A Day @ Chennai Central....

04.06.08
My Aunt called me to inform that they were leaving to Bangalore by the Mysore Shatabdi Express the next day morning. I had earlier missed my sister's wedding due to the reason that I had my semester going on. And I wished that this was the right time to see her off to Bangalore since she's no more gonna stay here in Chennai. And the other news is that my another brother is arriving home from Vizag by the Guwahati - Bangalore Express which he called us to inform that the train was late by around 2 hours at Vizag. So I had made rough calculations that the train must be here somewhere around the departure of the Shatabdi so that I can see my sister off and pick up my brother! :) I'm all set for a railfanning session in Chennai Central the next day!

05.06.08
I woke up much before the alarm rang! Its now 04:00. Had my coffee followed by a bath and rushed to the Korattur Railway station (thats where i stay - 12 kms away from central) and as i get my ticket, the 04:36 EMU bound to central arrived bang on time and departed! Damn! Now I gotta wait for another half-an-hour since the 2 EMU trains in between are bound for chennai beach! Now I gotta wait for the next one which is at 05:05. I patiently hang around hoping that some incoming trains towards Chennai would whizz past me. And as expected the Mangalore - Chennai Mail zoomed past me with an LGD WAP4 22257 (unusual link!) Then there was an 8 car BCCNR rake hauled by GOC WDS6 36021 which was sent between the 2 EMUs. Mine was fast approaching and before that the Dhanbad - Alleppey Express (late by 50 mins) with a Sapthagiri liveried AJJ WAM4 sped past me at MPS! As my EMU departed I cling on to the door hoping for more spottings and more importantly arrive in time to catch the Shatabdi! As I near Basin Bridge Jn. to my astonishment my train is put to a halt for a couple of times. Damn it! Its 05:40 and the Shatabdi is at 06:00! I start wondering how am I gonna make it. Very soon the starter was given and we were off! Then I was able to sight a TNP WDM7 in the sidings shunting an empty BOXN rake. the other side the Chennai - Jammu Tawi Andaman Express crawled past us with an ED WAP4 22671. And as we slowly approach Central the Andaman was very soon followed by Shalimar - Trivandrum Express powered by AJJ WAM4 20652. The rake of the Yercaud Express was also shunted back to the yard. I reached central and made a sprint towards the platform ticket counter. First things first! lol! Before I could notice the display my Aunt called up to tell that the Shatabdi was on PF 1. Man! thats a long way to go..... 05:50 on clock. I have atleast 10 minutes to talk to my sister and her husband. And as I jumped into the PF 1 my brother waved his hand to greet me with a smile :)

C5 was the coach and I entered it to see my relatives cheered up on meeting me. So nice of them. After few conversations I wished my sister good luck and jumped out the coach as it was already 06:00 and The Tata Indicom Shatabdi is all set to receive its starter. The Vodafone Kovai Express was on PF 10 and the Sapthagiri Express on PF 11. I walked ahead to check out the link expecting it to be a WAP4 and unusually it was yet another Sapthagiri liveried AJJ WAM4 21232. Starter was given at 06:03 and they were off as I wished them a Very Happy Journey! Now I have my brother arriving here from Vizag and the train was about to make it to MAS at 07:30 or so. A solid 3 hours late! Well thats much more than what i had calculated! So i gotta hang around for some 1.5 hours.... Thank god! There are lotsa trains around and I can do a hell a lot of rail-fanning!

Meanwhile the Bangalore - Guwahati Express had arrived dot on time with an ED WAP4 22244 on PF 5 and got an AJJ WAM4 21339 (Barbie) paying the price for its reversal, while the Alleppy - Chennai Express arrived with the country's first AJJ WAP1 22000 on PF 4. The Jan Shatabdi was shunted into PF 2 and the power for the day was again a Sapthagiri liveried AJJ WAM4 20613 (too much of Sapthagiri WAM4 sightings today!) The next one to arrive MAS was the Cheran Express with an ED WAP4 22669 on PF 10 which would later leave as the Navajivan Express at 09:35. Dadar Express was on PF 7 which was to be hauled by the Monster AJJ WAP4 22646. As I went and stood near the loco to check out the action over there, Brindavan Express was shunted into PF 6 and soon came the ED WAP4 22728 to get attached to the mighty 23 coach load! People had already gathered over there to watch the coupling being done. I once again went near the AJJ WAP4 22646 to check the proceedings being done before the starter is given. The LP kept on signing few papers keeping an eye on the starter, and once it was on, the horns blared and the monster was off quite soon having already lost a 7 minutes from the schedule since the starter was delayed. Jan Shatabdi followed suit and both crawled on parallel tracks.

As both the trains left, the ED WAP4 22273 sneaked inbetween them with the legendary Grand Trunk Express in tow into PF 5 (late by 45 min) which was soon followed by the Trivandrum - Chennai Mail on PF 8 hauled by the ED WAP4 22729. Later Brindavan too was off bang on time. Meanwhile the AJJ WAP4 22697 had brought in Mysore - Chennai Kaveri Express 10 min before time on PF 3. Its is 07:10 by now as the display showed that the Guwahati - Bangalore Express would arrive at 07:30 and the Tamilnadu Express would be home by 07:40. In the mean time the Coimbatore - Chennai Summer Special arrived on PF 4 with an AJJ WAM4 21319 (Barbie)! Later it was announced that the Tamilnadu Express would arrive before the Guwahati - Bangalore one.... The display soon showed that the TN would arrive on PF 6 and soon he arrived with an ED WAP4 22550 (late by 45 min) and then the Guwahati - Bangalore Express in which my brother was supposed to arrive trundled into PF 5 with an AJJ WAM4/6 PD 21241 at 08:10. A flat 3.5 hours late! I picked him up from S7 and we made our way to the suburban terminal to have ourselves a cup of coffee. The Coromandal Express was all set on PF 9. We boarded the EMU and we were off in a few minutes to see the Charminar Express enter late by half-an-hour which was soon followed by the Barauni - Ernakulam Raptisagar Express a whopping 9 hours late!!! On our way home the AJJ WAP4 22626 galloped past us with the Yelagiri Express bound to central which was followed by a GZB WAP4 22614 with the Yesvantpur - Muzaffarpur Express as i walked home with a full satisfaction of rail-fanning! Its real fun, but all one needs is patience and a little bit of interest on trains! :)