back home. Accordingly, we took a bus from Ganagapur and arrived in Gulbarga. We had lunch in a nearby hotel near NEKRTC Bus Stand, which was simple and clean with much similarities to what people eat in Solapur region.
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After lunch, we hired a rickshaw and proceeded to Gulbarga station, the charges are just Rs. 10/- per passenger. Accordingly, my parents made themselves comfortable in Upper Class Waiting Room while I set out to explore the station and do a bit of RF.
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The facilities at Gulbarga and snaps have already been posted
here. There was a sizeable crowd at the station and one after another, the trains started coming
> A BCNA on the PF-3 loop line with WDG-4
> Gulbarga - Solapur Passenger on PF-2
> 11028 MAS-CSTM Mail arrived on PF-1
> 22881 PUNE-BBS SF on PF-1
> 11020 Konark on PF-1
> 18519 VSKP-LTT on PF-3
> Solapur-Falaknuma Passenger on PF-1
> 12026 Pune Shatabdi on PF-3
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After much roaming and RF, I finally decided to settle down in the waiting room for a bit of breather with a Tetra Pak of chilled Amul Buttermilk which I had got for my parents as well. The heat was too much and it seemed as if it was summer.
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At around 18.15, the announcement was made, 12026 scheduled to arrive on PF-3. It arrived some 15-20 min late, led by PUNE WDM-3A. The door of our coach C3 was jammed and could not be opened, so we made an entry through the adjoining door of C4 and made our way to our seats. The coach was full, hardly 2-3 seats were vacant. The overall coach condition, toilets, cleanliness was acceptable. Cooling was good. Our coach was I guess CR 92155, aged more than a teenager. Still it was doing good.
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Soon after, the attendant served us 3 bottles of water. The TTE came and checked our tickets, and collected difference of fare. The Deemer now unleashed its powers, with exception of slowing down 1-2 times, we reached SUR bang on time on PF-3. On PF-1 was Basava which was scheduled to depart late.
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After departing SUR, we were served Tomato Soup and Soupsticks, quality quite good. It was piping hot, good start to the meals I said. The appetizer tickled our tastebuds and we waited for the dinner to be served. We had opted for VEG MEAL, which consisted of Chapatis, Paneer Subji, Rice, Dal, Salad, Dahi (100 gms) and 2 Gulab Jamuns. Rice and Dal were pretty average. The rest of the items were good. Paid Rs. 50/- as tip to the attendant.
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The train, was in an absolute rocking mood, with top sectional priority, started burning the tracks. With the exception of just 1 unscheduled halt at KWV, it was non-stop all the way till Pune outer. It was good seeing the train skip Daund Jn at MPS of 100+. All this burning and blasting meant that we reached Pune outer some 20 min before time and now we were crawling. Finally, we arrived on PF-5 and thus came end to a memorable trip to Ganagapur.
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Pic Courtesy: Wikipedia ( [click here|
click here Secunderabad_Shatabdi] )