The peg for this, is a column I wrote (in Business Standard) on January 2, 2016. That column was on steam locomotives. In passing, I said rolling stock and locomotives were interchangeable between DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) and MLR (Matheran Light Railway) from Neral to Matheran. It now transpires I was wrong, but since the same mistake was made by railway engineers, I can be excused. I got my information through Indian Railways Fan Club Association (IRFCA). "A 'B' class loco #794 from the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has been transferred to the Neral-Matheran line to test the feasibility of steam excursions." The 'B' class simply means redesigned locomotives, the earlier design of 'A' having not been suitable. Raghunandan used to be in the IAS. [He retired early and has been involved in civil society work (local governance, anti-corruption movements)]. He sent me an email, explaining why railway engineers were wrong. The curves on MLR are tighter. This requires wheels to "freewheel", in the sense of turning independently of the axle. Without that, when a locomotive is on a curve, wheels on the outer side of the curve slide, leading to a sharp reduction in traction. DHR didn't need this safeguard, but MLR did. MLR locomotives catered to that need, through coupled axles and a flexible wheelbase (known as Klien-Lindner axles), DHR locomotives didn't.
Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy built MLR (now part of Central Railway) between 1901 and 1907. Four locomotives were imported from a German company in 1907. Diesel locomotives were introduced in 1965 and steam locomotives completely withdrawn in 1982. What happened to those four locomotives? Three are exhibits, awaiting restoration in workshops. For the National Rail Museum in Delhi, we received help from England. As a mark of gratitude, in 1985, we gifted the fourth locomotive (MLR-740) to England. British Rail wasn't going to maintain and preserve these heritage locomotives. MLR-740 ended up in the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway in Bedfordshire, a line that originally served quarries, but is now a heritage railway. It is now with the South Tynedale Railway, another narrow gauge heritage railway in northern England (Cumbria) and is now awaiting overhaul. I learnt what happened next from a recent piece by Rajendra Aklekar (journalist and author of Halt Station India). Aklekar has this quote from a representative of the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society. "We have stripped the loco down completely and are doing its comprehensive overhaul so that it will return to service, hopefully from 2018. Donations in support of MLR 740 are eagerly sought and will be most welcome. The sooner funds can be raised, the sooner we shall see this magnificent locomotive hard at work on a hill railway here."
There are other instances of "Indian" steam locomotives being better maintained and preserved outside India. There is the one named "Rishra", used by Calcutta Corporation to haul coal. That's now with Leighton Buzzard Light Railway. Over time, railway rolling stock and locomotives became standardised. That was less true of narrow gauge, though people didn't always realise this. Thus, in 2001, to celebrate 100 years of MLR, Indian Railways (IR) fished around for a steam locomotive and latched on to DHR's 794, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. Incidentally, Leighton Buzzard Light Railway has what is a locomotive of almost the same vintage. The 778 from Baldin Locomotive Works is there, having retired from service in India in the 1980s, the last posting being with Upper India Sugar Mills. But DHR 794 couldn't handle the Matheran curves, despite being christened Neral Queen. Before that, Central Railway sent 794 to Golden Rock Railway Workshop to be converted from coal-fired to oil-fired, not the best of decisions. As far as I can tell, 794 is in Matheran now, unused.
IR doesn't possess resources, perhaps even inclination, to preserve this heritage, despite the National Rail Museum. There is Rewari Heritage Steam Locomotive Museum. I haven't been there after the Commonwealth Games. (I was told it had been cleaned up as a tourist attraction then.) Before the Commonwealth Games, I have an impression about IR projecting Rewari as a site for shooting films. Perhaps the answer lies, as in England, in privately funded heritage railways/museums. Raghunandan is going to start one such in Kolar district. It should be functional in 2017. Not far from Rewari, there is the private Heritage Transport Museum in Manesar. Right now, the railway collection there isn't great. Locomotives exist only in the form of models. But imagine the Rewari exhibits maintained and preserved by something like the Manesar Museum. I believe the Google Cultural Institute will soon team up with IR to have virtual tours of India's railway heritage. (If you haven't tried out the existing virtual tours, you have missed an experience. Try the one on Indian Museum, Kolkata.) Why am I sceptical of IR preserving heritage on its own? Visit the heritage section on the IR website and you will know. Beyond DHR and National Rail Museum, there is little. There is a list of galleries and "HERITAGE PAKS" (unless it has changed since I wrote this). The PAK is a typo for park, it doesn't mean Pakistan, though the railway heritage is often common.
The writer is a member of the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog. The views are personal
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