Fair warning: This is a pure railfanning blog post, more or less; and will involve a lot of technical terms. So non-rail enthusiasts can give this one a miss; unless of course, any natural curiosity on your part compels you otherwise! 😛 I had a round Trip to Daund by 11301 Mumbai Bangalore Udyan express (and later to Baramati by a DEMU) on Saturday 12th January; returning to Mumbai by 51034 Sainagar Shirdi Mumbai fast passenger. So these were my observations at DD:

a] Afternoon observations

1) My Udyan express arrived at 13 18 (18 mins late) on Platform 5.

2) There was a new LHB rake on a siding to the right of PF6; this had 12 coaches – 1 in Duronto livery and the rest in red-grey livery.

3) 2 young RPF personnel with rifles were roaming around on PF5/6 !! :O

4) Udyan departed at 13 36 (26 mins late) with 2 unique HT horns from its EMD (after detachment of the e-loco that had hauled it from Mumbai – KYN WCAM3 21883).

5) Here is an aerial view of the junction; you can see BSL WAP4 22361 reversing to take charge of the diverted 11026 Pune-BSL express on PF3 (due to a maintenance block at Igatpuri; as per info by a railfan friend of mine). The diverted train had a reversal at DD.

6)  In the distant left (near a factory) were Pune WDG4 70010 and Ajni WAP7 30265.

7) Nearby was a Pune WDM3A 18719R (de-rated to shunting and departmental duties). You can see the diverted 11026 in the distant left. 

8) There is a Diesel Loco Service Center near the exit; you can see army tanks mounted on a flatbed rake next to it. The Ajni P7 later moved to this Center! :O

9) A Container train arrived from Pune side behind Pune WDG4D 70623.

10) The station entry/exit.

11) I boarded 71405 Daund Baramati DEMU to Baramati. It came on PF6.

12) Saw a 1 hour late 11078 Jammu Tawi Pune Jhelum express on PF2. GZB WAP7 30233 was reversing on a siding next to PF5; to take charge of the train – since it has a reversal here.

b] Evening and Night observations

1) 11017 LTT-Karaikal express skipped the junction at MPS behind mega-offlink APU-fitted KZJ WDM3As 16388 and 16683 at 17 38; honking all the way! 🙂

2) After many HT whines (from the WAP7 hauling it), 12781 MYS-NZM Swarna Jayanthi express finally departed right on the dot at 17 45 from PF2. 

3) 16351 CSMT-NCJ ‘Balaji’ express pulled into PF5 at 17 51 (51 mins late) with KYN WCAM3 21899. It was still announced as Mumbai-Tirupati-Nagercoil express; though it had stopped touching Tirupati in its route many years ago! 😛

4) I saw Pune WDP4D 40156 on a siding next to PF3.

5) 16351 departed at 18 08 (1 hour 3 mins late) headed by an EMD and the detached WCAM3 came to PF3.

After this little evening session of railfanning, I went to the Upper Class Waiting Room on PF2/3; spent some time reading the book of mystery short stories ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales’ (written by 19th century American author Edgar Allan Poe) and later had dinner (3 chapattis with sabzis and pickle; quantity of vegetables was too less 😦 )from the Veg. Refreshment Room on the same platform. Here are my observations for the night:

6) I spotted AJJ WAG5-HA 23791 on a siding next to PF3.

7) Saw a unique Rail Vehicle on a siding between PF2 and PF3.

8) 11019 CSMT-BBS Konark express arrived on PF3 at 20 38 (3 mins late), hauled by offlink Pune WDP4D 40575 (regular link is UBL EMD).

9) 51028 PVR-CSMT fast passenger arrived later on PF3, led by KYN WDM3D 11390.

10) The layout of platforms at Daund is quite complicated; the platform you see in this pic beside the siding with the milk tanker wagons would eventually become PF4!! Seems PF1 and PF4 are meant exclusively for the trains coming from Manmad side and terminating/bifurcating at Daund!! :O

11) My return train to Mumbai 51034 SNSI-CSMT fast passenger came on PF4 with KYN WCAM3 21894. The KYN WDM3D that had hauled 51028 from PVR would later shunt the rake of 51034 into PF3 and attach it to the rake of 51028. The combined rake would then depart towards Mumbai headed by the 3D! 😀

12) Platforms 1 & 4 – 1 is basically an extension of PF2 on the North end!! The only ‘regular’ platforms are 2, 3 , 5 and 6!! That too in the order 3, 2, 5, 6!! :O

13) 17613 Panvel Nanded express pulled into PF5 behind KJM WDP4D 40523. 

14) 16381 CSMT-CAPE ‘Jayanthi Janata’ express arrived on PF6, hauled by APU-fitted GTL WDM3A 16701R.

Technical Abbreviations

• DEMU – Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (or diesel local)
• LHB – Linke-Hofmann-Busch (a modern Swiss company which manufactures coaches with high speed capability and anti-climb safety features; used in Rajdhanis, Shatabdis , and many Durontos and AC expresses)
• RPF – Railway Protection Force
• HT – High Tone
• EMD – Electro-motive Diesel (and a modern class of diesel engines)
• MPS – Maximum Permissible Speed
• APU – Auxiliary Power Unit (specifically for charging the loco batteries when it is idle)

Station Codes

• DD – Daund Junction
• KYN – Kalyan
• BSL – Bhusaval
• GZB – Ghaziabad
• LTT – Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Kurla Terminus)
• KZJ – Kazipet
• MYS – Mysore
• NZM – Hazrat Nizamuddin
• CSMT – Mumbai CST
• NCJ – Nagercoil Junction
• AJJ – Arakkonam Junction
• BBS – Bhubaneswar
• UBL – Hubli
• PVR – Pandharpur
• SNSI – Sainagar Shirdi
• KJM – Krishnarajapuram (KR Puram)
• CAPE – Kanniyakumari
• GTL – Guntakal