MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB
The triumphs and struggles of steam preservation in the subcontinent.
India’s steam preservation scene
“Indian Railways is more than just a social and transport organisation. It also exemplifies cultural values because it has shaped society over the last 150 years, including country.” freedom of movement and unification of the Rajesh Agrawal, Railway Board Member (Rolling Stock)
Indian railway statistics are awe-inspiring: over 41,000 route miles, more than 20,000 passenger trains daily, 7,349 stations, over 11,000 locomotives, 70,000 carriages, nearly 300,000 wagons and 1.3 million employees, making it the eighth largest employer in the world. Over half of its network is already electrified, and there’s a commitment to electrifying the entire system by 2023, including all branch lines, and to become a carbon net zero railway by 2030.
Against that progressive outlook, does it have time for its heritage and, specifically, its steam locomotives?
Well yes, it does. The logo of Indian Railways is promoted as being innovative in nature and has a special recall value: its central feature is a steam locomotive.
Ashwani Lohani, until recently chairman and chief executive of Indian Railways Board, took the initiative to return three 19th-century steam locomotives to operating order which promptly became the first, second and third-oldest working steam locomotives in the world: two British-built single driving wheeler tank engine twins, Fairy Queen and Express and, more recently last November, Ramgotty exhumed from the National Rail Museum after being plinthed there.
Furthermore, he ordered air-conditioned carriages for the world-famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and established a broad and metre gauge steam depot for preserved steam locomotives at Rewari, some 50 miles south west of Delhi. He also promoted occasional steam excursions between the two centres for tourists.
For a short while recently, the famous ‘WP’ broad gauge semi-streamlined ‘Pacifics’ ran a regular Sunday schedule on the 7½-mile branch line from Garhi Harsaru to Farukhhnagar at the staggeringly low fare of ten Indian rupees (10p), but as patronage was, sadly, poor the service was withdrawn after a couple of months.
Steam is still alive on Indian Railways, but in a different way to our own. It is all still run by the state railway, even the narrow gauge hill railways. There are no volunteer resources.
Indian railway preservation began back in the early 1960s when Mike Satow, an ardent enthusiast for railways, was working for ICI in India. He advised on the formation of the National Rail Museum in Delhi, which was inaugurated in 1977, and played a big part in selecting its exhibits. Fortunately, at that time, there was a huge amount of material to choose from; much more than could be saved.
He selected Fairy Queen, a 2-2-2 single driving wheel tank locomotive built in 1855 by Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson for the East Indian Railway. Ashwani later had a new boiler built for Fairy Queen and the Southern Railway adopted her sister Express and removed it from Kolkata Railway Museum, restoring (at Perambur) and operating her from 2010 around Chennai for tourist trains.
Mike also selected the extraordinary Patiala State Monorail train, built in 1907 and based on the Ewing system of a central guide rail with one road wheel for balance. Actually, he discovered all three Orenstein &