Little Rail Bus - Bull Run II

Shimoga - Talguppa Rail Bus. April 14, 2007

I did it again. I travelled on the Shimoga - Talguppa rail bus for the second time. The last time I did it was in 2004 . This time, I travelled on it with a group of 8 others. I could not have photographs the last time and instead wrote a long and nice trip report. This time I keep the words short and say it with pictures.

All photos are by Bharath Moro except where indicated.

Tucked away in a corner of Shimoga railway station is the sole and tiny platform for the Metre Gauge Rail Bus. The bus is an articulated one with a trailing cab. It is a typical Ashok Leyland bus with an internal combustion Hino engine. Braking is however a vacuum affair.

The bus has the typical steel rail wheels. The controls are similar to a normal bus except for the lack of a steering wheel. The horn is typical bus type except that it is an air horn like a normal locomotive mounted on the top. The rail bus cab also has a sander. Seen here are the two lights on before departure. The time is 6.20 AM and the lights are not required. They are put on just for the photograph.

We started to roll along the worn out tracks. The bus does not have the typical rail shock absorbers. Instead it has a leaf-spring absorber that is ineffective in absorbing the jerks. Seen here is the unique operation of gates. This line is quite basic with only one round trip service. hence there are no gatekeepers. The guard doubles as a gatekeeper. The bus slows down before each level crossing and the guard gets down to close the gates/stop traffic in case of gateless crossings. He then lets the bus pass the crossing and reopens the gates. The bus waits for him to return and then moves ahead.

The line is quite old and passes through some variety of terrain. Hence a lot of speed restrictions as seen in the photograph. There are a lot of steep gradients en route.

We reach Haranahalli the first stop as the sun rises. There are no proper platforms all along the route. Just little elevations. Years ago, normal trains used to ply this route behind steam locomotives. Stations have dilapidated ever since. but the little bus still has its patronage in the rural hinterland of Karnataka.

The bus is straight out of the 1960's. The line is more than 60 years old and bumpy. But the forest scenery rolling outside the windows is priceless.

Interiors are cramped and tiny but neat. Seen here is the guard who has to share seat with the passengers. Photo by Ranga

It is April, well into typical South Indian summer. But the higher altitude of Malanad still affords some mist and fog. The weather is cool and fresh.

Visibility is just about adequate. Malanad is a rain-fed countryside. It rains quite often here and that is the reason for the evergreen forests in the countryside.

A view from the driver's cab of the rail bus. The mist adds to the excitement of this little railway.

Kenchanahallu at 7:45 AM. We are halfway between Shimoga and Talguppa. This is a 'tea-halt'. the crew takes a break for some breakfast and tea. Kenchanahallu is a beautiful station along a state road. the road passes right through the station. Photo by Ranga

The passengers take a break along with the crew at this tiny station. Photo by Ranga

Kenchanahallu is amidst tall and shady trees. It is all quite and peaceful here. Photo by Ranga

We take the opportunity to have some refreshments ourselves. We followed the crew to this little hut next to the station that provided us delicious idlis and hot tea. Photo by Ranga

We resumed our journey after a while. Seen here is the guard operating the gates and running back to the train blowing his whistle to indicate Proceed. Seen here is the National Highway from Bangalore to Honnavar. Photo by Ranga

Adderi is a quiet and earthy station with big trees in the middle of some woods. An old lady and her grand-daughter walk away into the village. Photo by Ranga

We are now approaching Sagar, the biggest town in these parts and also the biggest station.

Sagar (Jambagaru) railway station is a grand building, almost abandoned now. It used to have retiring rooms before. Despite its age, it still stands strong and beautiful reminding one of the days of the Raj.

The empty space beside the station used to host a number of loop lines long ago, now dismantled. Sagar was a major station and goods yard in the olden days. The rail-bus stopped for 15 minutes here.

A lttile distance from Sagar was the Section Engineer's office which displayed teh history of this line as seen here. RRB - Birur. SME- Shimoga. SMET- Shimoga Town; ARU-Arasallu; ANF-Anandapuram; SRF-Sagar Jambagaru; TLGP-Talguppa. This line is up for broad gauge conversion and that would mean the end of this rail bus. But mericifully, the scenery would remain.

