Complete Journey on the Indian Railways: West Bengal Sampark Kranti Express

This is a compilation of my journey aboard the WAP4 hauled West Bengal Sampark Kranti Express between Delhi and Sealdah in August 2008. This is one of my most pleasurable train journeys aboard the Indian Railways. The beautiful weather in August, a combination of the hot sun tempered by cool monsoon showers added flavor to the journey. The monsoons had hued the landscape in various shades of green, making it an absolute pleasure to the eye and fluffy white and grey clouds dotted a pristine blue sky.
The video covers action from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Featured is the skip of the beautiful station of Chunar, prior to Mughal Sarai, surrounded by the foothills of the Vindhyas. We meet a WAP4 hauled express here which rushes by. As we approach Mughal Sarai, we are greeted by a late running Ranchi Rajdhani which whizzes past with a WAP4, in an attempt to make up for some lost time. After Dehri-on-Sone in the state of Bihar, we cross the river Sone which for once was teeming with water (well, by Sone standards at least). This bridge was also the longest rail bridge in India then, measuring over 3 km in length. The train subsequently crosses the Chhota Nagpur Hills and the Gurpa-Gujhandi ghat section, before blasting through the Chhota Nagpur Plateau towards Parasnath, Jharkhand. She slips into Bengal across the Barakar river and crosses a turgid Ganga near Dakshineshwar, under cloudy skies, to enter Kolkata. As the train crawls through the northern fringes of the city, she meets the Sealdah Rajdhani with a spotless Ghaziabad WAP7.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Indian Railways
• IRFCA
• Sampark Kranti
• West Bengal Sampark Kranti
• WBSK
• Sampark Kranti Express
• Rajdhani
• Rajdhani Express
• Ranchi Rajdhani
• Ranchi Rajdhani Express
• Sealdah Rajdhani
• Sealdah Rajdhani Express
• WAP4
• Ghaziabad WAP4
• GZB WAP4
• WAP7
• Ghaziabad WAP7
• GZB WAP7
• Chunar
• Gurpa Gujhandi Ghat Section
• Chhota Nagpur Plateau
• Jharkhand
• Chhota Nagpur Hills
• Koderma
• Parasnath
• Sone
• River Sone
• Sone River
• Dehri-on-Sone
• Dehri
• Barakar
• Barakar River

[123banerjee]

"DURDANTO VIDEOGRAPHY"

[ritadhishankar]

@123banerjee: Onek dhonnobad dada!

[arzan1980]

Lovely coverage

[ritadhishankar]

@arzan1980: Thanks a lot Arzan!

[axisarindam]

khub bhalo legechhe-tumi bhai amar last Delhi journey mone korie diechho-moonlit night e gurpa-gujhandi section r du pasher jungle ekta anyo jagot e nie giechhilo-ekhono chokh bandho korle dekhte pai- r majhe majhe andhokar curve e coach er electronic display board gulo dekhte darun lagchhilo.

[ritadhishankar]

@axisarindam: Onek dhonnobad Arindam da! Aapnar je dekhe bhalo legechhe, ete khub khushi holam. Aar haan, Chhota-Nagpur aar Gurpa-Gujhandi-r jobab nei. Raatre kalo kalo pahar-jongol-er ga diye train-ta enke-benke jaye. Oi shomoye purbo-gami train-gulo-o shob cross kore, engine-er headlight-e darun dekhaye range-ta!

[ritadhishankar]

@vb642: Thanks a lot Vijay Jee! Hehe...I personally prefer LHB. I mean it is better to look at the ICF rakes but I would always want an LHB when I am on board. The Sone was a big surprise. I have never seen as much water as I saw on this trip.

With regard to Mughal Sarai-Gaya, this journey was undertaken in the days when I had a single 1 GB memory card (poverty-stricken college student!) so long videos were out of the question. I had around 8 minutes in all so it called for some prudent usage.

[ritadhishankar]

@andy25biotech: Onek dhonnobad bhai! 

[ritadhishankar]

@Arkchat921: Thanks a lot!

[ritadhishankar]

@amitmlp: Thanks a lot! Glad that you enjoyed it. Nothing to beat the hide-and-seek with the monsoons!