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Indian Super Railway |
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Indian Super Railway |
by: S. SHANKAR
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16 Apr. 1853 - 16 Apr. 2002 |
STEAM
A collection of steam images from the railways in India:
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1. A YG at Madurai in 1992. This pic was taken on 16 April 1992, exactly 139 years after the run of India's first train on 16 April 1853. |
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2. Fire,fire, raging bright: A peek into the firebox of the above engine. |
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3.I had avoided pics of the magnificent WPs on this page as I have an entire webpage dedicated to them. Nonetheless, a few pics will be in order to maintain continuity.Here,A mighty WP crosses a bridge at dawn with the superfast Taj Express to Agra. The glory of this train has now faded, thanks to an even faster Shatabdi Express on the same route.The Taj is now electric hauled, and runs upto Gwalior.(Photo courtesy John Lacey).. |
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4. A WG at Daund in 1992. My brother and I actually went out looking for the ZE steamers of the Daund-Baramati line, but were rather pissed off when we found the train come in diesel hauled. It was quite a shock when the big beast hissed along on the next track! |
| 5. The one that got away: these were the engines we were hoping to spot. This was shot on an earlier trip in 1980. The driver (the chap in the foreground with his top button open) absolutely refused to let us shoot his engine for fear of losing his job! |
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| 6.A typical Indian scenario: beggars on the other side of the platform while a YG shunts cars in the background. This was shot at Guntakal in 1988. |
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| 7. A war design CWD at Poona in 1980. The engine is running backwards and will go to Dehu Road military siding for shunting duties. Other war designs on the bg were CWD, AWC and AWE. One of the AWE beasts in preserved in the National Rail Museum, Delhi. |
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| 8. On the mg, the war design machines were called MAWD, or simply WD. Several of the WDs on the SR had their headlight fitted onto the centre of the smokebox door, which greatly enhanced their already typically American appearance. Here is one of the centre-headlight WDs at Madras Beach. These engines were withdrawn in the early 1980s. (Photo courtesy John Lacey). |
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9. Although some of the mg WDs on the SR had their headlight fitted onto the centre of the smokebox door, not all engines were like that. Here is a rare shot of one of the centre-headlight WDs next to another member of the same class with its headlight at the usual position on top. Both engines are at Madras Egmore. These engines were withdrawn in the early 1980s. (Photo Courtesy: John Lacey). |
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10. A shot of a WG at Poona Jn. in 1978. |
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11. The IR had some sturdy tank engines for heavy suburban work, both on the bg and on the mg. The erstwhile bg XTs were enlarged to generate the more powerful WT class of 2-8-4Ts. Some of the earlier units of this class were fitted with smoke deflectors, which enhanced their elegant appearance. WT 14028 is seen here at Gummudipundi station between Madras and Gudur. This engine was built at the Chittaranjan works in 1967. (Photo supplied by John Lacey: source unknown). |
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12. This more recent pic shows one of the large WTs taking on water at Rajamundhry in 1980. Note the absence of smoke deflectors. (Photo supplied by John Lacey: source unknown). |
| 13. A WG about to leave Adoni with a late afternoon passenger train in 1983. |
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| 14.A ng ZA/3 engine leaves Bari near Agra with the Dholpur (Dhaulpur)-Tantpur mixed train in 1984. (scanned from a book: source not noted. Thanks to fellow irfca member John Lacey for this additional information.) |
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| 15.An X class mg engine blasts its way across a bridge near Ooty in Southern India. (Inset: Snooty Ooty club).(Scanned from 'Whats On magazine Dubai: issue circa 1989. |
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| 16. Closeup of the numberplate of YG 4243 at Madurai in 1992. |
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17. A close up of one of the most handsome steam locomotives of the world: this is a pristine WP 7656 at Agra, having just brought in the superfast Taj Express from Delhi. (1980s). Note the crest just below the headlight. (Photo courtesy Terry Case). |
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18. Another WP, # 7387, gaily decked up for the CR GM's visit at Daund in 1980. (Photo courtesy Viraf Mulla). |
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19. A pitifully lonely WG shunts freight cars at Daund in 1992. |
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20.View from the driver's seat of a YG at Madurai Jn. The curse of using autofocus compacts: the tip of the running plate has got blurred, which sort of dampens the effect of peering along the boiler. Shot in 1992. |
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21, 22 & 23.Here are three scenic shots of mg YP/YGs is action, taken from Craig McCoury's 'Empires of Steam' website. To view this site, refer to the url in the superlinks page of this site. |
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| 24. Close-up of the motion of a YG at Madurai, shot in 1992. |
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| 25.An MLR on the run, in happier days when the dimunitive Matheran trains were steam hauled. (Scanned from a postcard sold at the NRM Delhi, circa 1982). |
