Heritage wheels on the roll at Kharagpur

Midnapore, Mar 26: A bygone era rolled out of the locomotive shed at Kharagpur on a trial run to relive the Raj-days on wheels.

This trip down memory lane was organised yesterday by the South Eastern Railway authorities at Kharagpur. The Beyer-Garratt steam locomotive hauled out from scrap in Kharagpur workshop, chugged out on a historic journey to Midnapore.

This British locomotive, named after Herbert William Garratt and restored by the technicians and engineers, will soon be introduced for tourists from Shalimar to Digha, the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Kharagpur said.

A motley group of passengers remained cognoscenti to the magnificient smoke emitting black beauty that chugged out of the shed like a modern day Goliath.

The Garratts' successful run in India started with the then Bengal-Nagpur railway around 1927 and one of them participated in yesterday's revival run. At a time when electric engines were infants, this engine stood out amongst the steam engine manufacturers.

The engine suited most Asian countries and especially Indian railway tracks originally used for hauling coal and steel.

With the advent of electric engines, these were, however, lying rusting in different places, including this one at Kharagpur railway workshop.

As the whistle blew again, the locomotive rolled out from platform number three of Kharagpur railway station, the biggest platform in the world. With every turn of the wheels, people lining the platform waved and cheered, as the clock turned back in time once again.

UNI