Interestingly, the station is called Sagar Jambagaru while town is called just Sagar. A nice pic by Bharath Moro.

VSP takes a respite. He has a facewash at the only water closet at Sagar station, which, surprisingly is working. Photo by Ranga.

The commercial goods transported on the rail-bus - cane baskets meant for some village market. Photo by Ranga.

The sign on the top of the door says "Nimma tale Hecharike" or "Take care of your head" in Kannada. vivek Pillay seems to be just aware while Lakshman (right) is more cautious.

We approach our destination: Talguppa, the terminus of this line.

Talguppa has a quite and serene atmosphere thanks to all those trees and a quaint old building that is surprisingly neat and tidy.

It is 10:30 Am now. The bus will return to Shimoga at 5:20 PM. Before that the cab of the bus has to be reversed and attached on the other side of the trailer car.

The driving cab is detached and taken to a branch line by switching the tracks manually. Seen here is the manual switch that is fast disappearing all over India being replaced by automated switches.

A closer look at the switching device, which has key to prevent accidental switching.

The driving cab is taken to the end of the branch line to a tiny turn table. The cab is placed on it to reverse its direction.

The crew is pushing the cab around to reverse its driving direction. Since the bus is very light, the crew simply pushed it onto the table using their hands. The turntable rotates on a set of bearings and is easy enough to be operated manually.

The found it easy to push it clockwise.

The cab is now reversed. It is ready to resume its lead position in the return trip.

The trailer cab hasdbeen pushed onto a switch line, the switch operated by a manual lever. Now the driving cab will be pushed back to attach it to the trailer.

The trailer and driving cab are hitched together.

The formation is brought back to the platform where it will rest till evening. The crew retire into the woods to take a well deserved nap and rest.

The team at Talguppa by the bus (before reversal). L-R: Colin Peter, Lakshman, Tejender Reddy, Assistant Loco Pilot, V Srinivas Prasad, Vivek Pillay, Praveen PVS, Bizzy Mishra and Bharath Moro. Squatting - yours truly.

Talguppa station building is a neat and cool place straight from the 1940's. It has an interesting architecture that is well maintained. Seen here are the two ticket windows. Surprising for a small station of a small village that sees only one round service a day. But the station has a reservation quota to book on the 6228 Shimoga-Bangalore Express. One of my favourite stations. I just hope that gauge conversion does not see the end of this beautiful station.

Rolling the Curves

Vizag-Koraput-Rayagada-Vizag rail trip, February 5 and 6, 2007

This was a trip I was alays dreaming about. Having lived in the close vicinity of the legendary Kothavalasa-Kirandul line (KK Line) for almost 15 years, I never had an opportunity to take a ride on it. It was on February 5 , 2007 that I finally had my chance. VSP, Praveen and Bharath came down to Vizag from Hyderabad. Sridhar Joshi, Seshadri sir (Chechu), Swaminathan sir, Karthik and I came down from Chennai. We took the only passenger service to Kirandul early in the morning at 6.30 AM. We all piled into the First Class to get the best of the line.



It was a march of the electrics all along. The KK line is meant for transport of iron ore. Large freight trains hauled by three electric locomotives each ply this route all day. In a matter of 6 hours we passed almost 50 electric locos!

Vizag to Kothavalasa was along the Chennai-Howrah trunk route. We deviated towards the hills after Kothavalasa. It was a normal run until we reached Boddavara. The hills appeared and pretty soon, we were rolling along horseshoe curves in and out of numerous tunnels.

Seen here is a tunnel that we are about to enter. We are on a horseshoe curve and could see the other end of the tunnel before we entered it.

One of the 52 tunnels on the KK line. A lot of people on maintenance work at the tunnels.

Tyada station. We were waiting for a freight train to pass us from the opposite direction and give us a clear way ahead.

The locomotive of our train, A WAG5. It is meant to haul freight trains on this line. The KK line was fully electrified in the 1980's.

One of the many interesting things we saw...an abandoned bridge. There must have been a realignment of the tracks here. Probably due to landslides.

An unusal site...a sole loco with a short load. This line ususally has king-size freights hauled by three locomotives.



