• Editorial
• Steam Update
• Our tryst with steam by Sarosh B Mehta and Viraf Mulla
• Trains of fame and locos with a name - 3 by Harsh Vardhan and Joydeep Dutta
• The Darjeeling streamliner - A mystery solved by David Barrie

The last issue carried a piece on current steam scenario worldwide, which carried a few factual mistakes and was a bit outdated as well. Some members have complained about this error on the editor’s part. This was actually inserted at the last minute, as the processors were not able to accommodate the desired article in the available space. The error is regretted.

Kindly note that we have decided against accepting Life Memberships pending the registration work of the society is completed. Till such time new members are requested to send only the annual membership fee as advised in ‘About FNRM’. At the time of going to the press, the subscription renewals are still flowing in. We thank those members who have renewed promptly as this significantly eases the workload of arranging despatch of the future Newsletters. Kindly note that this is the last issue being despatched (as complimentary) for those members who have not renewed so far.

The Society is planning for a weekend trip to Kalka Simla Railway / Kangra Valley Railway in late July. Those interested in joining may get in touch by 15th July.

The Society also intends to give a series of audio-visual presentations in varigus Delhi schools starting August. The purpose of this effort is to make the younger generation aware of the contributions made by railways to the public life. We also hope to encourage young interest and affection for the railways in the process.

YG 3724 was seen in fine fettle on a Mhow — Ratlam run hauling 89190 passenger in April 98. It was subsequently moved to Rewari shed as a spare power for working the Royal Orient. It was seen working the Royal Orient in March and April along with 3438 as 3415 was taken up for POH.

WANKANER: This last bastion of steam continues to be in steam till the latest reports received. No definite date has been set for the end of steam working. The locomotives have received temporary extensions to their boiler certificate for 1999. However as overhauls of MG steam engines has ceased, locos are kept serviceable only by cannibalising spares from other withdrawn engines. The daily salt train from Vavania is also reported to be working. The gauge conversion work has started in earnest from Maliya Miyana end of the Gandhidham — Ahemedabad mainline through to Dahinsara Jn. Once this line is converted, it would certainly be preferred to carry all the salt traffic through this route avoiding transshipment from MG to BG. This would render the rest of the line a prime candidate for closure for hastening the conversion work on rest of the line upto Wankaner. However it may be safely assumed that steam will definitely last here till the end of the year and if the locos are still serviceable who knows we might see them in steam in the 21st century.

LOCOS SOLD TO USA YP’s 2257 and 2805, working on Jetalser and Wankaner sheds of the Rajkot Division, were recently purchased by Railroad Development Corporation of the USA, in the interest of preserving the locomotives and ultimately operating them on one of its railways in the future. The locomotives are being overhauled and will be stored pending a decision on their ultimate destination. A Delhi based export company has reportedly brokered the deal and the price was quoted as Rs. 18 Lakhs per engine.

WP LOCOMOTIVES: WP 7015 and 7161 were seen ready in February equipped with air brake equipment fitted and a POH done at the Charbagh workshop. The visitors were told that the cosmetic restoration and firing trials will be given by the new homing shed. However the locomotives may yet have to wait for one year or more to be back in steam, as there are no concrete plans yet for running these locomotives!

It was quite some time since we had last undertaken a trip to satiate our thirst for steam in action. In fact, our last but one trip that had taken us to Saharanpur was a complete no-no as far as steam was concerned. The last of the steam locomotive was scrapped on September 01 1994, a bare fortnight before our arrival in New Delhi. The sight of the scrapped WPs and WGs at Saharanpur Loco Shed was a truly tragic sight for steam lovers like us.

