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YP 2150 poses for Siddharth's camera at the coaling yard in Mhow! The time is 6:00 am in the morning and the temperature about 5 deg Celcius!! This is the same YP featured in the first Black & White shot, which was waiting to be coaled! There was no crew on the engine, nor any staff near by...almost as if it were there only for us!!!
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Signs of the times.......diesel takes over Mhow!! A Sabarmati YDM4, No.6235 shunts the 'live' YP to its coaling siding!! This move baffled both of us completely....although I must admit it was a joy to watch the two locos together shunting up and down! The YDM4 had worked in a cement frieght that very morning and had a ly-over of a few hours at Mhow. Due to the absence of the regular Mhow shunting power this YDM4 was put into use to perform manouveres at the shed! The YP was without any crew and that could be a possible reason for employing another loco to place it on the coaling line!!
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YP 2150 in full steam!! A shot that needed a powerful zoom to catch all the action!
The sun had come out in full strength and provided ideal conditions for shooting! This YP was backing up to move onto the turntable line. This shot was taken at the approach to Mhow shed and the signal cabin can be seen in the distance!
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The same YP in the picture above gets on to the turntable and is being turned around. The army cantonment at Mhow runs parallel to the steam shed and apart from the railway township is probably the only other activity in Mhow!!' MHOW' stands for Military Headquarters of War'
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Double headed steam in action at Mhow......YP 2825 is pulled out by YG 3724. The YP, to the left of the picture is the same YP that was earmarked for the Republic day run and as can be seen in the picture, is being done up while bieng shunted!!! One man on the tender and another on the footplate near the cab!!
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A view of the shed as evening sets in on Mhow! To the right of the picture the Accident Relief Train or ART can be seen. Mhow steam shed, built more then 100 years ago, at one time had the distinction of bieng WR's largest Metre Gauge shed and homed a fleet of almost 60 locomotives in its heyday! When we went there it was left with a mere 12 odd working locomotives......only 5 being on line at any one time....the rest under repair!
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Siddharth poses with camera and YP 2825 at Ratlam outstation shed!! The YP had just finished running the Special Republic day train to Ratlam! The train was actually a Mhow-Chittaurgarh passenger and the YP handed it over to a YDM4 at Ratlam. The same YP would return to Mhow with the Up Chittaurgarh-Mhow passenger later in the day! It was currently getting watered and coaled at the outstation facility at Ratlam.
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YP 2805 reverses along the coaling line at Ratlam. To the right of the picture the erstwhile BG steam shed can be seen which nowadays houses the modern 140 tonne BG ART! Ratlam BG steam shed shut down in the eighties and was one of the largest steam sheds on the BG on WR. 2805 had failed short of Ratlam on the morning up working from Chittaurgarh and was relieved at Ratlam by a YDM4!
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YP 2805 moves gently along the shed line at Ratlam as it drops burnt coal and cinders on the tracks. A stunning site in winter....it added so much charm to the place, I just went crazy clicking away!! The dropping of coal is reffered to as 'grating' and is done on long haults or ly-overs.
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Head on shot of YG 3361 at Ratlam shed. YG 3361 was our first spotting at Ratlam and in fact the first steam power we encountered on our trip! Between the 2 of us, we shot about 20-25 shots of this locomotive.....we just went totally overboard seeing steam in action!!
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As the night draws closer, preperations are on in full swing at Mhow shed to prepare YP 2825 for its special Republic Day Run the following morning! The scheduled train was to leave at 4:50 am in the morning and get into Ratlam at around 9:00 am. The train however pulled in 20 minutes late, due to 3 chain pullings on the way!!
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YP 2825 basks in the early morning sun at a wayside station enroute to Ratlam! Note the two speakers on each side of the smoke deflectors and the Indian tricolour! The speakers blared out patriotic numbers along the way and each station was decorated with Indian flags!!
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A close up of the front of the YP, showing the intricate art work and decorations on it! The placard on the loco says, Yatri Seva' or 'Public/passenger Service' The Govt. of India emlem is on both sides of the loco. The Mhow shed markings were displayed in big on the smoke deflectors!
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A glint of sunlight on the tender, water sprayed from the injector, the smell and hissing of steam and a mixture of white smoke and the early morning fog.......pure bliss for any photographer or railway enthusiast!! Picture is taken from the side of the tender and the people up ahead near the locomotive are engulfed in fog and steam!!
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YP 2825 makes a stunning picture as it pauses early in the morning at a wayside station. The loco was watered here and shed staff which accompanied the loco tended to the beauty!!
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