IR

16 Apr. 1853 - 16 Apr. 2002

Half time over. OK, go grab yourself a cuppa steaming hot coffee and prepare to enjoy the second half of the selection of historic IR images.

And I do trust you are enjoying your time here. OK, if you feel that this page is the worst thing to happen to you ever since mamma forced that spoonful of castor oil down your throat several years ago, you can go back to the modern IR scene. Follow the irfca.org homepage link on the title or base panels of this page, and then follow the links from there.

57. A restaurant car (diner) from the early 1930s from the BB & CI Railway.

58. Starched white linen and decorative lamp shades: this is an interior view of the diner featured above.

59. Most of us associate double decker cars with the Sinhagad Express and Flying Ranee. These modern dd cars were put on line circa 1978. However, dd cars are not a new concept. They existed as long ago as 1862. Here is the plan of a dd car from the BB & CI Railway circa 1863. A model of one such wooden bodied dd car is preserved in the indoor galleries of the National Rail Museum, New Delhi. (Picture from my personal collection).

60. An ancient picture of a double deck train passing over the Narbada (now Narmada) river bridge near Surat circa 1863. (Picture from my personal collection).

61. A well wagon from the East Indian Railway (EIR) circa 1940. This car was specially designed to carry elephants. (Picture courtesy Mrinal Das.)

62. Interior of a first class airconditioned car circa the 1950s. Note the plush interior, clock and ladder to climb onto the top berth. Its ages now since I entered an ac first class car, is it much the same even now?

63. An articulated car used on the GIP Railway's pride the Punjab Limited. Articulate cars are no more in use, and the Punjab Ltd. now runs as the Punjab Mail. Although this train's superfast status has been somewhat restored after a gap of several decades, the train is but a shadow of its former glory.

64. A third class car running on the Bombay-Delhi section of the GIP Railway circa 1929. This car is fitted with external lighting as well. This user friendly feature was to ensure some sort of safety, plus to illuminate dark wayside stations, some of which had no electricity. Some of the modern stations are no better, though cars with external lighting no longer exist.

65. A composite inter and third class car used on the East Indian Railway in the late 1920s.'Inter' class was later reclassed as 2nd class, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes existed till 1971, after which the 2nd class was abolished. All third class class were reclassed as 2nd class, a practice which continues till this day.

66. A first class tourist car used on the North Western Railway (most of it now in Pakistan) circa 1929.

67. A Sentinel steam railcar used on the GIP Railway circa 1930. Note the sheer length of the car. This was probably fore runner to the modern diesel railcars. Fascinating as it may sound, the picture you are looking at is actually a s.m.u., or steam multiple unit! Technically not a m.u., but a railcar, but I was just trying to make a point.

68. One of the first passenger cars built at the Liluah works of the East Indian Railway. Today, this car is preserved in the workshop grounds as a static display model. (Picture courtesy Mrinal Das.)

69. A motley crowd waits for a train at Byculla circa 1854, just one year after the railway came to India. India's first train ran on 16 April 1853. See picture on previous page. (Picture from the history page of the old CR website).

70. Rub your eyes in disbelief: this is actually Churchgate station before it was knocked down and replaced with a concrete eyesore in the 1960s. The sea used to lap the station platforms. Note the absence of the milling crowds, and the horse drawn buggy in the foreground!

71. The IR celebrated 150 years of its fruitful existance on 16 April 2002. On the occasion, many emu trains ran with a banner on their front buffer beam reading '150 years of IR' or the Hindi equivalent. The grand VT station (now CST) was gaily illuminated on the occasion. This fabulous shot of the grandly lit building is by irfca member Srinivas Joshi. I too had the previlege of witnessing, and photographing the occasion. (Photo by Srinivas Joshi).

72. Ghazighat station on the NWR circa 1907. This portion of the NWR is now in Pakistan. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

73. Multan Cantt. station of the NWR, circa 1913. This portion of the NWR is now in Pakistan. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

74. Multan loco shed on the NWR circa 1913. This portion of the NWR is now in Pakistan. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

75. NWR's Shaharanpur railway station circa 1907. This place is made famous by the legendary Hal Huges. His memoirs can be viewed here. Shaharanpur is now part of India's NR. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

76. Sher Shah station of the NWR, circa 1913. This portion of the NWR is now in Pakistan. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

77. A Metro Cammel 3-car rigid emu unit (background) and a YCG/1 dc electric locomotive (foreground) receive attention in the SIR workshop at Tambaram in Madras. This shed is still in existance.

78. Before being overshadowed by Kharagpur as the station with the longest platform in India at 2733 ft., the honor was held by Sonepur. Part of the then Bengal and North Western Railway, Sonepur had a platform 2450 ft. long, of which this is a general view.

80. Bombay Victoria Terminus of the GIP railway, circa 1905. The forecourt is now has a completely different profile, and several ugly modifications have been made to the interior.