We were determined to overcome our dejection of that particular trip and hence January 13,1995 saw us off to Ahmedabad. We reached Ahmedabad on a cold January 14 morning at 0545 Hrs, our ears and eyes desperately vying for the sound and sight of steam. We dashed to the metre gauge section of the st~tion. As we were on the foot overbridge, the telltale aroma’ of a steam coo assailed our nostrils. Our senses heightened, we increased our speed and at that very instant we heard the sound of escaping steam. “There she blows!” Viraf exclaimed. We rushed down to the platform and drank in the beautiful sight of a YG breathing smoke and steam with its headlight on. No sight is more regal than that of a steam loco shrouded in smoke and steam on a cold winter morning. Unfortunately, amateur photographers that we are, we could not record the scene on celluloid. We bided our time, however, and as the day wore on we saw and photographed quite a few YPs and YGs based at the Sabarmati / Yari Road Loco Shed. We were thrilled to be on board a steam loco No. 3703 for a while, hitchhiking our way to Yari Road. It was heavenly being enshrouded by steam, coal and grease! The crew of three was very helpful and not only explained the working of a steam loco in detail also allowed us to have a look through the cab window and a couple of hoots to boot. At Yari Road we visited the loco shed where we met the shed foreman, who along with his deputy gave us some useful details on the number of locos stationed there and also the working of the shed. We were taken around the shed where we saw quite a few locos being coaled and watered. The photos that we took over there are very interesting and one of them was retained by the WR for their archives. A rare honour indeed! This particular trip to Ahmedabad shall always be etched in our memory. After this trip we were uneasy for a long time and itched to take up a journey on steam anywhere in India.

At the fag end of 1995 we planned a trip to Udaipur. On February 17, 1996, we left Bombay for Udaipur via Ahmedabad. Our Ahmedabad - Udaipur train (86 Passenger) chugged out of the station at 0730 Hrs hauled by YP 2813. Our coach was the first one and that was very beneficial to us as we could stand in the doorway (coal, smoke, come whatever may!) and exhilarate at the sight of the graceful 1000 in motion. After two hours of steaming through beautiful and green countryside we reached the first major station that was Himmatnagar. We alighted and went toward the loco to have a chat with the crew. The day wore on and the heat also increased though it was quite bearable as we were continually inching up the foothills of the Aravali Range. In order to overcome gradients the loco was reasonably thrashed on the downhill slopes to gain the maximum speed possible. The countryside also kept varying as is the wont of a semi-arid land, green at times giving way to dry and arid craggy landscape. Our fellow passengers also kept changing, as they were mostly short haul commuters. Some of them kept up a running commentary on the virtues of Rajasthan explaining that the state has a beauty and attraction of its own, of which the desert and its people are an important part.

It was at exactly 1145 Hrs that we steamed into the state of Rajasthan, the first station being Jagabor. As we were travelling by a passenger train, the halts were many and this provided us with a fine aspect of the Rajasthani way of life. Tribals engaged in selling firewood boarded the train (without the courtesy of a ticket, of course) for very short hauls sometimes detraining at the very next station or in between stations too! The countryside was filled with large areas of greenery mixed with an equal amount of dry land as well. It being a hilly terrain (Aravali Ranges), we could see at quite some distance, the ruins of a fort or a palace belonging to some erstwhile princely families. In that respect, when we were in the vicinity of Dungarpur.

Who says steam buffs have only coal and water in their brains? We have gathered such a lot of other useful information that has nothing to do with the railways. We had also befriended our loco crew by then and we were promised foot-plating from Zawar onwards as the main Ghat section begins from there. Fate, however, had other ideas for us because no sooner had we left the station of Padla (one stop before Zawar) our train came to a gradual halt on a curve. We thought maybe the signal (approach) was not clear, but as time elapsed we grew anxious and so leaned out of the doorway to see fellow passengers pouring out of the train and walking towards the loco where a small crowd had gathered. First Viraf and then I jumped out to find out what was brewing. Contrarily, the brew was getting cold, our loco had busted some steam pipes just above the firebox and we were losing pressure. For all practical purposes we were landed with a dead loco. What a shame! The guard of our train immediately set-up his radio apparatus by linking it with the telephone wires running alongside the tracks. He explained the situation at length to the authorities at Udaipur and requested for any motive power from nearby stations. Well, that was that. Now, what do we do? We decided to do a little scouting on our own. Going alongwith the tracks ahead of our now stalled train we saw a small culvert to the left of which were fields through which ran a stream.

