Steaming into tiger land

In disuse for over 20 years, a vintage locomotive has been fitted with fresh parts to give it a new lease of life

Come November and India's only surviving X-class broad-gauge Indian Railway Standard (IRS) steam locomotive, built in 1930, will begin ferrying tourists between Delhi Cantonment and Alwar in Rajasthan for a tiger safari at the Sariska Tiger Reserve.

Christened 'Angad' by railway officials, after the mythological figure whose foot once planted firmly on the ground, could not be lifted by anyone, the 198-tonne and 14-feet, 8-inches-tall vintage locomotive was originally built at the Vulcan Foundry in England. The locomotive was an engineering marvel of its time as its massive tender and engine were among the biggest in the world then. Ninety-three of these locomotives were built, of which 35 went to Pakistan and 58 to India.

"The locomotive has undergone repairs at the Northern Railway Mechanical Work Shop at Amritsar and is likely to hit the tracks by November," says Samrendra Kumar, chief workshop manager. The locomotive has a large grate area of 60 square feet, and can run at a speed of 30 miles an hour.

According to railway officials, Angad was built by William Beardmore and was housed in the Rewari steam locomotives shed, situated on the Delhi-Jaipur railway line in Haryana, where many other classes of steam locomotives are housed. This locomotive was owned and operated by the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board for its thermal power plant at Korba. It was gifted to the Railways after it was decommissioned and had not been in operation for the past two decades.

"We don't have the original drawings of the steam engine, but we have succeeded in making the engine operational in a short time," says Kumar.

Talking about the challenges of restoring it, G C Singh, deputy chief mechanical engineer at the workshop, says, "The locomotive was received at our workshop in April for rehabilitation so it could pull special tourist steam trains between Delhi and Alwar. During its pre-inspection, it was observed that the axles were in a bad condition, the tender was badly corroded, and all the bushes and motion components, brake gear, under gear and laminated springs required overhauling. The driver's cabin also required rebuilding."

In order to put the machine in running condition, complex repairing had to be carried out, including getting a new wheel centre from the Rail Wheel Factory at Yelahanka. In-house machining of blooms, or rough slabs of metals, into axle rods facilitated the beginning of the renovation. Coupling of wheels, complete recreation of the tender and the fabrication of gears and motion components, including leaf springs, were carried out. The characteristic cattle guard, which is the triangular protrusion at the front, was broken and had to be replaced by a new one fabricated in-house. Then the completed engine was painted to give it a new look.

In August, the locomotive was fired up and a trial was conducted successfully at the Amritsar workshop, where it was moved to and fro a number of times. "A dedicated team of officers, supervisors and experienced staff from the Rewari and Amritsar workshops played a vital role in Angad's revival," says Singh.

The Amritsar workshop has of late acquired a unique distinction in the Northern Railway in rehabilitating steam locomotives. It took a very short time to accomplish the "rebirth" of this gigantic machine. In recent past the workshop has acquired certain skill sets which are very crucial for steam-related works. However the Rewari Shed has also contributed its bit to the rehabilitation of steam locomotives at Amritsar.

Angad is the third in the series of big steam locomotives that have been given a new lease of life, the other two being Akbar and Sher-e-Punjab.

Gear history

Makers: William Beardmore at Vulcan Foundry, UK

Manufacture Year: 1928-1930

Speed: 30 mph

Boiler barrel: 18 ft 6 inches

Total heating surface: 2,787 sq ft

Boiler pressure: 210 lb/sq in

Grate area: 60 sq ft

Usage: Heavy freight loads, now tourism train puller