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'''Barsi Light Railway'''


The Barsi Light Railway Company owned and worked the 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]]) railway that initially connected [[Barsi]] to the main Bombay-Madras trunk line of the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]] (GIPR) at Barsi Road, a distance of 22 miles(35km).
<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n222/mode/1up " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government  Printing,  Calcutta;  page 214]; Retrieved 11 Jan 2017</ref>
Conceived by the ex-GIPR engineer, [[Everard Richard Calthrop]], the '''Barsi Light Railway''' revolutionised the approach to narrow gauge feeder lines in India, and was immensely successful. By 1927, the line had been extended significantly over 202 route miles(323km)<ref name=WikiBarsi>[  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsi_Light_Railway Wikipedia “Barsi Light Railway” ]; Retrieved 11 Jan 2017</ref>
The line remained in private ownership until 1954 when it was purchased by Indian Railways.
==Background: The Barsee Tramway==
The [[Barsee Tramway]] was a project, proposed in 1862, to construct a bullock driven Tramway 'to connect Barsee with the Barsee railway station’. In the event the Tramway was not installed but the groundwork had been completed with the construction of the  earth works, cuttings and bridges and was completed in 1870 <ref name=Engineering>“Barsi Light Rail - E.R.Calthrope & the Newly Exhibition”  from ‘Engineering’ 20 Jan 1897, page 183.  Reproduced by  ‘Narrow Gauge and Industrial  Railway Modeling Review’ No 69 Vol 9 January 2007, editor Roy C Link.  ISSN 0958-0808</ref>.
By the 1870’s [[Barsi]] had become the spelling of the town. Barsi Town was connected to Barsi Road Station , on the [[GIPR]], a distance of 22 miles (35km), utilising the completed groundworks providing  a roadway of 24 foot width (7.3 metres) with 'hard shoulders' <ref>British Library IOR/V/23/232, No 71; "Papers relating to the project of connecting Barsee with the Barsee railway station by tramways.” Bombay: Education Society's Press, 1863" File held on Microfiche, page 25  </ref> and  designed to be built with sufficient strength to carry locomotives and the gradients which did not exceed 1 in 100 <ref name=Engineering/>. The Seena (Sina) River bridge was a ten arch masonry constructed bridge.
See '''[[Barsee Tramway]] ''' for further information.
==History : The Barsi Light Railway (BLR)==
[[Everard Richard Calthrop]] had, in 1887, registered in London the [[Indian Railways Feeder Lines Company]] to promote the construction of narrow gauge ([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]]) lines in India. He resigned from [[GIPR]] in 1889.
Calthrop, in 1887, commenced negotiations with the Government of Bombay for a concession to build a Light Railway on the bed of the 'Road'. Negotiations were concluded and in 1895 the '''[[Barsi Light Railway|'Barsi Light Railway Company']]''' (BLR) was formed and incorporated in London on 11 July 1895 <ref>British Library IOR/L/F/5/117 “The Barsi Light Railway Company”, 1895 onwards. Document 1, page 1</ref> utilising engineering solutions based on many innovative designs.
A request for tender was put out and on the 1 August 1895 an agreement was signed to build a 2ft 6inch([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]])  light railway between the Barsi Road Station on the [[GIPR]] Station (now Kurduvadi) and the Barsi (now Barshi) Town utilising the ‘The Road' as the trackbed. The line, of 21.59 miles (34.75km)  opened to traffic on 1 March  1897 <ref name=Admin>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n222/mode/1up “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 214 (pdf222)]; Retrieved  11 Jan 2017</ref> becoming the first section of the BLR.
The line followed what is now designated Route 77 and crossed the Seena River on the bridge of 10 masonry arches, into the Nizam of Hyrdabad territory and then passing out again into Government territory and terminating in [[Barsi]] <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 1, page 1</ref> The road rails were to be grooved or double rails and be maintained flush with the metalled road where it either crossed or ran along it. Only one set of rails were to be allowed on the metalled surface. <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 1, page 2</ref> The Locomotives were to be oil/petrol fired steam engines. <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 1, page 5</ref>
The BLR was a commercial success and in 1905 yielded a return on capital of 4.96%  <ref>[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/94040 Digital Library of India “1907 Administration Report On The Railways In India” pdf format. “Appendix 38 History of open lines at 31 Dec 1906”, page 203 (pdf 214) )]; Retrieved  11 Jan 2017</ref>.