Resting on the buttresses of the Railway Bridge over the culvert we were debating on the chances of reaching Udaipur City before nightfall. This interlude gave us time to observe the peculiarities of this branch line. At all the stations there were only home signals and no starter signals, this was attributed to the fact that all along the route the speed limit was 40 kmph. The station layout was also very simple - one main platform with two loops. The only exception being Himmatnagar station as it is a junction. At Himmatnagar, there were more than two loops resulting in multiple sidings that could also hold long freight trains. We also saw a circular indenture in the earth as we were entering the main platform indicating that at one time a turntable was in use here. At all places we noticed that ballasting of the tracks was of the highest caliber. Kudos to the Indian Railways for maintaining the track so well in such difficult terrain! Suddenly in the midst of our musings we were jolted back to the present by the sound of a dynamite blast. The relief loco’s here! we exclaimed simultaneously. Sorry for failing to mention earlier but we would like to take you back to the moment when the guard had asked for a relief loco. Our crew had placed detonator caps on the rails behind our train where there was a sharp curve thus hiding our train from view to whoever could be coming from the rear. Snap! Please come back to the present. So the sound that we heard was the result of the relief loco passing over a dynamite cap. We immediately set off for the rear with our cameras on the ready. Quite a few of our fellow passengers that also included some foreign railbuffs were already gathered over there and we had to find a suitable spot for photographing the event. About 50 metres or so behind our train there were two-rock out-cropping saddling the track and we wanted to shoot the loco while it was entering and leaving the out-cropping. The loco, it was a diesel as it turned out, finally came into view and we prepared ourselves for the shoot. Fortunately for us, it had reduced its speed to a crawl and hence we could get a couple of good shots as we had desired. Finally the loco was connected to the rear of the train and we all rushed to get into our respective coaches. I happened to glance at my watch an the time was 1750 Hrs. We had spent two full hours at the spot. Well, we wer rolling again but with a difference. There was no music now, the dead steam loco only made a clanking noise with no steam and smoke in accompaniment. Th empty powerless motion of the connecting rods made our hearts heavy. We looked at the diesel at the rear of the train it seemed as if it was doing this task pushing the train quite effortlessly! The external movement was that of the wheel only and the apt phrase box on wheels’ coined for diesel locos came to our mind. When we arrived at Zawar, it was nearly dusk. We got down for tea and refreshments and then we saw that the steam loco was about to be detached an put into a siding. At around 1900 Hrs we left Zawar pulled by a diesel YDM No.6478 to cover the final leg of the journey that had started nearly twelve hour earlier. The night was fast descending on the stars and us and the moon was already showing presence. We were now onto the main ghat section where the gradient was 1 in 50 but the diesel performed this task effortlessly, a reminder modern technology that has accepted the challenge of overcoming all hurdles in its path. Time went on, the darkness was complete and the full glory of the open night sky was unfolded above us. The mercury had come down and the wind was fresh in our faces as we leaned out of the carriage doorway to look up at the canopy of stars, bright and dim, twinkling in the clear, unpolluted night sky with quarter moon to boot. It was pure unadulterated magic!

(Part 2 appeared in the previous issue.)

On 22nd December 1851, THOMASON was the first locomotive to start working in India as a contractor’s engine. It was a 4’ 8.5” gauge Ioco and worked for the removal of earthworks in the Solani aqueduct near Roorkee. The first 56” gauge Ioco on Indian soil was a shunting engine that started working for the contractors of Great Indian Peninsular Railway on 18th February 1853. It was later acquired by the GIP and named LORD FALKLAND after the then Governor of Bombay. The better- known SULTAN, SINDH and SAHIB hauled the first official train that carried 14 coaches and 400 passengers and ran between Boribunder and Thane on 16th April 1953. All these three locomotives as well as Falkland were inside-cylinder 2-4-0 tender engines built by Vulcan Foundry of UK. Sindh was subsequently plinthed at the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s office at Byculla and was brought to Delhi for the Centenary Year celebrations of IR in 1953. The loco has been reported missing since

