The End of An Era: 50 High Speed Diesel Crossings from Allahabad Itarsi Section!

I never traveled on the Allahabad Itarsi section till 2017. It was not even too high on my to-do list till 2013 when my dear friend and fellow rail enthusiast, Anindya Roy from Dankuni, excitedly told me of the route as an absolute haven for diesel hauled trains. After a few aborted attempts in 2014, 2015 and 2016, I finally managed my first trip in July 2017. And lo behold! I had finished 3 trips by September 2017. By then, the Itarsi-Pipariya stretch had fully come under wires, and electrification was on-going at various stretches between Katni and Pipariya, and Manikpur and Allahabad. By the time I undertook my final trip in this stretch, electric locomotives had started taking charge of trains between Jabalpur and Itarsi. This video is thereby a tribute to the diesel-hauled (Alcos in particular) action along this 800 kilometre stretch, based across my trips, collecting 50 of the best high speed diesel crossings. It covers crossings of 21 twin Alco hauled trains, 19 single Alco hauled trains, and 10 EMD hauled trains. While Itarsi and Katni Alcos (in addition to Itarsi EMDs) are prominently featured, the compilation also features Alcos from Maula Ali, Lucknow, Kazipet, New Guwahati, Pune and Jhansi sheds. Of particular note is a high speed crossing with the twin Itarsi WDM3A hauled Mumbai Howrah Mail (the legendary "Mail") over the Narmada river, a crossing with the Pune Patna (now Danapur) Express hauled by twin Kazipet WDG3A twins (a bizarre off-link), and a crossing with the LTT Allahabad Duronto Express, powered by twin Itarsi WDM3As. Prominently featured in this collected is the Rajendranagar LTT "Janata" Express, the Mahanagari Express, the LTT Varanasi Superfast Express, the Kamayani Express, the Amarkantak Express, the Jabalpur Rewa Shuttle, the Pune Patna Express, and the Somnath Express. Also covered are some of the key highlights of the route, including crossings of the Narmada river, close to its source near Jabalpur, the crossing of the Tawa river and the forests of the Satpura Tiger Reserve, the forested hills between Satna and Manikpur, and the town of Maihar, home to Baba Ustad Allaudin Khan, one of the India's foremost musicians, at whose feet in Maihar Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan learnt Hindustani classical music in the 1930s and 40s, to become the most legendary musicians produced by India. The video is dedicated to my dear friend Anindya Roy, without whose inspiration I would have probably never traveled this section, and the Jabalpur based rail enthusiast Swapnil David, who lived his life, doing what he enjoyed the most.