of 23-11-2018:
On 23-11-2018 I could finally managed to go to
Dholpur NG network after dreaming about since last 7-8 years, and hence after
my office from Ghaziabad, i reached New Delhi and by GT Express I came Agra on
22nd night to stay at my in laws Home there , early in the morning I
hurridly reached Dholpur from there by CG Exp at around 9AM, the departure of
NG passenger train was scheduled at 10:40 AM, I had enough time there to roam
all around Dholpur station, so I utilized it well in finding Loco shed there,
Washing Line of NG, Abandoned NG coaches , some of them were from very distance
section of SECR, also I could find a Sleeper coach of SECR Network, that was
still in a better condition and first time I saw a NG Sleeper coach from
inside, lastly I saw the same sleeper coach of Jabalpur-Nagpur passenger from
outside at Howbagh Jabalpur in Year 2012, also I saw some scrapped bogies of NG
coaches and a turntable was there.
Soon I could hear that a ZDM-5 (Loco Road No- 518)
got start up somewhere behind bush, actually that is small Diesel Shed of
Dholpur. Shunting Loco Pilot was the only person there doing all duties from operating
loco to changing points, no shunt signals were there. The loco was then placed
to siding and left in ON position waiting for upcoming train at 10:15.
Meanwhile I keep moving out of yard towards outer
signal of NG Dholpur , midway in the scrap depot I found some wooden trollies,
disused mechanical signaling part and parcels and other speed limit boards. The
home signal was a semaphore signal but was fully broken and not in use. Then I
moved towards BG railway crossing in the right and climb upon the abandoned
cabin and found there some mechanical lever in working there, asking the
gateman I got info that some goods yard siding of BG is still mechanically
controlled. Having a wonderful tea there with gateman I again climbed on cabin
and heard a little honk sound, definitely it could be a ZDM only,& focused
my camera towards the curve there and suddenly it appeared a beautiful train
there curving out of jungle of Babool. I could shoot a beautiful video of that
train from that appearance point to entering into station yard. Then I rushed
rapidly to station, Loco No 517 was incharge coming from Sarmuttra (Rly Code-
SRMT) in long hood and it has been detached before I could reach there, and
ZDM-5, Loco Road No- 518 was about to take charge for next service (my upcoming
journey). For the people who have never seen a NG track or Rolling stock , its
always create a WOW in their mind for the first time, and mind suddenly start
calculating gauge width and smallness of Rolling stock and their other
capacities. Myself just because seeing a NG loco at my hometown since childhood
is very much familiar to this width of rails (There is TB-4 loco of 762mm Gauge
at DRM Office Izzatnagar, named as Kumaun Tiger), after that I did Jabalpur NG
trip in 2012, and Kalka-Shimla in 2017, thus this gauge attracts me again and
again from various parts of country and I also love to get fascinated by its
overwhelming experience. Soon after some prefunctionary formalities loco got
attached to train and it started moving. Just a couple of minute before
departure fellow railfan Manoj kashyap joined me who was coming from Lucknow just
for this trip and narrowly caught the train.
After leaving DHOA, train took a 90 degree left
curve and became too away from BG alignment, and started moving from inside
city area of Dholpur, few Railroad corssings were also there but with
permanently posted gatemen, after crossing a overhead road (perhaps some
highway ) we got to see some new alignment in progress, probably for Gauge
Conversion and BG, the existing NG alignment of 762mm is almost lost in soil
and grass , ballast were rarely visible, and track maintenance were also not
upto the mark. Soon we lost all the urban view and it start moving in perfect
rural charm, here came our first stoppage Nurpur (what I could analyze that
Nurpur, Nurpura, Nurpur road all lie on Narrow guage of India in different
different states and on different different sections), train became some
crowdy, and then deserted and lesser habitat areas got started , there was some
stone in ground, and some stone crushing plant beside track. This section and
specially this narrow gauge helped a lot once in manufacturing President House
(Rashtrapati Bhavan) and Parliament House in New Delhi. Both are made of
Dholpur Stone.
After Garhi Sandra, a station of Sorothee came, that
have nothing except a abandoned station building in between nothing . After
Sorothee the largest station of this section comes i.e. BARI. Bari is biggest
and busiest station of this network, somewhat more busy than Dholpur , Tantpur
and Sarmuttra. Many people got deboarded and boarded here. Station is situated
inside a crowdy surrounds, and the town is also connected by road with Dholpur
city.After leaving this train took a right curve, tracks here were dirty and
full of trespassers and cattle on track, Driver had to apply brakes multiple
time to prevent any cattle collision with loco. The next station arrived then
MOHARI JUNCTION [Rly Code- MHF], as on today this is the only NG Junction in
whole Northern India above Tropic of Cancer. Southern India have relatively
beautiful Abhanpur Jn in SECR Chhatisgarh. Mohari is a junction but like a
desert , no village can be seen nearby also no road connectivity could be
noticed, also a very few people boarded/deboarded here. The station have a
bifurcation point and a extra siding track too. There was a beautiful Red Oxide
painted wagon resting there. This NG Wagon was a rustic beauty in itself and
was the only rolling stock that can be seen in whole End to End network, except
Dholpur station yard.