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| 26. One of the most satisfying scenes of the modern industrialized world is one of a steam engine puffing along with its train. An old HGS, which finished her days shunting in the Calcutta area was revived and steamed in Sept. 1999. She is seen here puffing along on her maiden run between Howrah and Tribeni. This run is likely to be retained as a steam excursion, and was widely publicized as 'The Millenium Run'.(This photo appeared in The Statesman in Sept.1999). |
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| 27.Another view of a WG at Daund in 1992. |
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28. One of the rare Atlantics on the IR: here is a pic of a 4-4-2 used on the erstwhile Bengal Nagpur Railway. (Photo courtesy John Lacey). |
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29. Here is a WP speeding along with one of India's typical long, heavy and moderately paced trains. (Photo courtesy John Lacey). |
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30. A YG in steam, photographed at Morbi by one of our more enterprising members. (Photo courtesy an irfca member).. |
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31. One of the two classes of steam locomotive used on the Bombay Port Trust railway. This was the standard 2-6-0T, which survived right upto 1988. For those totally caught in the daily rigmarole of hanging on precariously onto to grossly overcrowded and stuffy locals, an occasional sighting of an old 2-6-0T steam loco alongside was a welcome change, giving a period atmosphere to the big bad city. (Photo supplied by John Lacey: source unknown).. |
| 32. Off to America! A well heeled YP is prepared for export to the US. Two locomotives were so prepared. The buyer is not known. Here is one of the en designs: the pic on top shows a trio of WP passenger engines at the engines all set to leave the shores of India. (Photo downloaded from the web. Source not noted). |
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| 33.The heavily graded 2' 6" ng Kalka-Simla lines were worked with powerful 'K' class tanks, later modified as 'KC" class. Here is a KC in steam. After standardization,this class was used as a base for a new class of engine, the ZF. A ZF is preserved in the NRM, Delhi. |
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| 34. Although steam disappeared from main line workings in the late 1980s, it was possible to see some real rarities still in steam on some private lines, like the sugar mills for instance. Here, the long withdrawn FMA class of 1890s vintage was still at work at the Lohat sugar works in Bihar. 1999 saw the end of steam in this sugar mill. This picture shows the last of the FMAs, ready for retirement after over a century at work. (Photo courtesy an irfca member). |
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| 35. One of the popular IRS designs was the XD for freight. Here, one of the members of this class is seen heading an enormous freight near Rajamundhry on the SCR. (Photo supplied by John Lacey: source unknown).. |
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36. A poignant scene showing the state of steam in its last years. The residents of Poona got quite a shock to see a full sized steam locomotive among the scrap for sale in the 'Joona Bazaar' or scrap market. (March 1992).The engine had been unceremoniously dumped there by the College of Military Engineering. The engine was happily rescued, and is now reportedly on display in the plant of a boiler manufacturer: Thermax, in Poona. |
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37. Once a static exhibit at the National Rail Museum for nearly two decades, the 1855 built matriarch Fairy Queen is now a VIP, running a two car tourist train in season between Delhi and Alwar. The engine is seen here in steam and on a turntable. For details of the run, look in the Fairy Queen page of my National Rail Museum site. |
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38. No steam collection can be complete without mention of the loved 'B' class veterans of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. One of these units # 790 is seen here at rest outside the Tindharia works. Some of the steamers have now given way to diesel, but the steamers will still hold some ground due to declaration of the DHR as a World Heritage site. The IR is now looking out for new steam engines for this line. (2000). For more details of the DHR, ref. to links on the superlinks page. (Photo courtesy Eiji Nojawa. Visit his ASIAN RAILWAYS PAGE : Right click on link and choose 'Open in new window') |
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39.The shunting master waves the green flag for a YG shunting at Madurai in 1992. Note the driver oiling the motions in the background. This engine was scrapped a couple of months later. |
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40(L) - 41(R). Full steam ahead (#41) for a dimunitive 'B' as she prepares to leave Darjeeling with her train. Note that the railway runs right through the middle of the city square in this city. The conqueror and the conquered? (# 42): one of the spanking new NDM/6 diesels reveives attention in the shed while the old matriarch lets out a plume of smoke. Dieselization was threatening to jeopardize the DHR's World Heritate status. One derailment and teething problems later, news is now out (2000) about the IR putting out tenders for new steam locos for the DHR. (Photo # 40 courtesy Terry Case, Photo# 41 Photo courtesy Mrinal Das).. |
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For more pages on Indian steam, please consider the following links:
[My WP Glory page] |
[Around Agra and Steam Masala by John Lacey] |
[Indian Steam Railway Society webpage] |
[Other steam links of my Superlinks page] |
