The Hindu : National : A parade of steam engines

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007
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National

National

A parade of steam engines

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Northern Railway seeks to create awareness about heritage

— Photo: S. Subramanium

LOCOMOTIVE POWER: The Fairy Queen, followed by Pawandoot, during the parade in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: The "Fairy Queen" in all its glory, was followed by the majestic "Shahenshah," the imposing "Pavandoot," the spirited "Sher-e-Punjab" and the grand "Rajhans." It was a visual treat for onlookers as five heritage steam engines rolled out of the Safdarjung railway station here on Friday.

An initiative of the Northern Railway to create awareness about heritage locomotive engines, the "Parade of Steam Engines" event was presided by Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad. It included a presentation on landmark events and turning points in the evolution of the Northern Railway. Starting with the historic opening by the East Indian Railway of a through-line from Calcutta to Delhi in August 1864, the narrative drew attention to the various heritage-buildings and bridges of Northern Railway.

While "Fairy Queen," built in 1855, is the world's oldest locomotive in working condition, "Pavandoot," an XE-3634 engine, was built in 1930. The war-class locomotive AWE-22907 called "Rajhans" was built in 1943, while the majestic WL-15005, called the "Sher-e-Punjab," was built in 1955. The bullet-nosed locomotive WP-7200 called the "Shahenshah" was built in 1947.

In keeping with the thematic objective of preserving the heritage of the Railways, Northern Railway has organised a series of events in February to spread public awareness. A weekly steam run from the Safdarjung railway station on all Saturdays of January 2007, where the public got an opportunity to travel in heritage coaches drawn by the steam locomotive WP-7200, was part of the initiative. Taking note of the response to the heritage steam engine run, Northern Railway will have two more runs over this weekend.

Mr. Lalu Prasad announced a reward of Rs.10 lakh to the staff associated with the event.

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