The East Indian Railways did not lag far behind in starting their operations. The first locos to be named on this railway were the Kitson built EXPRESS and FAIRY QUEEN (No. 21 and 22) in 1855, both of which have been preserved at Jamalpur and NRM respectively. These are outside cylinder 2-2-2 well tank engines and Fairy Queen has been restored to full working order in 1997.

The leading railway companies of the Raj like the Great Indian Peninsular (GIP), East Indian (EIR), Bengal, Nagpur (BNR), Bombay, Baroda and Central India (BBCIR) railways also took lead in christening their locomotives. In the early days, the naming of the locomotives always followed a set pattern and they were in most cases named according to the fancies and tastes of the homing shed/railway. Naming of locos after the British rulers and bureaucrats was usually the order of the day and most railways would compete in order to outdo each other in this fashion. EIR, EBR, GIP, BBCIR & Barsi Light RIy. (BLR) were prominent in naming their locos after LORD IRWIN, LORD READING, LORD ELGIN, LORD HARDING, LORD MINTO etc. One locomotive that is special in this sense is RAMGOTTY (1862) as it was perhaps the first locomotive to be named after an Indian. Ramgotty Mukherji was the much admired Manager of Nalhati area and this Anjubault, France built 0-4-0 tank locomotive which earlier has had a change of gauge from 40” to 56,’ was named after him. The locomotive is preserved at the National Rail Museum, Delhi. Another common trend started by EIR in 1859-60 was to name the locos after insects like GNAT, LOCUST, ANT, HORNET, BEE, CRICKET etc. and BNR, East Coast (ECR), North Western (NWR) and Indian State(ISR) Railway soon followed suit. EIR named their earlier locomotives alphabetically in a variety from DEER, EAGLE, FOX, IVANHOE, JUPITER, KING OF SPADES, MONKEY, NAVVY, ORION, PLOVER, QUEEN, RAVEN, SPIDER, TULIP to UNDAUNTED. EIR also named five of its 0-4-0 shop shunters in 1927 after strongmen of history viz. AJAX, ATLAS, HERCULES, PHOENIX and SAMSON.

BNR started naming its engines after insects in 1882 but soon turned to some more sophisticated names like EMPRESS OF INDIA, MARS, CEASAR, HINDUSTAN, TRAFALGAR, CENTURION, INDUS, BRITTANIA and continued naming locos till 1920.

BBCIR was a late beginner in the naming business but later on changed the name of its first three engines to PATNA, POONA and PALEJ. In 1905-06 it named 10 of its Bayer Peacock built 4-4-0 engines after heirs to the Royal throne. These were, PRINCE EDWARDS, PRINCESS MAY, PRINCESS VICTORIA and PRINCE GEORGE amongst others. BBCIR also named their fifteen MG engines (YB class 4-6-2 built by Ajmer works in 1932) like CITY OF AJMER, CITY OF DELHI, CITY OF PALANPUR, CITY OF BHARATPUR and CITY OF MUTTRA (Mathura). Earlier between 1899-1903, GIP had named their B1/B2 class 4-4-0 passenger engines after Indian cities like CAWNPORE, AGRA, JHANSI, BHOPAL, MAHOBA etc. In 1937 GIP named their XP locos (No. 3100-01), which were the only two of their kind from the IRS class of engines, after KING GEORGE and QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway gave their first four locomotives of A class (0-8- Os built by Sharp Stewart in 1865) such quaint names as JIMPEEBUTTEE, BOTEETUTTEE, DAOTHABTEE and PERLEEWERLEE.

