A Memorable Train Journey to Kolkata

Prologue: It started 24th August 2012. After passing out of college, it was really exciting to have a room-mate reunion. The venue was Kolkata and our host was Kuladeep. I boarded the train from Rourkela and our third roomie Jyotiranjan was to board from Kharagpur. In short, for the initial 298 Km of the journey, my Nikon L22 camera was supposed to keep me away from boredom. The final 114 Km from Kharagpur was easy and I was hardly bothered about it.

Train No: 12872, Ispat Express.
Coach No. D4
Seat No. 49 (Window Seat)

11:40 - The train hauled by a bulky WDM-3D diesel locomotive rushed into platform no. 4 as the eager crowd literally seemed to pounce upon the helpless train to reserve seats by keeping their handkerchiefs on the berths. I waited till the crowd settled and then boarded the train. With a little delay in boarding, I had anticipated that a typical "Rowdy Rathore" would be occupying my reserved seat with an "Angry Bird" look on face; and I need to show my ticket as a proof to sit on the allocated berth. But, things were much humane & civilized when I entered the compartment. I put my bag on the seat and came out to see the tradition of loco change - The bulky Bondamunda WDM-3D diesel loco handing over the baton to a majestic red Santragachhi WAP-4 electric loco.

11:50 - All the formalities related to the diesel-electric loco conversion was over. The train was tightly coupled to the new locomotive with pressure valves thoroughly checked. All logs were meticulously maintained & signed by the loco pilot & the assistant loco pilot and finally the rear pantograph was raised to power the six powerful traction motors. Within a couple of minutes the humming sound of the motors was overpowered by a more high pitched and loud horn. It was less of a usual horn and more of a typical war cry - "Get out of my way !!! I m marching ahead !!!". With this I boarded my compartment. "Its time to go."

 It took some 10 to 15 minutes for the train to gather full momentum. The rapid changing of tracks seemed like watching an animation movie with the tracks giving way to the sheer brute force of the train.

12:38 - Sitting there in the window seat, I was scanning the beautiful monsoon imagery outside when I heard another similar shrill horn blaring. The variation of the sound pitch reminded me of the 12th standard physics - Doppler Effect. This has to be another train from opposite direction. Within no time, I retrieved my camera to capture the twin of my own train - 12871 Up Ispat Express rushing towards its destination.

Soon, the entire scenery started to fade into darkness and the train reduced its throttle with constant honking. The pitch of the horn changed from the usual aggressive to a now cautious low pitched sound indicating danger ahead. The train was about to enter one of the oldest railway tunnels in India - Saranda tunnel between Mahadevsal & Posoita stations in Jharkhand. Soon all of the outside lush green scenery disappeared into that impenetrable blackness of the tunnel.

A few minutes later, the impregnable dark reality gave way to some light. The train again started to pick up its original speed. But soon the outside scenery again started to get dark. This time, heavy clouds welcomed us with their share of rain. The humid air which got me sweating profusely now changed into a cool breeze. It was moments before a heavy downpour cooled the entire environement and gave some relief from the sultry atmosphere.

14:34 - The train slowly crawled into the platforms of Tatanagar Jn. Memories of my previous visits flashed back before my eyes. For a moment I felt nostalgic about the days when I used to visit my sister... The typical "Bhai-Behen" ka craze for a special cup of cold coffee at Cafe Coffee Day... Or the lazy Sunday mornings tuned with perfectly imperfect cuisines cooked on experimental basis when my sister was learning the preparations of diverse delicacies... I played the experimental "Guinea Pig" for all those "Dexter's Experiments" !!! ;) :D :P
My chain of thoughts got interrupted with a small jolt. After 15 minutes of halt, the train started pulling out of Steel City Jamshedpur to proceed on its journey.

16:07- For the next one and a half hour, the train kept on moving at a blistering speed to enter the state of West Bengal. As the train started to enter Jhargram, memories of the horrific Jnaneshwari derailment became afresh. On the night of 28th May 2010 around 1:40am, Howrah-Mumbai LTT Jnaneshwari Express derailed somewhere around 30Km from Jhargram when another goods train coming from opposite direction rammed into the derailed train. As per official reports 140 people died in cold blood in the dead of night. A few minutes later, the train crossed Ground Zero of the crash where the mangled bogies of the super-deluxe train still lie as a memorial to all those unfortunate people who perished.

It was another 20 minutes when it seemed the train playing snakes & ladders with the curving tracks. The initial 298 Km of the journey was coming to an end as the previously known Longest Railway Platform of the World - Kharagpur was up ahead. I called up Jyotiranjan to know about his position. As the train prepared to accommodate itself in the 1072 metre long platform, Jyoti was just outside the IIT campus. Knowing that he cannot make it in time, I unboarded at Kharagpur to complete the remaining 114 Km in a Howrah-Kgp local.

10 mins after Ispat Express departed from Kgp, my roomie Jyotiranjan arrived. He bought himself a local train ticket to Howrah and our local train was supposed to depart from platform 2A at 17:10.

17:08 - Only 2 minutes left for the local to depart and we are yet to discover Platform 2A !!! :D It took us 5 more minutes of panic mode running on the endless platform to reach the designated part of the platform. By the time we reached, it was empty. The local had already departed. So again back to Railway Enquiry counter.

Me: "Sir... Howrah k liye next local kab hai ???"
Enquiry Official: "Abhi next 6 baje aapko milega... Platform 2A pe."
Me: "Usse pehle koi doosra nai hai ??"
Enquiry Official: "Nai."

Once getting the confirmation, both of us were on a "Jet-Set-Go" mode to literally pounce upon any local that stops on platform 2A. At 17:50, a local train hauled into the platform and within no time, we were occupying two decent window seats. The inside of a local train resembled more like a daily haat. Chanawala, Chaiwala, Pheriwala, Bartanwala and likes were busy achieving their daily sales target. My last meal was at 10:30 in the morning and I was able to feel my stomach carving for some food... Besides, the junk food was stimulating my taste buds. So we both bought ourselves some jhaal-chana n started talking about the good old college memories. It took us another 2 hours, and by 20:00, we were standing outside Howrah Railway Station searching for a bus to Salt Lake City. Finally after 8 long hours the 412 Km awesome train journey came to an end as the trusses of Howrah Bridge welcomed us to the "City of Joy" :)