• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

India 2012 - 20: Goa - Diesel in Paradise III: Dudhsagar Falls (50 p.)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Roni

Member
Joined
19 Mar 2007
Messages
611
Location
Vienna, Austria
Hi,



The previous trip report part:
India 2012 - 19: Goa - Diesel in Paradise II: Class Trip Morning (50 p.)
http://railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40436



The accompanying video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9ntoVBVts&hd=1




February 18 2012

Shortly before reaching Dudhsagar Waterfalls viewpoint I heard a train whistle above me, legged it...
















... and caught South Western Railway star loco KJM WDM-3A 14024 plus a Gooty WDG-3A pair with leading 14630 hauled 17311 MAS VASCO Express operating only once weekly exactly as it entered the bridge above the falls!
ir122001.jpg




The train had travelled more than 1000 kilometres since leaving Chennai and crossed Dudhsagar punctually at 10:27.
ir122002.jpg




Dudhsagar (translated roughly: "Sea of Milk")-Panorama. My ultimate jungle experience had been somehow diminished after I found myself inbetween package tourists carted there by their hotels, following my lonely jeep ride. I had been quite proud of reaching my dream expedition destination, only to find people walking around in beach slippers. I tried to exclude the crowds from the photos, only a few photogenic Indians were kept, but there were moments without people in view as well.
ir122003.jpg




The creek invited a continuation of "Time is Flowing".
ir122004.jpg




Monkey jump!
ir122005.jpg




Across a crest you reached a pool beneath the falls where Russian girls were posing in bikinis and locals were playing in the water under the cascades. However, guidebooks warned about going swimming as several people had already drowned at this spot. The national park guides attracted a few large fish bustling in the water. The waterfalls definitely were more spectacular during monsoon season, but even now, after months of dryness they still posed an impressive sight.
Of course insane images as this one can be taken during the wet season, the falls reach the rails - but you would have to travel to India in the monsoon, which is not recommended at least for the first trip:
http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Trips/west-konkan/braganza_trek/0235b-Amaravathi.JPG.html
ir122006.jpg





ir122007.jpg





ir122008.jpg




The jeep schedule included just 45 minutes at the destination, I waited for a possible freight but nothing came by during this timeslot.
ir122009.jpg




Of course I also wanted to enjoy the wonderful jungle passage.
ir122010.jpg




A mighty mango tree.
ir122011.jpg





ir122012.jpg




A group of bonnet macaques was at home here, partly feeding on food from tourists. It was fascinating to see with what precision a young animal took a small piece of bread out of a girl's hand without touching it and gaining a few meters distance again within a second.
ir122013.jpg




Look at me!
ir122014.jpg




It's a boy!
ir122015.jpg




At least for chewing natural food sources were used.
ir122016.jpg




Only hesitatingly I hereby destroy the pristine illusion - but, as mentioned, I also encountered solitary moments.
ir122017.jpg




Well, what is about to be taken from the purse?
ir122018.jpg




We started the return trip, now regularly oncoming jeeps were encountered. About one hundred jeeps had joined the national park pool, licenses were only given out to locals who in turn had to pay fees and taxes. At the cashew farm we overtook a broken down vehicle and rescued seven tourists transporting them to Kulem in the back of our car.

Nomadic buffalo herders were also at home in the national park.
ir122019.jpg




Football-crazy Goa: Inter Milan logo inside the jeep.
ir122020.jpg




The road was skirted by holes of funnel-web spiders.
ir122021.jpg




Meeting a Mahindra Bolero, I was sitting in a car of same type.
ir122022.jpg




Several rivers had to be crossed, that's why jeep season only began two months after the start of the dry period.
ir122023.jpg




Shortly before reaching Kulem, already outside the national park, we came across another body of water where people were doing the laundry. As you can see the red dust was omnipresent, after a drive with the window down the whole upper legs of my jeans were coloured red.
ir122024.jpg




Arrived at Kulem I had a little more than half an hour until the departure of my train.
ir122025.jpg




I gathered refreshments at one of the colourful stores, then continued to the station (the footbridge can be spotted in the distance).
ir122026.jpg





ir122027.jpg





ir122028.jpg




The platform was situated at the other side of the yard, in the middle two freight trains were waiting for uphill departure. So, I did not cross the tracks but followed a path past the leading engines.
You can recognize the differences well between the newer Gooty WDG-4 12493 and the older Hubli WDG-4 12105 scarred by monsoon conditions and partly rusty - but also just built in 2007!
ir122029.jpg