In 1909 the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railways named their eleven V-1/2 4-4-0 passenger class locomotives after Indian holy rivers. No. 700 engine named NARBADA (Narmada) has been plinthed at the Perambur Works of IR. Other locos were given names like GANGES, JUMNA (Yamuna), GODAVARI, KISTNA (Krishna) etc.

The electrification of the Bombay Suburban railway brought in the first DC electric locomotives in 1928. Of these the first EF/1 4500 (later reclassified as WCG1 20025) C-C locomotive built by SLM, Switzerland was named SIR LESLIE WILSON. Another engine which came from SLM in 1938 as a passenger class Ioco known as EA/2 4025 (later WCP2 20024) with 1-Co-2 wheel arrangement was named after SIR ROGER LUMLEY. The first AC electric locomotive WAM1 20202 dedicated to the service of the nation by the then Railway Minister JAGJIVAN RAM on 1st Jan 1959 was named after him. All the above three locomotives can be seen today at the NRM.

The exotic little Darjeeling Himalayan Railways have also regularly named their engines. The first engine utilised in construction the line in 1880 was a 0-4-0 tank engine appropriately called TINY. DHR purchased more engines for building its Kishanganj and Teesta Valley line extensions. Of these, one engine called BABY SIVOK has survived and can be seen plinthed at Siliguri Jn. Station. The B class locos that have single handedly worked this line have carried beautiful names as HIMALAYAN BIRD, MOUNTAINEER, QUEEN OF THE HILLS, MEGHDOOT (Cloud Messenger), GREEN HILLS etc., although these name. plates are known to be switched between locos. The three B-class locomotives built by Tindharia workshop between 1919-25 were originally named as TINDHARIA, KURSEONG and DARJEELING. The other famous 20” gauge Gwalior Light Railway are not known to have used any names on their steam locos but the NDM5 diesels that arrived following the demise of steam were named CHINKARA (801) and CHEETAL (802) which are locally found species of Deer.

Barsi Light Railway also named their locos after British premiers between 1887-1915. Amongst these was No. 11 LORD AIRDALE, which later became SIR ALEC (a name previously held by No. 6). This beautiful 4-8-4 loco has been plinthed outside the Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad. Parlamedi Light Railway of BNR named their three locos in 1898 as SITA, RAMA and VISHNU and went on to name further three as PARSHURAM, HANUMAN and KUBER in 1928. Mourbhanj State Railway named their three Iocos between 1903-08 as JAGGERNATH, BALABHADRA and SUBHADRA. Jaggernath arrives from ‘Juggernaut’ which means ‘Lord of the Universe’ and is another name for Krishna, the other two being his siblings.

Two metre gauge locomotives that deserve a special mention are TWEED and MERSY(both 1873 built) which are the oldest surviving MG locomotives of Indian Railways now working in sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Several steam locomotives in past have been seen carrying names that were probably given by their shed/crews. But these were not fixed names for a particular locomotive and could be shared by other tacos of the shed. Nevertheless these were some exquisite names like RANI JHANSI, MAYUR (Peacock), PUSHPAK (Air-craft), SITARE HIMACHAL (Star of Himachal), RANI REGISTAN (Queen of the Desert), SHER-E-PUNJAB (Tiger of Punjab) and many many more.

For a century or more the builders traditionally never christened the engines themselves. In fact in most cases, especially the War-Department locos, the builder was not even aware which part of the subcontinent the Ioco would be finally working! Chittaranjan Locomotive Works broke this tradition and in November, 1950 and named its first Indian built WG locomotive No. 8401 DESHBANDHU after the famous Indian statesman Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. Further the first WP 7060 that they built in 1963 was called VIVEKANANDA. CLW also built the first DC electric locomotive WCM5 20083 in 1961 and named it LOKMANYA or the public reverend, a title given to the freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The first WDS4 19057 diesel hydraulic shunter flagged off on January 6th, 1968 was called INDRAPRASTHA (Delhi). The best-known locomotive built by CLW was the last broad gauge steam locomotive WG 10560 rolled out on in 1970. It was aptly named ANTIM SITARA (The last star) taking a cue from ‘The Evening Star’ the last British built steam locomotive for British Rail. In a coup of sorts the last built Steam loco on Indian soil, the metre gauge YG 3573 was ignored and not given a name at CLW in 1972.

