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The '''Delhi Railway''' was a broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) railway from [[Amritsar]] to  [[Ghaziabad]] and onward to [[Delhi]].
<br>In June 1863 a contract <ref>British Library ‘India Office Records  L/F/8/10/845  “Scind Railway Company, Contract for the construction of the Delhi Railway; 1863”</ref> was issued  to the ‘[[Scinde Railway Company]]’ under which the ‘Delhi Railway’ from [[Amritsar|Amritsar(Umritsar)]] to [[Delhi]] would be built
<ref>[https://books.google.fr/books?id=PoKnpdjOfIMC&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books ‘Statute law repeals: nineteenth report, draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill by Great Britain: Law Commission, 2012 Paragraph 3.80 (pdf134) ) ]; Retrieved  1 Mar 2018</ref>. The finance was raised in Jun 1863 and the line opened in stages from 1867 and finally completed in Oct 1870 linking to the [[East Indian Railway]](EIR)  at [[Ghaziabad]] 305 miles(490km).
<br>The 'Delhi Railway', ''shown in '''Blue''' on the map'',  was one of the railways of the [[Scinde Railway Company|'''Scinde Railway Company''' - ''see separate page for further information on the formation and development of the Company'']]
[[File:Scinde Railway Company - Lines.png|thumb|File:Scinde Railway Company - Lines]]
==Background==
The '''[[Scinde Railway Company]]'''  was first established by deed of settlement in March 1855 and incorporated by the ‘Scinde Railway Act’ of Parliament in July 1855 after which a  contract was entered  with the [[East India Company]] in December 1855 for the construction of the ‘[[Scinde Railway]]’ for a line from [[Karachi]] to [[Kotri]]. This was followed by further developments which included the establishment of the [[Indus Flotilla|’Indus Flotilla’]] steamers to connect [[Kotri]] to [[Multan]] and the construction of the ‘[[Punjaub Railway]]’ to run from [[Multan]] to [[Lahore]] and [[Amritsar]] and onward to connect to [[Delhi]], this to become the ‘Delhi Railway’


The ‘Delhi Railway’ was to run from [[Amritsar]] to  [[Ghaziabad]], where it would link to the [[East Indian Railway]](EIR)  for a further 13 miles(21km) into [[Delhi]] on the EIR line operated under a ‘running agreement’ <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n62/mode/1up “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 53 (pdf62) ]; Retrieved  1 Mar 2018</ref>.
==Survey==
The survey of the route was almost certainly undertaken by the engineers from the [[Scinde Railway]] but the personnel involved and the date has not been determined
==Construction==
The construction of the ‘Delhi Railway’ was undertaken by [[Brassey & Co]] in partnership with Mr Wythes and Mr C.Henfrey. Mr G.P.Bidder was the consulting engineer in England and Mr [[Joseph Harrison]] the chief engineer resident in India  <ref name=GraceBrassey>[https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Brassey_and_Co Grace’s Guide  “Brassey and Co” ]; Retrieved  1 Mar 2018</ref> <ref name=BookBrassey>[https://books.google.fr/books?id=x-0aAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books “Life and Labours of Thomas Brassey” by Arthur Helps;  pages 148-149]; Retrieved  1 Mar 2018</ref>
‘The firm undertook the construction of the line including all the works, and providing permanent way, station materials and partially rolling stock, at a fixed rate of £14,3630 per mile. The works included some very long viaducts over the rivers Jumma, Sutlej and Beeas, besides many minor structures over rivers which would have been thought important on any other railway’. All the ironwork and machinery were imported from England, and had to be carried upwards of 1,000 miules from the ports were they were landed. Including rolling stock, these materials weighed nearly 100,000 tons <ref name=BookBrassey/>.
The contract gave a completion date of 3 May 1870. Construction commenced early 1865 and sections of the line were opened before this date. 
'''Sutlej Viaduct''' - The whole railway was completed within the contract time with the exception of 7 miles(11km) across the Sutlej Valley. It had been found necessary in 1869 to lengthen the’ Sutlej Viaduct’ from  ¾mile(1.2km) to 1¼ miles(2km), this section was completed and the entire line completed in Oct 1870 <ref name=BookBrassey/>.
