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GarrattHeritage Run

The PlanningThe first run of the mighty Beyer Garratt was plannedbetween Shalimar, a fledgling passenger terminal on thenorth bank of the Hooghly River, and Mecheda once upona time the bridgehead over Rooppnarain River, and nowa burgeoning town.

The route of the first Garratt Heritage Run.

MechedaShalimar

Santragachi

To Howrah To Kharagpur

On 17 November, 2006

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One of the conscious efforts of the South Eastern Railwaywas to recreate the atmosphere which would have existedin 1929, including black magic doctors, rickshaws, thehorse drawn buggies, old gramophones with flaring brasshorns, grazing cattle, pani pandeys and the satyagrahamovements. The forecourt of Shalimar station had to bemade to travel back in time to a misty November morningin 1929. An exhibition on the heritage connection ofSouth Eastern Railway had to be organised.

The forecourt of Shalimar Railway Station

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A series of mails were also sent all over the world to asmany steam enthusiasts as could be thought of. RobDickinson of the International Steam Railway fame wasinformed and he contributed by reporting the matter andfollowing up with updates and pictures on his InternationalSteam railways web page. Enthusiasm is infectious andAndrew Grantham of the IRJ decided to carry a reporteven though he was of the view that "Railway GazetteInternational does not usually cover heritage trains butwe might be able to project, if it has backing of the South

Eastern Railway". True to their promise the IRJ publishedthe event in its October 2006 issue along with thephotograph that depicted an aerial view of the Garrattin the workshops, managing to catch the giganticproportion of the locomotive. Rajendra Aklekar of theBombay Railway History Group summed it up succinctly"This engine can alone pull the weight of a thousandelephants and now she is back in action".

"This engine can alone pull theweight of a thousand elephants andnow she is back in action".

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Simultaneously, the search for a patron to inauguratethe historical event was started in earnest. Eventuallythe Governor of West Bengal, His Excellency Gopal KrishnaGandhi consented to inaugurate the first historic run on17 November 2006. It is a coincidence that when the'N' Class Garratts was being introduced on BNR (around1929), it was also the time when Simon Commissioncame to India. Bengal was at the forefront of the movementfor boycotting the Simon Commission; the undisputedleader of the movement was Mahatma Gandhi,grandfather of the Governor!

His Excellency Gopalkrishna Gandhi,Governor of West Bengal

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There were much of backroom jobs remaining to bedone. The invitee list had to be finalised, the list of personswho would be gifted with the mementoes had to becarefully thought of, and skilled video makers had to behired for filming and editing the shoot. Gourmet caterershad to be selected and their fare tasted for reproducingthe genuinely sinful delicacies of the Anglo-Indians, trulya fusion cuisine whence the east met the west. Since ahot buffet car was not available, the menu had to beamenable for presentation as a cold buffet with attendantproblems of maintaining the cold chain on a movingtrain. The security arrangements for the Governor aswell as the place where he would disembark had to besettled, including arrangements for his return by roadonce the first leg of the journey was over. The brochure,which had to engage the attention of the uninitiated, evenas it kept the technically well informed engrossed, hadto be conceptualised and designed. The press and theelectronic media had to be introduced to the intricaciesof an articulated locomotive and theunique position the Garratt locomotive enjoyed.

The ExecutionComing back to the railways' effort, once the date wasfinalised the well-oiled machinery promptly swung intoaction. Many issues had to be sorted out within theavailable fortnight. This included the issue of speedcertificates, the measurement of the schedule of movingdimensions and putting into place the arrangements forcoaling and watering of the Garratt for which she has alarge appetite. The lack of steam quality coal was not aminor problem. The mechanism of procurement of steamcoal had all but been dismantled with progressivemodernisation of the railway. Similarly the engine hadto be brought dead from Kharagpur workshops, over adistance of nearly 120 km and commissioned by couplingthe connecting rods and made road worthy again atShalimar. The crews too were also a missing link. Thelast steam man, Rama Rao, had been promoted as anelectric driver. He had to get accustomed to the regulatorof the Garratt that responded so eagerly to the slightestmovement of his hands that even he, used to the peppinessof electric locos, got nervous. The Golden Rock Workshopsat Trichy, chipped in with their loco inspectors and staffwho had working experience on steam locomotives.