After starting from here the train took Rightward
track and a curve 90 Degree to the right, and started moving towards baseri ,
its next destination. Here came one biggest River bridge of whole network ,
with very low rooftop clearance , name of river was Parvati, and on tracking on
Google map found that this river was coming from a large lake very near to
Sarmuttra and back from Gangapur City somewhere, Water was very clear but small
in amount. I still amazed and got curious to know that how Non-Himalayan rivers
got there water in other than rainy seasons. (?), this river further tributes
itself to Yamuna somewhere near Agra. The next station was baseri, a fully
abandoned station building with no staff and beside a small village. The very
dark side of these abandoned stations is that no people buy ticket for this
train on this whole network, I guess hardly 2-3% bought tickets that too from a
bigger station Sarmuttra. Also a local boy from next station of baseri, i.e.
Bagther who was travelling with us told that they never take a ticket , this is
a free service for them, and also if driver try to skip their station bagther
(previously as per Govt orders) they Beat the driver badly. Hearing this I
suddenly felt very bad and also got afraid of locals. I think if they can do
this, they can even also snatch your camera and money if found alone. After
Bagpather (another abandoned station) train got entered to Tantpur through its
green tree canopy way on grassy tracks, this branch is relatively more green
than Sarmuttra branch. Surprisingly Tantpur (TPO) the termination point of this
network fall in AGRA district , that I could found by Google Map. And thus this
NG wins here a true deserving title of being the Only NG of Uttar Pradesh too
along with Rajasthan. Trains number was – 52181 upto here, now the loco got
detached in hurry and reached upto the last point of rail terminal and came
back by another siding to attach itself from back side. And now the train
number become- 52182 (Tantpur- Bari NG Passenger), again by same scenic route
and giving you a feel of deep interior rural Rajasthan it will reach back to
Bari, I checked its speed on its full speed using a GPS app, and found Maximum
touching speed was 35 KMPH. Again by crossing Mohari Junction it reached to its
last stop as 52182, that was BARI. Again the loco got detached and reversed
back to another end and dramatically
train number becomes- 52183 now, BARI-SARMUTTRA NG Passenger. One thing
I noticed that Drivers runs ZDM loco too fast during such operation in light
mode. Too fast means here that faster than any BG loco involved in such
reversal operation using siding. Again the train starts from BARI as 52183
towards Mohari Jn, And after crossing MHF, it selected the leftward curve this
time towards Sarmuttra. This branch is relatively less greenery surrounds and
having Aravali Mountain Ranges somewhere beside it with Red Stone. It then
stopped at Ranpura, a very rustic and classic looking station with abandoned
building and ruins of Water Columns (was used once perhaps for Steam Engine), a
few people people boarded here, and train started moving towards next station
ANGAI. This station was in my mind since a long due to its beautiful deserted
looks. This station is also featured in Bollywood Movie – “ PAAN SINGH TOMAR” ,
the actor Irfan Khan just deboard the train here. The station exist among
nowhere almost. There was nothing visible upto distance except this small
station. Then train started from here and moved to its last destination
Sarmuttra. In netween a fully abandoned station Barauli was also there where
this train didn’t stopped (also the same schedule is given in Indian Railway
Official Time table), in the left of its run one can see Highlands and plateau
of Aravali with lots of stones and some stone crushing plants and a few people
only. Before arriving Sarmuttra it got a stop dead because some Highway Flyover
is in construction there. Then finally it reaches to its last destination
Sarmuttra (SRMT), some people call it Sarmathura too . well in British
documents I have seen our Mathura too write as MUTTRA. The loco as usual
quickly detached and speedy reversal occurred here too for the new train in
process – 52184, Sarmuttra-Dholpur NG Passenger. Station master here was some
Meena ji, also on the station ambitious Gauuge Conversion plan of Govt of
India, Rail Ministry was affixed, that to Gauge Conversion of this section and
further extension till GANGAPUR-CITY. Whole Budget detail, No of stations, No
of bridges etc details was there. I saw 2-3 people here purchasing tickets. We
got our tummy full with available sweet water here, after few minutes here
Driver just gave the whistle, as no Signalling system is in work here on this
whole network so nothing Signalling activity happened. Only green flag exchanged
between Driver-Guard- Station master. Another thing I noticed that Station
master of Mohari and Sarmuttra have kept a CAR with them parked exactly in
front of their office, I guess just because of very limited train activity of
their section they can do up down from their home by Car, the section has not a
single freight operation. Even Tantpur station see train only Once in whole day
that too around noon. Train keep on moving back to Dholpur, we were little
tired so sat on our seats , people kept on boarding and deboarding , after BARI
train was almost packed once again and there was none to deboard any station
between Bari and Dholpur now after darkness fall. All had to go DHOLPUR only. I
liked the speed of train, but sudden appearance of cattle is a major problem of
this section. I feel advance pity on these cattle after once Gauge-Conversion
is done and some Heaviest and fastest trains of country will pass through here.