CLW has carried forward its tradition of naming locomotives and still continues to name all its landmark locomotives built. The first B-B AC electric locomotive WAG1 20710 built by them in 1963 was named BIDHAN (Order). The first dual voltage locomotive WCAM1 21800 built in 1974 was named VALLABH (Master) and the first WCAM2 21861 called BALWANT (Powerful). CLW built a dual brake WAGS 23141 in 1986 was called NOUVION after F.F. Nouvion, the French pioneer of 25 KV AC traction and was commissioned by him. WAP3.22005 JAWAHAR (Jewel, also the first name of India’s first Prime Minister) is a first of its type hig h-speed passenger class locomotive that initially hauled the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express. Also worth mention here are ASHOK (first 5000 HP WAP4 locomotive), SWARNANJALI (Golden Maiden, WAP4 22242 the 165th electric locomotive built in 1997-98), AJAY (Undefeated, WAG5HA 23357, first loco built in 1989-90), JANMASHATI (Birth - century, WAG5HA 23356, 100th electric locomotive built in 1988-89), SHANTIDAN (Gift of Peace, First WAG7 No. 27001 christened by Mother Teresa on August 3, 1992), SWARNABHA (Golden Maiden, WAG7 27371, the 25OOth loco built by CLW), AGRASAR (Forward Bound, first uprated version of WAG7 called WAG7H), KARAMVIR (Duty-bound, 5000 HP modular freight locomotive WAG7), GAURAV (Pride, first WAP5 locomotive flagged off).

The Diesel Locomotive works, Varanasi has lagged far behind when it comes to naming of the locomotives. As a result there are very few named diesel locomotives in the country. The first WDS1 shunter plinthed outside the DLW was at last given a name — MAHALAKSHMI after a Hindu Goddess. The first YDM4 6199 locomotive rolled out was called HUBLI. To commemorate the 25th year of production a WDM2 16098 was named RAJATRATH (Silver Chariot). A more powerful version of WDM2, the first WDM2C 14001 was called GAJRAJ (Elephant King) while the first WDP1 15001 is known as CHETAK and the first WDG2 14501 was named SHAKTI (Power).

Some of the other named locomotives that can be spotted on IR are GURUDEV TAGORE (WAM1 20290), SURUBHI (WAM4 20615), ABHINAV (WAG4 21004), NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE (WAGS 23222), BABASAHEB (WAP1 22021), SPUTNIK, STEEL SAMRAT (Emperor of Steel) etc.

In a sense this is a detective story. Tales of a streamlined locomotive have persisted despite little or nothing in the way of hard evidence. Over time I had heard rumours - and they were only rumours, no evidence - because most people who knew about the line either scratched their head or had denied such a loco’s possible existence. I hovered on believing that this was no more than a figment of somebody’s over-active imagination.

Then I stumbled across evidence, if we call it that, when I found this unlikely concept in a book entitled, Line of Communication’ by John Thomas. This referred to the war years, 1939-1945, and the impact that event had on the DHR. In chapter eight the author tells us how the line was used to carry thousands of troops up to the tranquility and peace of Darjeeling, where they could enjoy a period of rest and recuperation away from the fighting. He writes “To be in keeping with the new trains, a streamlined engine was produced. This was simply one of the ‘B’ class tanks with a 3-foot extension added to its mainframe and a sheet metal covering provided. A tender was built for the engine which was named ‘Jervis Bay’ in memory of the famous ship of the convoy action.”

“All the work was done at the company’s workshops high up in the mountains at Tindharia, and no assistance was required from the war plants on the plains.” This matter-of-fact statement rather takes one aback. With the special nature of the line a streamlined locomotive seems an anomaly, a completely inappropriate machine.

