Vintage, 90+ years old, Electric Railway Engine Restored to its Pristine Condition @ Nehru Science Centre.

The Mumbai suburban Rail transport (central, western and harbor line) is inextricably linked to most Mumbaikars, for whom Rail is their lifeline. The EMU ( Electric Multiple Unit) services are a house hold name in Mumbai. Every day more than 2000 plus train services (EMU) are commissioned to carry millions of Mumbaikars to their destinations. But then has any one ever wondered when did it all begin? Well the electric rail transport started on February 3, 1925, when the the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) introduced the first electric train (EMU) that ran between Bombay VT ( now CSMT) and Kurla Harbour. It used 1500 volt DC electric supply, which was supplied by the Tata Electric Company, who had set up their first electric power plant in Khopoli, Maharashtra in 1915. The first electric train service in Mumbai ran with 4 cars and was flagged off by Sir Leslie Orem Wilson, the then Bombay Governor, on 3rd February, 1925. Very soon, to cater to the burgeoning population of the city eight car rakes were introduced in the year 1927 and an estimated 700 plus people could travel. Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai is privileged to be in possession of one of the earliest electric locomotives, which ran in the city of Bombay (Mumbai) during the period from 1930 to 1960s. This 90 plus years old Electric locomotive engine was donated by the Central Railway to our centre in the year 1979. This majestic locomotive has now been completely restored to its pristine beauty of yesteryears and is awaiting to be rededicated to the people of Mumbai very soon.

Incidentally It was this very electric locomotive which served as an engine to the Deccan Queen express - a super luxurious train - which was started on 1st June 1930.  This train took just 2 hours and 45 minutes from Mumbai to Pune when it was started in 1930.  This was India’s first superfast train, first long-distance electric-hauled train, first vestibuledtrain, the first train to have a lady only car and also the first train to feature a dining car. Incidentally the Deccan Queen express today (12123) takes 3 hours and 15 minutes to travel from Mumbai to Pune

Mumbai (Bombay then), incidentally also has that unique distinction of operating the first passenger train services in India. This train service ran from Mumbai (Bombay then) to Thane on April 16, 1853. Mumbai therefore has that rare honour of witnessing the first steam locomotive train service and so also the first electric locomotive train service in India. It is therefore no wonder that the city of Mumbai has a rich rail history, which is exemplified by the monumental architectural edifice - the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building. The CSMT building is individually listed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.  This 19th century majestic building  is now the headquarters of the Central Railway. It was christened originally as the Victoria Terminus (VT), in honour of the then reigning British Queen Victoria, and it continues to be the most famous architectural landmark of Mumbai. The VT building also served as the headquarters of the GIPR, the predecessor of the Indian Railways. Therefore it is really a great honour that  Nehru Science Centre is in proud possession of a electric locomotive engine which belongs to the rich rail heritages of India. This precious artefact was donated by the Central Railway to our centre  in 1979.

 

The founding fathers of the Nehru Science Centre - Dr Saroj Ghose and others, realised the connect of railways to the city of Mumbai and its people and therefore made efforts to collect the Heritage railway locomotives for display in the open air science park. Two important heritage locomotives – one Narrow Gauge Steam Engine & one Electric Locomotive rail engine, were collected for display at our centre. In addition to these two precious collections we also have four other equally precious locomotives – The Steam Lorry/wagon, Electric Tram Car, Horse drawn Tram car and the HF 24 Marut Fighter Aircraft. All these six artefacts were collected in 1979 and they were transported from their respective places to the Science park premises of our centre in December 1979, six years before the opening of the Nehru Science Centre. Ever since these precious locomotives are on public display and have been seen by tens of millions of people who have visited the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.