The crew of theBeyer Garratt

A memento

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Informality and public involvement were the cornerstoneson which the inaugural heritage run rested. The ambiancejobs were entrusted to Ranjan Tewari, the DivisionalRailway Manager and his team of the Kharagpur division.The overall coordination and conflict resolution was leftto Subhasis Ganguly, who had the job of fine-tuning theefforts to see that the heritage run of the Garratt becamea true landmark in the history of the heritage movementon the Indian Railways. N. S. Kasturirangan helped, notonly in his capacity as the technical coordinator of therestoration effort but also as a doyen of the mechanicalengineers of the railway, in informing and enthusing all,young and not so young, regarding this pioneering anduncharted technical odyssey. Saibal Bose, who had theresponsibility of coordinating the protocol of the GeneralManager's office also chipped in with ideas, right fromdesigning of the invitation cards and the boarding passesto working out the details of the composition of the train;ensuring that the security cover of the Governor did notget into the way of the enjoyment of the guests.

Subhasis Ganguly and Ranjan Tewariwith British Deputy High Commissioner

Boarding Pass

The scenes of nostalgia–Shalimar Railway Station

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He genuinely appreciated the heritage photographs ofMahatma Gandhi in the backdrop of the erstwhile BengalNagpur Railway. The platform was teeming with nearlytwo thousand people in addition to the guests.They had the spectacle of their lives. The state police andthe railway protection force had a harrowing time inpreventing the public, in their spontaneous enthusiasm,from breaking their somewhat friendly cordons to havea ring-side view. The Governor boarded the cab as a finalritual at Shalimar, to receive an "authority to proceed"on a vintage form of the 1929. Though technology haslong replaced such ante-diluvium rituals, he was presentedwith the 'line clear token' in a leather pouch attached toa cane hoop, to recreate what the Garratt crew wouldhave performed, uncountable number of times, wheneverthey passed on their regular journeys from Bhojudih tothe various sidings in the Bengal - Bihar coal fields andfrom Bhilai in their quest of iron ore of theDallirajhara mines.

The JourneyTo the delight of those present on that day, Harsha Dassand her cultural team from Kharagpur successfullyrecreated the period atmosphere thanks to the masteryover the medium and felicity of expression. Theinauguration ceremony ran like clockwork, and theGovernor arrived to the beat of country drums and buglesat the forecourt of Shalimar railway station. He wasscheduled to take only ten minutes looking at the periodpanorama and inaugurate the heritage exhibition thatwas set up on the platform. Gandhi was so enthralledby the atmosphere that he spent an hour and looked atthe various period displays, watched the performers inaction and freely interacted with the participants.

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The potrait of a steam aficionado

i have coal on my face''''After a long, long time

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small dose of arthritis, when a steam man noticed thatthe temperature of jute packed bearings of the locomotivehad gone unto 95 Celsius. The old giant was given alittle rest, and the steam doctor (nay, mechanical engineer),K. Swaminathan rushed to her aid. He allowed the patientto ambulate, prognosticating that once the 'bedding in'was complete and the lubricating juices flew, the bearingfever would come down. Lo and behold, the traincontinued its journey and paused at Bauria near thehistorical Ludlow Jute Mills (one of the earliest in thecountry) where the temperature reduced to a normalthirty-four Celsius.

The Garratt continued to the Roopnarain bridge atKolaghat leaving behind, hoardes of fans at Chengail,Phuleswar and Bagnan where little halts were given tosatisfy the shutter-bugs.

As a part of the celebrations, the Governor unveiled the'Garratt Man' sculpted by Deb Chand Bhattacharjee, anartisan of Adra division followed by a photo session withthe engine crew, the guard and the ticket examinersresplendent in their heritage BNR uniforms, reproducedfold by fold from the pages of the Bengal Nagpur Railwaymagazine.

Guard's whistle blew, stationmaster's green flag fluttered,and soon the Garratt puffed away purposefully on herway. She passed through Santragachi to the cheers ofthe assembled railway men and passengers on theplatform, tooting at the children who had only heard thestories but never seen a steam locomotive. The powerfulGarratt was making light of the five passenger coachescarrying the guests and the press. Probably the narcissisticpreening of 38811, prompted fate to intervene with a

The Garratt Man

The bearing being attended enrouteLadies enjoying the heritage run

V N Kapur with R R Bhandari

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The Roopnarain Bridge just before Mecheda is a majorbridge of historical importance as the Roopnarain Riverwas a terrifying obstacle to the BNR for connectingBombay to the Imperial capital Calcutta by the shortestrail route. A digression from this narrative to record thefolklore about the three Leake Brothers and theRoopnarain Bridge, as recounted by Clement S. Horn,formerly Superintendent of Development, BNR, wouldinterest the readers.

