IR 11318+11171 VLNK 16185 010216
A bit of power overkill here as 2 x 3300 hp was a tad excessive for just five coaches! Erode WDM3Ds 11318+11171 stand at Velankanni with the "Link" Express portion (16185) of the "Kamban" Express (16175) on Monday 1st February 2016.
The "Kamban" (23:15 Chennai Egmore - Karaikal/Velankanni) was the train I very nearly missed due to oversleeping in my retiring room at Mayiladuturai Jn (see here for more details: flic.kr/p/EfPCnx) and I was intrigued to see what happened operationally with such a 'complicated' service.
It's an electric loco out of Chennai to Villupuram (I believe) where this pair of monsters took over. The train then reverses at Thiruvarur Jn and goes on to detach the Velankanni portion at Nagappattinam Jn. I assumed the VLNK part of the train would be at the front from Chennai, so after reversal at TVR it could just be lopped off the back at NGT, as the VLNK branch requires another reversal to access.
Wrong! What actually happened was this: at TVR the pair remained on the back and KYN WDM3D 11470 was attached to the KIK end (off the previous day's once a week Mumbai - Karaikal; I felt a little cheated by this loco's reappearance and was hoping for something a little tastier, at least it wasn't an EMD, as has been reported as a possibility!). Anyway, it was a cracking engine and dragged the whole ensemble (about 1500 tonnes) to NGT where it shunted the VLNK coaches off the front. The pair then came off the back and picked up the VLNK portion, with 11470 reattaching and taking the remaining 17 coaches Karaikal.
It all seemed a bit over complicated to me but maybe it would work much better in the opposite direction later that evening? I suppose it's going to require a degree of faffing about in one direction or the other.
IR 11318+11171 VLNK 16185 010216
A bit of power overkill here as 2 x 3300 hp was a tad excessive for just five coaches! Erode WDM3Ds 11318+11171 stand at Velankanni with the "Link" Express portion (16185) of the "Kamban" Express (16175) on Monday 1st February 2016.
The "Kamban" (23:15 Chennai Egmore - Karaikal/Velankanni) was the train I very nearly missed due to oversleeping in my retiring room at Mayiladuturai Jn (see here for more details: flic.kr/p/EfPCnx) and I was intrigued to see what happened operationally with such a 'complicated' service.
It's an electric loco out of Chennai to Villupuram (I believe) where this pair of monsters took over. The train then reverses at Thiruvarur Jn and goes on to detach the Velankanni portion at Nagappattinam Jn. I assumed the VLNK part of the train would be at the front from Chennai, so after reversal at TVR it could just be lopped off the back at NGT, as the VLNK branch requires another reversal to access.
Wrong! What actually happened was this: at TVR the pair remained on the back and KYN WDM3D 11470 was attached to the KIK end (off the previous day's once a week Mumbai - Karaikal; I felt a little cheated by this loco's reappearance and was hoping for something a little tastier, at least it wasn't an EMD, as has been reported as a possibility!). Anyway, it was a cracking engine and dragged the whole ensemble (about 1500 tonnes) to NGT where it shunted the VLNK coaches off the front. The pair then came off the back and picked up the VLNK portion, with 11470 reattaching and taking the remaining 17 coaches Karaikal.
It all seemed a bit over complicated to me but maybe it would work much better in the opposite direction later that evening? I suppose it's going to require a degree of faffing about in one direction or the other.