81. An even older print of the VT station. Note horse drawn tram and bullock cart in the foreground, something totally unthinkable in today's snarling traffic and desperate congestion.

82. The circulating are in Howrah station circa 1928. Note the EIR posters on the pillars.

83. BNR's (Bengal and Nagpur Railway) Nagpur station in the late 1920s. The station still looks much the same even today.

85. Jamalpur Workshop on the EIR was among the first to build entire locomotives, the other being Ajmer. Here is a 4-6-0 'mail engine' being built at Jamalpur circa 1913. (Picture courtesy Mrinal Das)

86. This very old photograph of the Jamalpur workshops shows the new East bay and the wheel turning bay being set up.

87. prior to electrification of the Bombay-Poona main line in 1929, steam traction was used. The old track alignment in the days of steam consisted of several zig zagging switchbacks and reversals. There is a viaduct leading to the spot you see in this pic. For decades, a neon sign for 'Amrutanjan' pain balm was fitted on this bridge: few road travellers actually realized that this was in effect a romantic relic from the past: a reversing station. The modern elevated expressway now obscures this grand structure from one side.

89. And still another view of the reversing station. The single line rising steeply up the mountain is the catch siding, which is meant to catch runaway trains. The actual Bombay Poona line is seen just beside the catch siding. You can make it out from the signalling cabin.

90. The Chola power house at Kalyan was vital in providing 1500V dc electric power supply to the Bombay - Poona main line. Alas, it has all but been abandoned now, as the railways find it more convenient to buy power from the State Electricity Board, rather than generate it themselves. Here is a general view of the Chola power house circa 1929. Note a steam engine hauling empty coal wagons out of the power plant.

91. The National Rail Museum in Delhi (mentioned so many times before on this page!) is the best place to go if you want to see several of the antiques mentioned on these pages. Here is an overall view of the museum with a massive jaggernaut, the Garratt locomtive hulking over other pygmy locomotives in the museum. (Picture from Mike Meyer's NRM website).

92. A special train at the cabin on the Lower Bhor Ghat between Bombay and Poona.

93. Every twelve years, a massive Kumbh Mela is held at Allahabad, with as many as twelve million devotees braving the crowds and hopeless pollution of the Ganga river to have a dip in the icy cold waters. A separate station and facilities are set up specially for this purpose. Here is a view of the crowds at the Kumbh Mela in 1936. It looks bad enough then. The situation today can well be imagined.

94. The construction crew take a photo stop at the mouth of the Khojak Tunnel on the North Western Railway, now in Pakistan. This is the first train to steam out of the tunnel after its opening.

95. A map of the North Western Railway, circa 1917. Much of the NWR has now passed on to Pakistan. (Picture courtesy Sandeep Sharma).

96. Browned with age, this interesting picture is from the private photo album of a Bengali gentleman. He is seen here posing next to to his private saloon with his complement of servants. (Picture courtesy Mrinal Das).

97. Two views of the Pamban Bridge at Rameshwaram in Southern India. The pic at the top shows the Boat Mail crossing the closed bridge. The train has started its journey at Danushkodi and is destined to Trichnopoly (not Tiruchhirapalli) and Madras. The picture at the bottom shows the bridge in open position, to let large ships pass.

98. A view of the Princess Victoria docks in Bombay in the early 1900s. The extensive and grand Bombap Port Trust railway has now unfortunately been reduced to almost nought. Ref. my BPT Railway site for more details. (link will be restored shortly).

99. The EIR used small railmotors on some of its branch lines. Several were named, with 'Phoenix' and 'Hercules' being the most famous. The locomotive was later separated from the coach and used for light shunting duties. Here is 'Phoenix' after separation from her coach. This engine is preserved at the National Rail Museum, while here sister 'Hercules' has been plithed at the Diesel Loco Works Varanasi. (Picture from the web).

100. A tall bridge on the Raipur-Vizianagaram section of the Bengal Nagpur Railway.

101. A group photograh on the occasion of the opening of the # 1 tunnel on the Bhor Ghats. Although the opening was done much earlier, this picture appeared in the Railway Gazette of Feb. 1929.

102. Bombay-ites will undoubtedly enjoy this: this is a view of Wadi Bunder in 1925. Today, Wadi Bunder is still a busy yard, though to avoid congestion, the railways are encouraging people to use New Mulund instead. New Mulund is on the border with Thana.

103. Railway quarters at Samagutta on the NWR circa 1907.This portion of the NWR is now in Pakistan. (Picture from the Hal V.O. Water's collection courtesy Terry Case).

© All material on this website is copyright S. Shankar. Please feel free to download any material from this site for your own PERSONAL use. This includes saving images on your computer, taking printouts and distributing among your friends, or for use on your own website. THIS MATERIAL IS NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY COMMERCIAL PURPOSES WHATSOEVER. In the event of your using any material from this site, please credit this website as the source.

Page spun by S. Shankar with MS FrontPage2000. Dtd: 29/09/2002