Suddenly the level crossing started to close and I was lucky to get a freight departure! Once more everything was managed to get done in a timewise highly efficient way... :)
ir122030.jpg




Slowly the long snake of cars set into motion pulled by Hubli WDG-4 12105 and 12048, it took a while until the three banking Hubli GMs WDG-4 12008 (original GM from the first shipment), 12097 and 12039 thundered past me. Meanwhile three boys returning from school posed in front of the moving train with their mobile cameras.
ir122031.jpg




At the loco position a shelter had been put up, in the background another Hubli WDG-4 pair waited with 12086 in front.
ir122032.jpg





ir122033.jpg




Through the ubiquitous dust cleaning probably was a challenge.
ir122034.jpg




Afterwards I had plenty of time to conveniently get on the passenger train to Vasco.
ir122035.jpg





ir122036.jpg




My Gooty WDG-3A 14625 had reversed on the scew dead end track, while the twins of same class which had banked the express from Chennai took a rest next to it.
ir122037.jpg




Another helper trio consisting of Hubli WDG-4 12102, the yellow original GM 12003 and 12125 was already waiting, so the next freight was about to leave.
ir122038.jpg




Code:
56963	KULEM VSG PASSENGER

1	QLM	Kulem			12:20		SWR	0	1	 
2	KM	Kalem		12:29	12:30	1	SWR	8	1	 
3	SVM	Sanvordem Chuch	12:44	12:45	1	SWR	18	1	 
4	CNR	Chandar Goa	12:49	12:50	1	SWR	25	1	 
5	SJDA	Sanjuja Da Areyal 12:59	13:00	1	SWR	28	1	 
6	MAO	Madgaon		13:13	13:15	2	KRCL	34	1	 
7	SRVX	Suravali H	13:20	13:21	1	KRCL	41	1	 
8	MJO	Majorda		13:27	13:28	1	KRCL	45	1	 
9	CSM	Cansaulim	13:31	13:32	1	SWR	49	1	 
10	SKVL	Sankaval	13:37	13:38	1	SWR	54	1	 
11	DBM	Dabolim H	13:41	13:42	1	SWR	57	1	 
12	VSG	Vasco Da Gama	14:00	Last Stn	SWR	62	1


My train departed soon, in the meantime the bankers had shunted to the end of the last remaining uphill freight.
ir122039.jpg




You could bear lunchtime heat well in the shade, I also enjoyed the purchased refreshments.
ir122040.jpg




Kalem offered once more a completely different picture, many hard-carrying women were boarding the local.
ir122041.jpg




Miners with dusty shovels could also be found among the passengers.
ir122042.jpg




Departure!
ir122043.jpg




Well-earned siesta for the ladies, the rolled up scarves serving as pillows were normally used to support weights carried on the head.
ir122044.jpg




Entering Sanvordem I managed to catch a glimpse of a former Portuguese "national industry" dating from 1923. A pennant adorned by hammer and sickle was hanging outside.
ir122045.jpg




At Sanvordem station we crossed another freight hauled by leading WDG-4 12131 - you could encounted proper traffic on this line. Due to the creeping freight my passenger was delayed 15 minutes.
ir122046.jpg




At the exit I noticed this creative use of a buffer no longer utilised by the railway.
ir122047.jpg




Stopping at Madgaon we lost another 15 minutes without a visible reason, but on the following double track section the train maintained a good speed.
ir122048.jpg




Heading towards Majorda we stopped at Suravali halt, heat flickering resulted in an almost pointillistic image. To the right you can still spot old telegraph lines.
ir122049.jpg




Due to a delay of meanwhile half an hour of course we crossed 56964 Vasco - Kulem passenger once more at another station, I had experienced about all options (Cansaulim, Majorda, Suravali) within only three train rides. I was filming using the compact camera when a black cloud of ALCO-smoke was rising from good old 14586 - I desperately pressed the zoom control, then the shutter release hoping for the sometimes unreliable autofocus to work - and it did!
ir122050.jpg


This spot was connected with emotional railfan history, by the way, as Apurva with his family had taken a well known series of almost identical shots almost exactly ten years earlier. Thanks to the straight mainline Suravali halt was ideal to experience smoky ALCO departures of local trains then and now:
http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Trips/west-konkan/Goa-2K2


Next stop: one of THE railway dream beaches!
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Roni

Member
Joined
19 Mar 2007
Messages
611
Location
Vienna, Austria
Hi,

Thanks! :)

Well, the 1.2 billion people living there probably would call everywhere else the most remote location in the world... ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top