It was a Journey worth remembering for many reasons. A Day well spent in the Bhojipura-Pilibhit section of NER's seemingly vast MG Network. The first part of the wonderful day's proceedings can be seen here:- click here ; and the second part is what I am sharing now. The YT link of part 2 of my coverage of this network is here:- click here
To talk about the day in brief, It was a hurried start to begin with. With the four of us who had decided to go on this trip, setting our alarms at 3:30hours to catch the 05:00hrs Passenger to Bijauria; all sound asleep even at 04:30hrs, I woke up startled at around quarter to 5 and longingly looked...
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at the fading possibility of catching that train. Our hotel was a good 6kms from IZN, so even if we managed to rattle out of our slumber, it was highly unlikely that we could challenge time at that moment. So it was decided that we would board the next train to Bijauria, till date I don't remember as to why there was a note ringing in my mind about an Imaginary train that would depart IZN at 05:50hrs. I was so sure of it that I actually assured my friends we can catch it for sure if we hurry up. But we didn't manage to reach IZN before 06:00hrs, and I was surprised even more on seeing the departures chart that there was no such train. All said and done, a few pics clicked here and there, and our express to ASH was ready to transport us to BJV (or so I thought, for I completely forgot to check its TT). At 06:30hrs, we departed from IZN, and what followed us left us completely baffled! Running behind schedule by a few mins, the Lalkuan bound BG Passenger from Bareilly City, departed parallel to us. The race is better described if you see the first part. :)
Moving on, after we departed from Sethal having looped to allow the Gokul express to cross us and rush towards Izzatnagar, I expected us to be looped into BJV, for a halt. Imagine my horror when the express just flew past the small bridge on the Canal west of BJV and literally thundered past the station at sectional mps of 50kmph. Only then did I realize that this train's next scheduled halt was at Pilibhit. A few tense moments later, we looped into Shahi, for a crossing with the Pilibhit-IZN Passenger, which ferried all of us back to the spot where we chose to RF for the day. A few water bottles and Juice bottles later, we found a shady spot behind a hut on the outer part of Bijauria west, where we captured the Ruhelkhand express beautifully curving out of the bridge and coming for a scheduled halt. Ruhelkhand can be easily tagged the daytime Jansadharan exp of this route.
Later, we watched an IZN beauty notch out of BJV hauling the Tanakpur-IZN Passenger service. Its reflection in the Canal water was an added attraction. The heat at this point of time was melting away our willingness to continue in this spot, so we decided to take the next passenger headed towards Pilibhit and get ourselves some lunch. Sitting on the aisle floor of an MG train had its own share of fun. But what I didn't realize was, the amount of crowd waiting for this passenger headed all the way to "AISHBAGH" (oh boy, that is some distance). As we pulled into PBE, I just threw a glance on either side of the train, both the platform side and the non-platform side; although there was hardly any difference. People had gathered on both sides to enter the train in whatever way possible. While my friends wanted to get down on the platform, I jumped out on the other side where the crowd seemed lesser. And not wanting to go all the way to the last coach, I stepped on the coupler and just hopped on to the platform to find out that my friends just about struggled to get themselves out of the maddening rush that was waiting to get in. Phew!!! It was long time since we experienced such a thing and it was totally worth it. After spending a few hours in Pilibhit, we bought tickets to go back to IZN in the Ruhelkhand express, not before we caught a few winks, woke up freshened and had some of the best tea I had ever tasted on an outstation trip. TIP:- The tea in all major stations of this route are really good, give it a try.
YDM4 #6751 brought in our Ruhelkhand express into what we assumed was pf5. We got into the first coach behind the loco, the SLR basically. And not many crossings to look forward to, we instead focused on the scenery that surrounded us. Bijauria halt brought back memories of the morning session. What we missed in the morning, was nearly captured in the afternoon; the Iconic "TOKEN EXCHANGE" at Sethal. One hand at the handle and the other handling the zoom, result was too much shakes, for which I apologize. Dibnapur halt was dealt with at MPS, and we slowed down at Bhojipura outer, for the 10kmph crossover over the BG line. Just as we entered Bhojipura, I recounted all the events of the day and it was something which I will remember for a long time to come. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did. Its not the end, a third part is coming soon to sign off this on a memorable note. :)