The [[Railway Board]] had authorised further extensions (see below) and the initial 22 miles(35km) had expanded to 117 miles(183km) by 1918 with yield rising to 7.54% in 1916-17<ref name=Admin/>. By 1927 the line length had become 202 route miles(323km)<ref name=WikiBarsi/>
The BSR continued to operate as a narrow-gauge railway until conversion to broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) began in the late 1990s but this was also on a different alignment as now the railway now runs around Barsi to the east and south of the old line. This is narrow gauge is now closed but the remnants are visible all along the route. The new line was completed on 19 October 2008 <ref name=WikiBarsi/>
==BLR Extensions==
Information generally based on  “Administration Report on Railways 1918” <ref name=Admin/>
*'Barsi Town-Latur Extension'
** ‘Barsi Town-Kuslamb’, 6.34miles, opened 16 May 1905
** ‘Kuslamb-Tadwala’, 20.36 miles, opened 1 May 1906
** ‘Tadwale to Latur’, 36.87 miles, opened 1 May 1911, of this 35.87 miles on Nizam of Hyderabad territory. On the 31 March 1910 this extension of the railway was signed into being to Tadwalla and Latur. 62 miles (100Km) <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 3</ref>.
*'Kurduvadi-Pandharpur Extension'
<blockquote>From Kurduvadi(originally named Barsi Road) to Pandharpur, 20.56 miles, opened 2 Dec 1906, extended further 1.78 miles , 16 July 1915. The variation order had been approved on 20 August 1895 signed by the Principality of  [[Pandharpur]] stated they were building a bridge over the Bhima river to take the railway into the town the route to follow route 161 a distance 34 miles(54km) (52.5) <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 2</ref>. [[Pandharpur]] was a significant pilgrimage town and the line was an extension of the BLR from Kurduvadi (Barsi Road) where there was a connection with the GIPR mainline.</blockquote>
*‘Pandharpur-Miraj Extension’ (via Lonard)
<blockquote>From Pandharpur to Miraj, 'approximate length 77 miles, to connect to the [[Southern Mahratta Railway]](SMR  Poona Branch) at Miraj. This line involved bridges over the Phima river at Pandharpur and the Man, south of Sangola', and was first proposed in 1906 <ref name=Proj1906>[https://archive.org/stream/RailwayProjects/Railway%20projects#page/n0/mode/2up “1906 Histories of (Indian)Railway Projects ...up to June 1906” page 6 (pdf 29) )]; Retrieved  11 Jan 2017</ref>.  The finalised route was approved in August 1916 for an extension from Pandaharpur to Lonard and Miraj, a distance of 79 ½ miles (Km 126) <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 4</ref>.  The extension was not constructed and the approval was cancelled in 1932 <ref>Document 6</ref>.</blockquote>
*‘Pandharpur-Bijapur Extension’ (via  Athani)
<blockquote>From Pandharpur to Bijapur, ‘a length of about 77 miles, which will form a chord between Poona and Bijapur branches of the South Mahratta Railway’ <ref name=Proj1906/>.</blockquote>
==Technical Innovations==
The Barsi Light Railway is regarded as having revolutionised the narrow-gauge railway system of Indian subcontinent. The engineer appointed to build I was Everard R Calthrop, he had applied a systematic and logical approach to narrow gauge design with an insistence on a rigidly imposed axle weight limit of five tons allowing lightweight construction of track work and engineering features while simultaneously building the rolling stock to the largest possible size to ensure maximum capacity. The introduction of rail inclination (now universal but then a new idea on railways of any gauge) which reduces wear on wheels and rails by tilting the rail a few degrees to make its surface more nearly parallel with that of the tyre  <ref>[http://www.narrow-gauge-pleasure.co.uk/railways/rlyleekandmanifold.aspx  Narrow Gauge Pleasure “ The Leek and Manifold Light Railway – Construction” by Nick Lewis)]; Retrieved  11 Jan 2017</ref>. Five 0-8-4T locomotives were constructed to Calthrop's specification by Kitson and Company. The goods rolling stock was constructed on common 25ft by 7 ft. (7.62 by 2.13 m) pressed-steel underframes, maximising wagon loads  <ref name=WikiBarsi/>.
The specification had 2 ft 6 inches overhang on each side of the track making a total width of 7 feet 6 inches <ref> IOR/L/F/5/117. Document 1, page 6</ref>.
== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Railways]]
[[Category:Assisted Railways]]
[[Category:Narrow Gauge (NG) Railways]]

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