(4K) Chennai - Palakkad via Palani | Scenic Train Journey

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Hello world! It's been a while since I released the trailer, so why not upload the journey now?

It began on the night of the 30th of December 2022. A not-so-hot evening gave way to a cold night at MGR Chennai Central. The host of high-priority night departures was all set and ready to go. You know, Alleppey, Nilgiri, Kaveri, Cheran, Tamil Nadu and the like. Amidst those departures was that of my train as well.

The Palakkad Express' rake was placed on platform 7 by a handsome TNP WDM-3A, derated for shunting. On the other side of the island platform, on platform 6, stood the Alleppey Express with its super-clean ICF rake. I walked to the front and saw that my train and Alleppey had gotten tired-looking Arakkonam WAP-4s to haul us away from Chennai. The bright orange-red livery of these locos had somewhat given way to a drab, rusty brown.

At 20:55 sharp, right on the dot, Alleppey briskly departed. A mere 10 minutes later, the Nilgiri Express bound for Mettupalayam departed with its equally clean ICF rake. I noticed the brimming Kaveri Express bound for Mysuru waiting on platform 11 as Nilgiri exited. 10 short minutes later, Kaveri departed, and I returned to my train. We were next.

We were cleared to exit MGR Chennai Central at 21:40 hrs sharp. The Cheran Express to Coimbatore would depart 20 minutes behind us and be hot on our tail till Salem. The beddings were out, and the lights were switched off as soon as we left Chennai, so I realised I had to stay in my upper berth until the next morning.

I didn't have to wait long. Thanks to a beautiful CBC jerk, I woke up at 4AM and began recording somewhere between Karur and Dindigul. We reached Dindigul way before our scheduled time, which allowed me to disembark there, grab a cup of tea, witness the rake reversal and get back on board by 6 AM. The Madurai AC Express (now the Bodinayakkanur Express) had been trailing us from Karur and was allowed to enter Dindigul first, and made us wait for five extra minutes. Then, we were cleared to depart.

We would take the erstwhile metre-gauge, recently electrified single-line route from Dindigul to Pollachi and onward to Palakkad. After gently negotiating some sharp curves through the sleepy city waking up to the sounds of prayer, we began to pick up speed through the mist-covered fields as the sun started to peek out of the horizon, turning the sky a shade of pink. Standing at the door, witnessing all this felt ethereal.

The train showed no signs of slowing down until we reached our next halt, Oddanchatram. Quite a few passengers disembarked here, still yawning and rubbing their eyes. We continued with a marginal delay until we reached Palani, where we met the Amritha Express. Most of the passengers got off here, so I grabbed a nice lower berth for myself.

Passing through the beautiful wind farms of Udumalaipettai, we eventually reached Pollachi, where the remaining few passengers also disembarked. At this point, there were only two people in my 3AC coach - me and the attendant. Surprisingly, the coach was completely clean in spite of the fact that we had left Chennai the previous night. Kudos to all the passengers for not dirtying it.

The empty train gracefully meandered through the beautiful landscapes of Kerala, and we reached the deserted Palakkad Town station that wore an abandoned look. After an extended halt at the Town station, we trundled towards Palakkad Junction, where we terminated our journey.

It's clearly the longest train journey I've undertaken in a while and the longest on this channel. I enjoyed every bit of it, and hope you do too!

Train Details:

22651 MGR Chennai Central - Palakkad Jn SF Express

Route: MGR Chennai Central - Basin Bridge - Arakkonam - Walajah Road - Katpadi - Jolarpettai - Magnesite - Salem - Karur - Dindigul - Pollachi - Palakkad Jn

Stops:
MAS/Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station
TRL/Tiruvallur
AJJ/Arakkonam Junction
KPD/Katpadi Junction
GYM/Gudiyattam
JTJ/Jolarpettai Junction
MAP/Morappur
SA/Salem Junction
RASP/Rasipuram
NMKL/Namakkal
MONR/Mohanur
KRR/Karur Junction
DG/Dindigul Junction
ODC/Oddanchatram
PLNI/Palani
UDT/Udumalaipettai
POY/Pollachi Junction
PGTN/Palakkad Town
PGT/Palakkad Junction

Distance: 673 km
Time Taken: 11h 50min
Average Speed Excluding Halts: 60 km/h
Maximum Permissible Speed: 110 km/h

Category: Superfast
Rake Zone: Southern Railway, Chennai Division
Maintenance: BBQ CDO

Cameras Used: Nikon Coolpix P900, Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
Sound recorded on Apple EarPods

Music Credits

Marathon by Sapajou   / sapajoubeats  
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/-_marathon
Music promoted by Audio Library    • Marathon – Sapajou (No Copyright Music)  

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