This blogpost is dedicated to one of these six locomotives, which is displayed in our science park - the Electric Locomotive Engine, which dates back to 1929/30. This precious electric railway engine, which initially operated under the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) during the British period and subsequently was transferred to the Central Railway, was graciously gifted by the Central Railway to the Nehru Science Centre in 1979. There is an interesting story of how this massive 112 tonne black beauty was transported from the Sion railway yard, on that historic night - 13 December 1979, to the Science Park of our centre. The Times of India, which briefly covered the transport of the engine from Sion to Worli, in its  14th, December, 1979 edition quoted ‘A nearly 50 year old locomotive, stated to be one of the first electric engines in India, will be handed over to the Nehru Science Centre at a ceremony by the Central Railway at 11:00 a.m. on December, 14, 1979’. The report added that ‘the locomotive, weighing a massive 100 plus tonnes, was put on a trailer on the night of 13th December, using a very cumbersome and complicated operations of loading the massive engine on to the trolley of the lorry, for road transportation from Sion railway station to the Science Centre. 

This historic journey of the massive black locomotive began just after midnight on 13th December from Sion.  The electric engine sitting on a special trailer travelled via Bandra, Mahim and Dadar to reach the Science Centre in Worli on the early morning of 14th December, 1979. It travelled in the mid night through  some of the most congested routes in the city. From the Times of India report, which quoted one Mr. N. R. Naidu, an engineer of the Central Railway, we learn that this electric locomotive was one of the oldest railway engines, which was operational in Bombay (Mumbai now). This locomotive after its retirement in the 1960s had been kept at the Kalyan locomotive shed for 15 years and was occasionally used for small jobs, before being gifted to the Nehru Science Centre. The report also adds that the complicated process of the transportation of this engine from Sion station to our centre in Worli was undertaken by a company called National Transport Services and this process was directly over seen by its proprietor Mr. Viay Papriwala. The report also includes the name of driver - Mr Brijal,  who drove the trolley to transport the engine from Sion to Worli. The report ends by stating that Mr Papriwala was perhaps the proudest man when the engine reached the Science Centre the next morning on 14th December, 1979. Another report, which covered this historic journey of the black beauty 

from Sion station to Worli, says that not many people witnessed the transportation of the giant electric engine. It adds  ‘Perhaps only a few pavement-dwellers, who were about to retire for the night, witnessed this unusual drama and will remember it in the days to come’.  The report says ‘All of a sudden they saw a strange sight in the distance, breaking the silence and emptiness of the area, slowly move past them and gradually fade out of sight: a nearly 100 year old railway engine, weighing 112 tonnes, on a trailer’. The report adds that ‘a few passing motorists at night were bewildered, amused and confused when they caught sight of the engine being transported on the trolley. The electric locomotive therefore has a very interesting story of its transportation to our centre.

If the transportation was a challenge so was the preparation that went into loading the locomotive from the Sion Railway shed on to the Lorry. One report which covered the loading of the engine into the trolley, says  ‘Everyday, several men, some bare-bodied and some in vests, sweated it out in the hot sun to lift the engine and place it on the trailer’. Very carefully they put “sleepers” below the loco and gradually lifted it with the help of jacks. Each time it moved up, they felt a sense of relief as though the entire job had, at last, been done. They patted each other and sang songs with a feeling of satisfaction’. The report adds that ‘ hundreds of people watched the drama of the loading of the engine and many of them took photographs’.  Several trains passed by and many of them stopped at Sion station but neither the passengers nor the train staff seemed to know what was happening.  Even in the neighbouring building, the favourite topic of discussion seemed to have been the mysterious drama of the black engine getting loaded onto the trolley.  The loading of the engine on to the trolley took three days and several men worked for more than ten hours a day to complete the task. One report says that at the end of three days they saw the fruit of their endless efforts: the engine was firmly placed on the trailer.  The report, which covered the loading operation says  ‘the workers felt as though they had climbed a peak after several days’.  The loading task was quite tedious since it was for the first time that such a massive Electric railway engine was to be transported by road. From the Central Railway side one Mr. N. R. Naidu supervised this operation. The news paper report says ‘Mr. Naidu said, it was one of the oldest engines and all these days it had been kept at the Kalyan loco shed.  It was “retired”15 years ago, but was occasionally used for small jobs’.