One of the many exciting sharp curves in the hills. This one is close to Borra Caves station. The curve is a steep gradient and in minutes we reached a high altitude.

The only level crossing on the line upto Araku. This is a beautiful spot for a level crossing with trees and flowering plants all over. The road slopes down in a series of curves to this point and rises again.

The same level crossing seen from a distance... from the opposite side of the horseshoe curve that the line took. We are at a higher altitude thanks to the steep gradient of the curve.

The steep gradients brought us to the highest point on the line: Shimiliguda at 996.2 mts above sea level. The gradient from Kothavalasa to Shimilguda is at an average of 1:60. Shimiliguda was the highest broad gauge station in India until 2004. Surprisingly, Bangalore is at an altitude of 920 metres...only 76 metres less than Shimiliguda.

Sridhar Joshi and VSP relax after Araku. We had spent most of the hill section aty the door observing the route. Post Araku, the gradient levelled out.

The train curves along the backwaters of the Machkund reservoir.

We passed along river Kolab too.

Post Koraput, we were once again up the grade into the hills, forests and the remaining of the 52 tunnels. This is the famous Maligura viaduct over the Maligura Nalla. This long and curved viaduct delivered us into yet another tunnel. this viaduct was pictured copiously for promotional material by Indian Railways.

The view of the train on the viaduct.

We got off the train at Jeypore. We were supposed to spend the night at Koraput. But the Maligura viaduct made us go all the way till Jeypore.

We had ready transportation at Jeypore. This Mahindra Bolero took us all the way back to Koraput

Day 2. We boarded the Koraput-Rayagada Passenger early in the morning at 5: 00 AM. It was pitch dark as the train rolled out. Chechu loves to travel by the door. Despite his age at 65, he still possess the energy to stand by the door all day and enjoy the passing scenery. ..something that tires the rest of us. The early morning darkness proved to be a dampener for him and he was forced to sit until day broke.

The train took an alternative route...the K-R Line or Koraput Rayagada Line, yet another hill railway for transporting freight iron ore. This line is not under wires and allowed us to enjoy a diesel loco's run through the hills. Much line the KK line, the KR line too traversed the hills and tunnels.

The day broke revealing wonderful hills looming large in the winter haze.

At Lakshmipur, VSP harangued a tea vendor to supply us tea even as the train started to move.

One of the many station on the way early in the morning.

Soon we reached the most enchanting stations on the route: Rauli. As we cleared one long tunnel and broke into a brief clearing over a bridge before disappearing into another tunnel, we spied a horsehoe curve perpendicular to us and a station far away on the ghat side that seemed to be all alone.

It was all silent and uncanny. A bare and ethereal beauty in the middle of nowhere covered in haze.Apart from the tracks, signals, station house, a tiny platform and a couple of houses, Rauli was as nature made it. The power supply came from generators and solar panels and water was piped from a natural spring high up the hills.

Nestled on the hillside, Rauli was a one platform station. It overlooked a valley that had absolutely no human settlement. Ahead of the station was another tunnel. Hills and vegetation all around with no huma settlement, Rauli was a magical little station, one of the most beautiful ones I had ever seen.

Rauli is a crossing station and we waited here as the Hirakahnd Express passed us from the opposite direction. It was an obvious choice to have a crossing here. The hills on either side were treacherous and prone to landslides during monsoons. These hills warranted a block limit and a reversal to terminate trains in case of landslides or derailments. No wonder Rauli materialized.

From the platform we could have a hazy view of the steel girder bridge that we crossed minutes before on the far side. The horseshoe curve behind allowed us the spectacular site of watching the Hirakhand Express to cross us, go around a curve and materialize on the bridge on the far side of the curve. We watched in bated breath as the train came out of the tunnel, went over the bridge and disappeared again into another tunnel.

Our journey resumed. We were now passing through thick forests, steep curves and viaducts. Chechu was in great spirits as the wonderful scenery swept by. He perched himself at the door and enjoyed the run all the way down to the plains at Rayagada.



Viaduct after viaduct brought us from the high hills to the humid and sultry plains of the coastal side. The journey concluded at Vuzag, where we started.