In the fast paced world, when the nation is going for faster BGs, let us take some time out to relive those bygone days in the same aura and ambience. Here are a few pictures of the charming Meter Gauge section between Punalur and Sengottai, where the railway line passes through the Tenmala Reserve Forest, falling into the symphony with the misty wind, swift streams, chirpy birds and... oh yes(!) the clickety clack of trains, over bridges, into tunnels, between the woods... Oh so wonderful to be entering a tunnel under the mountains in Kerala and emerge out of the darkness to witness the vast expanse of paddy fields in Tamilnadu... Naveen, Raghu Jayaraman and Harish covered this beautiful railway section in March 2010, before the line was officially closed on September 2010. All pictures were taken with permission from CPRO and the local authority.
Train schedule at Tenmalai (Harish Kumar)
Scene from a bye-gone era (Harish Kumar)
The beautiful British built station, Tenmalai (Harish Kumar)
Tenmalai had all the charm, an old MG station would have (Harish Kumar)
The cute, little Tenmalai station. The Government and the Railway have agreed to preserve this British built building and had built a new building for BG (Harish Kumar)
A classic ticket counter with a modern instrument inside (Harish Kumar)
Quiet, serene, lonely with thick wood around and birds for company, you can shoot a period film here without moving much around. The view is towards Sengottai. (Harish Kumar)
The evening service to Sengottai with YDM-4 6401 is the first to arrive at Tenmalai. Its counter-part would cross here. (Naveen)
The sengottai bound passenger pulls into Tenmalai with YDM-4 #6401 (Harish Kumar)
People in different moods (Naveen)
YDM-4 #6401 with Sengottai Passenger at Tenmalai (Harish Kumar)
The loco pilot and his deputy in relaxed mood, while waiting for the crossing with the passenger train to Punalur (Naveen)
A little while later, the Punalur bound Passenger snaked in to Tenmalai with YDM-4 #6724 (Naveen)
YDM-4 #6724 makes a pleasing entry into Tenmalai (Harish Kumar)
All clear for the Sengottai bound train (Naveen)