• The Return of the Thousand-Wheeler: Part 1

    Oh! I know what y’all are thinking – pretty inane title for a blog, innit? But, well, I am weird myself – deal with it! 😛 Also, you might be wondering where I vanished all these months! I had a break from work in the most amazing way possible – a 10-day vacation to UK…

  • Flattering to deceive, yet again – Part 2

    12125 Mumbai Pune Pragati express is a very important train for officegoers between Mumbai and Pune (especially for those from Navi Mumbai) and is one of the 4 dedicated superfasts connecting the 2 cities. However, it always flatters to deceive as far as punctuality is concerned (hence the title of this blog post! 😛 ).…

  • Flattering to deceive, yet again – Part 1

    12125/26 Pragati express is one of the 6 intercities (including 4 superfasts) that ply on the ever busy Mumbai-Pune corridor. It is a superfast (covering the distance of 189 km in 3 hours 25 minutes, at an average speed of 55.32 kmph) and an important train for the office-goers; especially from Navi Mumbai – being…

  • Chugging along to Pune on a midsummer afternoon

    Kayani Bakery is a famous bakery in Pune; one that is renowned for its lip-smacking Shrewsbury biscuits and Mawa cakes, as well as other delicacies such as Brazil Nuts, Chocochip cookies, Choco Walnut cakes etc. Kayani has many franchises in Mumbai as well; but it’s the HQ in Pune that is the most widely sought…

  • A racy trip down South – Part 2

    Hey guys, here is the final leg of my first major trip of 2019 – the return from Chennai to Mumbai by 12164 Chennai Dadar superfast. For the earlier phases (Mumbai-Chennai-Devakottai-Chennai) please refer to Part 1: https://ashwinkumar1989.online/2019/04/14/a-racy-trip-down-south-part-1/ . I was quite excited; since ‘The Super’ is my all-time favourite train and I had not travelled…

  • A racy trip down South – Part 1

    I’m not great at titles, so I hope you will bear with me and move on to the actual blog. There was a function in Devakottai – the 1st birthday function of the baby of my best friend – on Friday March 8th; incidentally International Women’s Day as well 🙂 . The tricky part was…

  • Another memorable outing to Pune – Part 2

    After yet another eventful trip to Pune; which included buying sweets and snacks at Chitale Bandhu as well as a fat lot of railfanning at Pune junction and the suburb Dapodi; it was time to head back to Mumbai – by 12128 Pune Mumbai Intercity; which (along with the one and only 12124 Deccan Queen)…

  • Another memorable outing to Pune – Part 1

    Yes, you read right – yet another trip to Pune; must be making you wonder whether this city is my 2nd home! 😛 Nope, there were some sweets and snacks to buy from the famous Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale; and of course some railfanning at Dapodi – 3 stations away! 😛 Anyway, the train for the…

  • A sudden trip through Konkan Railway – Part 3

    The first leg of a sudden trip (involving 2 successful Tatkal bookings!) to Ratnagiri through Konkan Railway was over. I had arrived here by 10103 CSMT-MAO Mandovi express; which had deposited me at RN at 14 40, 1 hour 25 minutes late. This left me with about 3 hours to kill at the station –…

  • A sudden trip through Konkan Railway – Part 2

    A sudden trip through Konkan Railway by ‘The Food King’ a.k.a 10103 CSMT-MAO Mandovi express, hauled by surprise link – twin Pune WDM3As 16013R and 16750R – was in progress; we had just entered KR territory in style – overtaking 22656 NZM-TVC superfast (as well as a freight) at Roha. For our progress till then,…