After the second last stoppage Nurpur it started running fast to Last Halt DHOLPUR,
even the train and staff would be tired after this 332KMS long whole section
covering journey.
Very near to Dholpur when power plant of dholpur was
visible, a Swift Desire that was running parallel to our train on newly laid
mortar of Gauge Converison suddenly overtook our train and tried crossing train
from front of engine, and then the Cruel Intention of ZDM got awoke and it hit
the car badly despite of applying full brakes by LP. Its right side was almost
over , and luckily car driver got survived anyhow. He was saying that he could
not see that a train is running parallel to him just few meters away, although
Loco had headlights and trains coaches were also illuminated with lights.
Removing his car by little push our train driver thought not to stay there
anymore unnecessarily and hence took a great pick up leaving damaged car and
driver there. After ten minutes approx. we were entering Dholpur Yard by the
same curve and BG OHE mast were visible once again. We were too tired now like
our small train that covered the great distances. One person of C&W deptt
came there and checked all the wheel bearing with some advance type RF device
(to check temperature to prevent Hot Axle). We took some yard photos and night
shots there and resided in a Hotel (Sudarshan Hotel) just beside NG dead end.
Concluded Overview of the Section was as below:-
(1)- During British days Maharajas of Dholpur used
to visit his territory by his this personal railway, currently after
nationalization of Railways, The section now comes under NCR/AGC Division, upto
very recent it was under Jhansi Divn of NCR. Previously it was under Central
Railways- Bombay.
(2)-Not a single Signal was in functioning on whole
network, even they were looking like that left to rust a long ago.
(3)- Not a Single freight rake can be seen on whole
network except a single beautiful Wagon at Mohari Jn. While I guess once it
might have plenty of wagons to carry Stones from whole section to Dholpur.
(4)- No station have Sidings except Dholpur, Bari,
Mohari, Tantpur and Sarmuttra. All sidings have manual operated switches, no
cabin or centralized signaling system is there.
(5)- No station have Working Building and Staff
except Dholpur, Bari, Mohari, Tantpur and Sarmuttra.
(6)- Working Locomotives are ZDM-5 numbered 517 and
518, although I could see one more loco there inside shed but couldn’t read
number in hurry.
(7)- Coaches are not well maintained , but have self
illumination (unlike Gwalior NG, that have not a single light active inside any
coach in whole train, I will write about Gwalior NG in my next article.)
(8)- The once glorious Dholpur Maharaja Princely
state railway once have lost its charm due to poor maintained tracks, and heavy
loss due to no passenger travelling with a ticket and less magistrate checking
type activities.
(9)- The section have only One active rake of 5
Coaches, that first run at morning 4AM from Dholpur to Sarmuttra 70KMS as Train
Number- 52179, then reverse as – 52180, arrives back at DHOLPUR around 10AM,
then as 52181, 52182, 52183, 52184 keep running whole day for next 332 KMs. So
for total it runs 332 Kilometers in one whole day, although Loco for morning
Run and Noon run got changed (140 KMs and 192 KMs respectively).
(10)- Station have a heritage Steam NG loco that
once served this NG section, named as Samrat, plinthed outside , its very beautiful.
Another brother of this loco is Shaurya, plinthed at DRM Office Agra exactly in
front of Agra Cantt station at a distance of few steps.
(11)- Roof Top travel is common , but not as common
as in nearyby neighbor Gwalior NG. One can try rooftop cause speed is not so
much, only the bridge of Parvati river near Tantpur should be avoided. Couldn’t
see how much clearance is there.
(12)- Could hardly found 4-5 trackman working on
track in whole network (Section Length= 88 Kilometers).
TO BE CONTINUED………….
(with Gwalior- Sabalgarh 610mm Special gauge Journey
with NDM Locos on 24/11/2018.)