This 90 plus years old engine, which operated between Mumbai and Pune for several years, was one of the prime attractions of the centre for four plus decades. Unfortunately, the humid climatic conditions of Worli had caused severe damage to this black beauty and also to all the other five precious collections. The electric engine was the worst hit. Most of the metallic parts of this electric engine body, was badly rusted and majorly damaged and in several places the body had crumbled into pieces. The pre-restoration images of the locomotive reveal the terrible extent to which this historic electric rail engine was damaged. We were therefore making our best efforts to get this precious artefact restored through a professional agency. We first approached the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow, which is the premier organization for the research in conservation of the cultural property including monuments and sites, as well as museums, library and archive collections. However, the NRLC, although it functions under our Ministry - the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, was unable to take up this specialised work. We then approached the Rail Heritage wing of the Railway Board, through Mr Rajesh Agarwal, who was formerly the Director of National Rail Museum, New Delhi. He referred us to Ms Vinita Srivastava the Executive Director of Railway Heritage, New Delhi. She very kindly helped us to reach the Central Railway (CR) and also wrote a letter of recommendation to the CR. After a series of our interaction with the officials of CR and after a couple of rounds of inspection of the locomotive by the CR engineers and some of their authorised vendors, the CR finally agreed to take the challenge of restoration of this precious electric locomotive. In the meanwhile we had searched some of the old photographs and other records and also researched on this engine and gave all possible reference materials, including old photographs and other research material as reference to the CR engineers so that they could carry out the restoration in the best possible way and in most professional manner. The successful restoration of the engine is a result of cohesive working between our centre, CR and the agency who undertook this task under the supervision of multidisciplinary teams, such as engineers, artists and other experts. All these collective efforts have helped us to restore the electric locomotive Engine to its original beauty. 

Our centre remains open to the public 363 days a year and therefore it was a challenge to restore our precious collections while the centre remained open to public. There was not much of a progress in the restoration of our artefacts until the beginning of the Covid lockdown in March 2020, when our centre was closed to the public. We used the lockdown period of nearly 8 months to majorly restore the electric locomotive and all other five precious collections in our possession. All the six artefacts have now been brought back to their pristine condition and are waiting to be rededicated to the public through a formal opening very soon.  We are quite confident that these restored locomotives will be very popular among our visitors we are also certain that our visitors will line up to take a selfie or two with these yesteryears beauties.

Railway is one of the major legacies, which the British has left behind. The introduction of the railways by the GIPR was primarily for the benefit of the Britishers who built the Railway network in India to help their governance and to establish connectivity between the different regions of India to aid trade, communication and defence and to further their own personal gains. The establishment of the railways helped the British in strengthening their control and exploitation of their colony. The postal system, policing and many other machineries principally depended on the development of railways as the mass mobility system. The railways, as a spin off benefit, helped the native Indians to adapt from the medieval life styles to a modern one and it also laid the foundation for a partial shift from rural to industrial economy. The Genesis for the introduction of railways in India goes back to mid 19th century. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an Act of the British Parliament. The GIPR soon entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an experimental railway line, 56 kms long in Bombay. The main station from which the operation was to begin was Bori Bunder.

The GIPR had a share capital of 50,000 pounds, when it was incorporated. On August 17, 1849 GIPR entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an experimental line, 56 kms long. The construction and operation of the first passenger railway in India - 16th April 1853 in Mumbai - received global headlines and attention. A report of the historic first train journey says that large groups of people had gathered along the two sides of the railway track from Bori Bunder to Thane on the inaugural day of the steam engine-driven locomotive. It was almost some kind of a dream for the people to witness a carriage running without harnessing animal or human power. The black beauty steam railway engine appeared like a mythical creature that was spewing out white smoke as it moved ahead at speed,  which was inconceivable at that time. Very soon the the scientific principle of the steam operated machines and its power was understood and the steam power was put to wide use in setting up industries or looms, or even the early road transports like the Steam Waggon and cars that reshaped Bombay’s  geography in those early years.

