u/Meta_Zephyr

Who are your favorite characters that fit into this box?

Eg: Eggman & Sonic teaming up is my personal fav.

I wanted to make this post but I couldn't find a perfect image for this trope until now.

Video credit goes to Adurti Venkatgiri.

It's a very old clip from 2010's. I remember I saw this clip back in 2013 & it gave me a lot of nostalgic vibes.

Even if the quality may be poor as per today's standards, the curve + ALCO + Blue ICF + old quality video gives a kind of charm many railfans could relate.

I’ve been curious about cities or towns that are shared or sit right across an international border, so they almost function as one place.

For Eg: Rupaidiha in India & Nepalgunj on the Nepal side are right next to each other, with people crossing frequently for trade & daily life.

Does your country have a town/city that you share with neighboring countries or are very closely linked across the border?

So by last days on this route, this Vande Bharat's current old route is Veraval, Junagadh, Jetalsar(Skips), Rajkot, Wankaner, Surendranagar, Viramgam & Sabarmati(Ahmedabad) with technical halt at Khodiyar for reversal.

From 17th August, this train will be diverted to new route & that's Veraval, Junagadh, Jetalsar(Skips), Dhasa, Botad, Dholka, Gandhigram & Sabarmati.

This is one of the few Vande Bharat that actually got permanently diverted & this reminds me of Amritsar-Katra Vande Bharat express.

However in my opinion, this is an absolute garbage decision took by WR because the major issue with this new route(Jetalsar-Botad-Sabarmati) is it doesn't have a major station like Rajkot. Botad is the only major station there but it's 4x smaller than Rajkot. New Route is 15km longer than the old one & even if the train got 15 minute speed up on new route, it still has a lot of speed restrictions on new route as it has only single line.

It may go in loss just like Amritsar-Katra Vande Bharat that initially used to run via Jalandhar which was longer route yet it was profitable one too & even if the new route via Batala is short, it always has occupancy around 20℅. So that 15 minute speed up is useless when the train doesn't pass through any major station.

Credits & source to the original videographer (Been watching him for years, go check him out for his old content).

The second Duronto of Indian railways after Sealdah-New Delhi(Now Bikaner) Duronto, this train used to run between Mumbai & Ahmedabad initially, then got extended to Rajkot in 2018 & then to Hapa(Jamnagar) in 2022.

By unique schedule, this Duronto used to depart from Ahmedabad & Mumbai at 12:15 am simultaneously & reached their respective destination at 6:15 am. Even after getting extended to Rajkot, it still kept the same schedule until 2022 when WR changed it completely.

This is one of the only two trains that skip Vadodara jn (Along with Ahmedabad-Pune Duronto).

After extension, this train faced some challenges for having poor occupancy but today it still get a lot of passengers from Rajkot. Atleast better extension than Sealdah Bikaner Duronto.

For me, I've traveled in this train like two times & it is the only Duronto & the only premium train so far that I've traveled in.

Anyways the loco in this clip is Vadodara WCAM-2(I guess) hauling Mumbai Ahmedabad Duronto in it's maiden run. The same loco used to haul several other trains before the conversion of DC to AC traction in Mumbai region. Today this Duronto runs with LHB rake but it doesn't even look like Duronto anymore sadly.

So by one of the Oldest, this WAG-7 has the number 27020 which actually makes it 20th oldest WAG-7 as the first WAG-7 (Shantidan) with the number was manufactured in 1992 with the number 27001.

As for WAG-7 in this video is from Deen Dayal Upadhyay(Mughalsarai) shed, formerly used to be Samastipur shed loco with Tigerface livery.

As for the freight, the BTPN(Oil tanker) is the most commonly seen freight here all thanks to the presence of largest oil refinery complex in the world.

In case of my country, it is still not great.

Even tho India has an official website & resources that speaks about Autism, a huge chunk of people are still unaware, have limited awareness or they misunderstand on what Autism actually is.

