112-year-old steam engine in Shimla a major attraction for tourists

The 112- year old steam engine in north Indian hill town of Shimla is grabbing the eyeballs of foreign tourists.

The heritage railway track in Shimla is now frequently being booked by foreign tourists.

The northern railway now offers the steam engine travel on booking to the tourists on 12 to 20 miles on the Kalka-Shimla heritage line.

Sohanlal Rahul, the assistant mechanical engineer of Kalka division of northern railway, said that the KC520 steam engine was withdrawn from the track in 1971 and was rebuild and restarted in 2010.

He said, "This has been now started on the demand of the tourists... With a capacity of 80 tonnes, three tonnes of coal capacity, working pressure 12 kilograms per centimetre and a capacity of 1200 gallon water storage, it is running with good conditions on the heritage track."

He said that it is tough to maintain this engine but still they want to preserve this heritage.

The Kalka Shimla railway line was declared the UNESCO's world heritage line in 2008.