I even tried to find out if anyone currently in Indian Railways knew about it, but they doubted it ever existed. There was no record of it they knew of.

The trail led no further, it seemed, until, leafing through some old photocopied pages from a June 1993 edition of ‘Railway Magazine’, I discovered what I had been seeking.

In the letters page, headed ‘Streamliner at Darjeeling’ was a picture of this strange creature, accompanied by a second photograph, of a ‘B’ class at Kurseong, and a letter. This communication, from a Mr Gordon Dando asked for information. Mr Dando said that, during the war he had been stationed in India, and, like thousands of fellow troops, he had travelled by rail up to Darjeeling, not once, but twice. Although he did not see the locomotive in question, his eye was caught by the 120 size photographs being sold, particularly the shot of the streamliner, which was among those he purchased.

He goes on to say that over the years he made enquiries and checked various books, but to no avail. He went on to make an appeal, “I would certainly appreciate any information concerning this unusual experiment, but after such a long time I am not very optimistic!”

The task then set by the Darjeeling Himalayan Rly. Society UK, was to trace Gordon Dando. Society Archivist Tony Doody was given the job. Through a coincidence and a chat with friend and fellow member Alan Wild, Tony was able to contact Mr Dando, who generously made available to us the photograph, the correspondence, and the whole story.

Well, the good news was that Mr Dando did receive some replies, one of which solved the mystery.

One H. Young ventured the fascinating idea that the casing was designed to “prevent people travelling on the engine buffer bar. This moved them to the roof of the carriages. So, after several fatalities for hitting overhead obstacles they fitted the periscope and a red light would be flashed by the driver to warn of approaching dangers He adds that this did not deter fare dodgers. (Periscope referred to is of course the rear facing lamp mounted on the roof of the cab.) Society member Julian Rainbow reminded us “Hugh Hughes said in Continental Railway Journal 51 that locomotive No 28 was converted and that the casing was removed in 1945, thereafter this engine carried the makers plate from No 30. Our third writer, Pursey Short, thought that it might have been simply to keep up with the fashion. He adds, “It is remarkably similar to the ‘PC’ class Pacific’s of the Iraqi State Railways. I am sure this was no coincidence.., the Iraqi engines were the inspiration for this curious development. If correct then this loco could not have been streamlined before 1941”.

The trail was getting warm and it is the final correspondent who provided us with what we believe is the answer to the puzzle. Bernard Holden writes, “I took a leave party to Darjeeling in December 1942. In the party was the late John Thomas (Author of Line of Communication) and we both took photos of this loco. We understood this was a whim of the British Engineer. Subsequently I was seconded to the B & A R and found the District Officers could put their ideas into practice, and our Garrat locos were given names such as Naga Queen. What fun it must have been to work overseas in the days of the Raj!”

Previously I had asked Pat Orr whether she knew of the Streamliner, After all, her father was Resident Engineer until June 1942. Pat assured me that she had no memory of this loco. She told me that it was about this time that one James Shaw took over as Works Manager at Tindharia from a man whose name was Kirby.

We are now in a position to draw a conclusion. Based on the information outlined above it would appear that this lace had its casing added in the latter half of 1942 and that if drew heavily on the Iraqi design of 1941. If, shall we say, a certain flexibility was allowed, (as Bernard Holden indicates), then it may well have been a whim of James Shaw, and only ran in this form for the duration of the war. A final word from Gordon Dando who told me that he believed the photograph in question had been taken by John Thomas, developed in Darjeeling, whereupon an enterprising retailer decided to take copies and sell them.

It would be interesting to know if any more pieces of the jigsaw lurk out there, in the form of memories or something more concrete. After all it has taken 56 years to find out this much. Of such stuff is the romance of this railway made!

My sincere thanks to all those who, through their knowledge or enthusiasm, made this article possible, particularly Gordon Dando, the late Tony Doody and of course Bernard Holden.

(Published in arrangement with and through the kind courtesy of ‘Darjeeling Mail’, the quarterly magazine of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society, UK)