A snap-up with the mighty WDM2 June 15, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in India, Indian Railways, Travel.trackback
That’s ‘proud me’ perched in front of the hood of an Erode based WDM3A beauty that was to haul my train (6345 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – Trivandrum Netravati Express).I’d got to LTT, Mumbai quite early from Igatpuri to catch Netravati Express that leaves for Trivandrum every morning at 11.40. LTT was as always crowded with trains leaving for Gorakhpur and other places. I snapped up a few pics of the train without getting noticed by the RPF (Railway Protection Force) or railway staff. I then decided to do the ‘ethical’ thing… ask the loco engineer who was running a series of checks on the WDM2-3A for permission to take snaps of his loco. He said yes and I wondered if the stars fell out of the sky. Most loco drivers refuse to have their locos shot as railway photography is against the law in India.
‘VS’, the loco engineer then asked if I would be interested in taking snaps with me posing with the loco. I thought my ears went bust. And then wondered if even the sun had fallen out of the sky with the stars. Soon I was sitting in the loco cab, trying to act the loco chief, while VS snapped me up, as over a hundred eyes curiously peered at the guy with the red-t-shirt & the loco driver who went about clicking him. My fav snap is of course this one.
Guys like VS are a rarity – he was polite, gentlemanly, considerate & helpful… meeting him definitely made my day. And a dream came true… posing with the mighty WDM2.
Arun Rajagopal 
You look spiffy on that locomotive. One of my dreams is a pic in front of the Taj Mahal (I just love the story of the reason it was built).
Thanks CK! Hope that you get to see the Taj soon. I went there when I was like 7 years old. I wanna go again some day & hopefully I’ll get to be your guide. 🙂
You got a deal ;-).
Arun,
You look great up there. I envy you. I have loved trains since I got my first model train in 1952.
HI I Am Viraj Labde From Badlapur-Mumbai.Now I m Doing Mechanical engg Diploma .So I do Inplant Training In Parel Loco Carshed.So Please If You Have Any INformation About WDM2 Please send me it On My Email.
Is this not wdm3a?