"One of the most difficult and interesting bridges wasthat over the Roopnarain River, about 35 miles fromCalcutta. It is a tidal river. The bridge consisted of 7spans each of 350 feet; and 4 spans each of 260 feetlattice girders. It was built under the supervision of twobrothers; Sammy Leake (the elder), SuperintendingEngineer, and Dicky Leake, District Engineer. The bridgewas built on steel caissons and the foundations weresunk to a great depth into the riverbed. The sinking ofthese caissons and foundations was carried out underthe influence of compressed air, which prevented thewater from percolating under and into the caissons whilethe excavation was in progress inside. The erection ofthe girders required much thought and ingenuity.

I was not actually engaged on the building of this bridge,but I believe it was decided after mature considerationto build the gigantic girders on specially constructedbarges alongside the banks of the river and to float themout at high tide into position between the various piers.

They then had to be anchored in position and await thesinking of the tide to lower the girders on to the masonrypiers. It was a dreadfully tricky operation depending ontides, winds, storms, etc.

These two brothers, Sam and Dick, lived together in abungalow on a bit of high ground overlooking the riverand the bridge. They sat together every evening on theirverandah facing out on to the bridge. They smoked theirpipes and drank their 'chota pegs.' They were silentfellows, speaking little and then always pitched in aquiet tone. There is no doubt they enjoyed a satisfyingcompanionship as they sat together. A fellowship ofthought passed between them; each knew the other wasthinking of the great unfinished bridge and the manydifficulties they had yet to contend with and overcome.

They were always available and entertaining if at anytime we broke in on them and their musings; but it wasgenerally understood to leave these two brothers alonewith their bridge each evening as they sat together.

There was another brother, Martin Leake, who joinedthe Bengal Nagpur Railway later as Chief Medical Officer.He had twice received the Victoria Cross; he was thebravest of the brave. Like his brothers, he was alwaysunruffled and calm. The story goes that when the doubleV.C. was to be presented to him in Calcutta by the Princeof Wales, Martin was not there; he had escaped to thejungles to track wild elephants.”

Of Leake brothers, Roopnarainand Haldia

Roopnarain railway bridge, Kolaghat

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It is widely rumoured in shipping circles that theRoopnarain bridge even though a technical marvel forthe BNR, had resulted in the formation of the “Jamesand Mary shoals” near Mahishadal resulting inconsiderable peril to the ships that navigate on theHooghly for the port of Calcutta. These shoals, whichshift about, keep the dredgers busy and the Hooghly riverpilots on their toes. But everything is not totally evil andprobably the shoals are one of the compelling reasonsfor which the Haldia port and the resulting industrialtownship were built.

Aerial map of the route (parallel to NH6),showing the rivers Hooghly and Roopnarain

Haldia at dusk

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The Grand FinaleThe Garratt steamed majestically over the RoopnarainBridge on to Mecheda to be greeted as a long awaitedfriend by nearly five thousand people. The first GarrattHeritage Run had been a grand success.

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Lunch was soon served from the kitchens of the legendary'Bijoli Grill' whose culinary talents in 'bhadralok' circlesin Kolkata remains unparallel. And what a meal it was!Grilled fish fillets in tartare sauce, club sandwiches,coleslaw salads, a genuine Pommes de Terre purée à l'ailet l'oignon, to be wrapped up with a lemon tart.

The paterfamilias announced handsome rewards torecognise the gallant efforts of the preceding couple ofyears culminating in the grand finale.

The core team meets in the Observation Car during the run. Left to right(as seen): Animesh Ganguly, Subhasis Ganguly, Saibal Bose, Vijay Raina,N. S. Kasturirangan, Ranjan Tewari & R. R. Bhandari

Lunch onboard the dining car

Vijay and Rajni Raina with Debashis Chandra, CPRO at Mecheda,addressing the media and announcing rewards for the railwaymen.

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The Garratt lives again...The first glorious journey of the revived Garratt came toan end much as we would like it to continue forever. Itleft the railway with the confidence that with determinationnothing was impossible. Conserving heritage and industrialarchaeology is dear to the railway, an inheritance thatis as unique as the Indian Railways and India herself,and in the process preserving the thoughts thatperpetuated and primed the industrial revolution to itscrowning glory.

... relive the magic.

Ode to the Garrattby Saibal Bose

I saw the fields green with grass,

I saw the river so blue,

I heard the music sung by the wheels,

Smelt the smoke and steam so true.

So rest in peace for now,

My majestic, gargantuan friend,

You'll be in my joyous memory,

Long after the journey's end.

I travelled over a bridge so long,

As on this trip I had,

But when the journey ended,

I never felt so sad.