Sadly, a lot of people still treat Autism as a "Mental illness" rather than a neurodevelopmental condition. As an Autistic person myself, I was bullied a lot during my school days & was mostly excluded as "that weird kid".

What about y'all?

I know it's not too long that the defensive statue mode of GW was removed but as a returning player, I last saw GW in defensive statue mode back in early 2018 until I came back to this game after Nov 2024 but during that time, the Hero hall was introduced & old Altars of Heroes were removed so that's why I never got to see this defensive statue again.

Just like how we got the Eagle Artillery decoration, Supercell should add this defensive statue as a 2x2 or a 3x3 decoration. For design, they could use the current design of GW defensive statue(One in the post I shared) or they could also use the Old design of GW(One where GW had a Goatee) defensive statue mode too but I can't find a proper image of it to edit.

Eitherways, I wanna see it back as a deco atleast.

What do you guys think?

Credits & source for the video since I didn't recorded it.

>What the hell is Mahamana express?

Mahamana express is a type of Superfast train which had the most better & improved facilities compared to other ICF Superfast train in modern time before turning it into a generic train. They are active since 22 Jan 2016, almost 10 years now.

>Why named Mahamana?

It was named after Madan Mohan Malaviya(Mahamana), a freedom fighter & education reformer who established Benaras Hindu University in Varanasi & had an influencial presence there, hence the first Mahamana express ran from Varanasi to New Delhi.

>How many Mahamana trains are active?

As of today, 6 Mahamana express are active which include:

•New Delhi-Varanasi.

•Bhopal-Khajuraho.

•Ektanagar(Statue of Unity)-Varanasi.(Formerly Vadodara-Varanasi)

•Ektanagar-Rewa.

•Veraval-Indore.

•Indore-Bikaner.

>Are there any actual Mahamana express left?

Unfortunately, Mahamana express slowly became the victim of same ol "Desi-Jugaad" game which means Blue ICF coaches started to mix in, then got corrupted with Ut****st coaches & then all of the trains eventually got converted to LHB rakes which stripped away all of its uniqueness as it looks like the same generic red LHB train from the outside with average train facilities from the inside. So it's just your regular train today with Mahamana name & charges more fare.

>About the video.

The one in this video is Veraval-Indore Mahamana express skipping Jetalsar with Vatva WDM-3A(Which sadly got withdrawn & auctioned in December 2023) recorded in 2018 & I loved to see this train a lot in my early-to-mid teen age. I always loved this livery since 2016 when I was in my early-teens cuz I loved Purple color, given how rare they are in Indian railways.

I hope IR once again start focusing on unique liveries back.

Like, isn't it obvious?

A lot of major passenger trains has been running with LHB rake & LHB rake's usages aren't just limited to passenger trains but also these coaches gets used in High Capacity Parcel Van(LHB equivalent of NMG) & Inspection cars. So Military special trains should get LHBfied too.

If you look at the interior of a Military train, they are almost like normal ICF train but slightly modified to accommodate Army Personnel so I don't think it would be a challenge to upgrade them to LHB.

If they have to give it LHB, I hope it keeps its distinct Navy Green livery instead of just using a red LHB with "Indian Army" label lol cuz that would be too lazy & too bland for such a train like this.

What do you think? Since the production of ICF coaches has been stopped since a decade, they'll need to give these trains LHB coaches tomorrow anyways but it's better if these trains get these coaches as early as possible.

Also interestingly, this Camping coach was the first coach after the locomotive & then came that rare coach I've never seen in my life.

Sorry for the weird camera angle because I did not expected to see this weird coach & quickly try to record it before I board in this train.

Anyways the station is Botad jn & time was 12:30 am.

Anyways in Pic-1, the train on left is Botad-Gandhigram(Ahmedabad) passenger while the right one is mixed Bhavnagar passenger (Specifically the Botad-Bhavnagar pass), both of them are waiting for their

The quietness here is absolute "Low Cortisol" but at the same time, it also feels kinda eerie too as there's barely anyone, just some railway staff cleaning the coaches.

What do you think of this vibe? Take it or pass?