British engineers received wide acclaim for the Railway line they had constructed and for commissioning of the rail transport in India. The global media hailed their accomplishments of building a railway line in a tropical country like India with varied problems that ranged from snakes and animals to building embankments over difficult stretches. Three decades after the inaugural rail transport in Bombay, the old wooden structure of Bori Bunder was pulled down and replaced with a new station called Bombay Passenger Station. In the meantime the Britishers started a mega plan to construct a massive terminus, which was then christened Victoria Terminus - VT. The construction of the VT station began in 1878 and ten years later, in May 1888, the majestic building of VT (CSMT now) that we see today was completed at a cost of Rs 16, 35, 562. The building was very unique and was something the citizens of Bombay had never seen before. The construction and operation of Railways had proved the engineering skills of British Engineers, which was further exemplified by the construction of the majestic VT building. The VT building was designed by the consulting British architect, Frederick William Stevens. He has to his credit design of some other Gothic Heritage note worthy buildings in Mumbai, which include among others ; the Bombay Municipal Corporation building, the Royal Alfred Sailor’s Home, the Post-Office Mews at Apollo Bunder. The CSMT building continues to be an engineering marvel even to this day. 

The railways also brought about a social revolution in Bombay with scores of workers travelling from different parts of India to Bombay to be a part of the industrial growth, which Bombay was witnessing. The legend of Bombay as a city of textile mills and Indian cinema began with the introduction of Railways, which attracted masses from across the country to the city to work as labours or for leisure. The elegant CSMT building has symbolically represented the cosmopolitan character of the city which witnesses travel of diverse people and ideas. 

Our electric locomotive engine was initially stored at the Kalyan loco shed from where it was shifted to Sion and from there to our centre. The electric loco shed at Kalyan holds a unique record to its name. It is the first electric loco shed of Indian Railways. The Kalyan electric loco shed was established on 28 November 1928 under the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR). The electric loco shed at Kalyan during its journey of the last 93 years has maintained nearly 16 different types of electric locomotives. The loco shed has undertaken a long journey since its formation when it used  to maintain electric locomotives EA/1 and EF/1, which were having horsepower of 2160 HP & 2230 HP respectively in 1928 and operated on 1500 Volts DC. 

The electric locomotive in our collection most likely falls under the category of EA/1, the earliest type of locomotives, and has a horse power of 2160. This locomotive was supplied by the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company and it was intended for high speed service over the same routes as the freight locomotives.  The engine has three pairs of driving wheels, a four-wheel bogie at one end and a pony axle at the other. It had Six 360 Hp, 750 volts DC driving motors that are mounted in tandem pairs over the three driving axles, each pair driving through an intermediate gear to a hollow gear wheel surrounding an axle, but carried in journals mounted on the locomotive frame. The form of drive employed gives relatively high centre of gravity and good balance essential for an easy riding locomotive at high speeds. The body of the locomotive contains a driver's cab at each end, the cabs being connected by a central corridor. Adjoining one of the driving cabs is a compartment containing auxiliary machinery such as vacuum pumps, air reservoirs, brake apparatus, and blowers for main motors. A centre compartment contains the various cam groups, etc., a compartment at the other end holding the resistances and unit switches. The apparatus is mounted on frames placed on either side of the central corridor. All live parts are protected by interlocking doors to prevent access while current is on. 

One can see the two two pantographs that are prominently visible on top of the locomotive. These two pantographs could be operated from either of the drivers cabin. The pantographs are mounted on a shield plate insulated from the pantographs and also from the main roof. The motor combinations in the locomotive were so arranged as to give one-third speed with all six motors in series, two-thirds speed with two circuits of three motors in series, and full speed with three circuits of two motors in series, all with full field.  In addition, a field tapping was also used with any of the three combinations. All these arrangements of the six DC motors, which gave a power of 2160 HP to the locomotive, enabled the locomotive to be driven with a total of six running speeds. The National Rail Museum in New Delhi too has in its collection an electric locomotive whose name plates and the number reveal the series and name used during the British era, while the name plate of our engine shows it to be CR, the engine definitely belongs to the GIPR and perhaps was one of those engines under the series 4000, which after independence and its functioning under the CR was given the number 40024. The restored electric locomotive looks majestic and giving it company is another beauty - a narrow gauge steam engine, which too has been restored to its pristine elegance. Unfortunately due to paucity of funds we have not been able to change the four decades old shed in which these two rail,locomotives have been sheltered. However, we hope that we will either be given funds to change the sheds or renovate them during the next financial year. 

Through this post I appeal all those who are in Mumbai to please do spare some time to visit our centre to have a look at this Electric locomotive which has been completely restored and so also the other precious locomotives.