilities like Loco shed, Shutting yard and good sheltered Single PF at those days. I miss and ❤ that old Gadag junction very much..