==Opening==
The line opened in stages:- [[Amritsar]] to [[Jullundur]], 32 miles(50km), 1867-69; [[Jullunder]] via [[Ambala]] to [[Meerut]], 1869-70;  [[Meerut]]  to [[Ghaziabad]], 1867. Giving a total of 304 miles(490km) <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n115/mode/1up “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 106 (pdf115) ]; Retrieved  25 Feb 2018</ref>.
The eastern half of the line from [[Ambala|Ambala(Umballa]]] to [[Ghaziabad|Ghaziabad (Ghazeeabad)]] was opened on 14 Nov 1868 by Viceroy Sir John Lawrence. The opening ceremony is colourfully described in a Report of the proceedings <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/openingmeerutan00compgoog#page/n6/mode/2up/search/scinde+railway0 Archive.org “The opening of the Meerut  and Umballa Section of the Delhi Railway”]; Retrieved 1 Jun 2018</ref>.
==Personnel==
No Delhi Railway staff records are held in the [[India Office Records]] at the [[British Library]], the names of staff transferred to the successor company may appear in [[Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway|Scinde, Punjaub and Delhi Railway]] and then the  [[North Western Railway ]] records.
The Report of the proceedings on the opening of the [[Meerut]] to  [[Ambala|Ambala(Umballa)]] section lists the following Railway Company and Contractor’s staff <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/openingmeerutan00compgoog#page/n41/mode/1up/search/scinde+railway0 Archive.org “The opening of the Meerut  and Umballa Section of the Delhi Railway” Appendix pages 39, pdf41]; Retrieved 1 Jun 2018</ref>:-
* Saunders Alexius Abbott, Major General  – Agent
*[[Joseph Harrison]] – Chief Engineer
*G Stone – Assistant Engineer
*T W Keene – Traffic Manager
*R Bocquet – Locomotive Superintendent
*[[Willoughby Charles Furnivall]] – Umballa District Engineer
* C Stone – Saharunpore District Engineer
*J Stone – Meerut  District Engineer
*Henry Stone – Engineer. A tribute is recorded as ‘an Engineer of repute, who lost his life last year by an accident to the works’ (i.e. 1867) <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/openingmeerutan00compgoog#page/n6/mode/1up/search/scinde+railway0 Archive.org “Despatch No 1398, dated 3 Dec 1868 concerning the opening of the Meerut  and Umballa Section of the Delhi Railway” Paragraph 3, pdf 6]; Retrieved 1 Jun 2018</ref>
*The staff of the Contractors [[Brassey & Co| ‘Brassey Wythes & Henfrey’]] are given in the Report and are listed on [[Brassey & Co| a separate page ‘Brassey & Co’]]
==Later Developments==
In 1870, the [[Scinde Railway|‘Scinde Railway Company’]] was amalgamated with the  ‘[[Punjab Railway]]’ and ‘[[Delhi Railway]]’ Companies and renamed as  the ‘'''[[Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway|Scinde, Punjaub and Delhi Railway]]''' Company’. This was covered by the ‘Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act‘  of 1869 <ref name=name> [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228649/8330.pdf  H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012";  pages 134-135, paragraphs 3.78-3.83] Retrieved on 2 January 2016</ref>. ''See Footnote''
In 1886, the contracts expired and responsibility for the railway was transferred entirely to the Government of India([[Government of India |GoI]]). The GoI merged the ‘[[Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway]]’ with other smaller state-owned railways to create the ‘[[North Western Railway]]’.
==Records==
An on-line search of the IOR records using search ‘Delhi Railway’
<ref>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue”  - Search]; Retrieved 21 Jan 2016</ref> gives many references.  The most relevant being:-
*'''L/F/8/10/845'''  “Scind Railway Company, Contract for the construction of the Delhi Railway; 1863”
The search in the IOR records for  ‘Delhi Railway’ gives other results but refer to the East Indian Railway line to Delhi in the years 1852 to 1857 (Calcutta to Delhi via Kurnal, Allahabad and Shekoabad all being mentioned). These do not refer to the ‘Delhi Railway’ proper.
==Further Information==
See '''[[Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway|Scinde, Punjaub and Delhi Railway]]''' for period 1870 to 1886
and  '''[[North Western Railway]] ''' from 1886 onward  when this railway became part of the ‘NWR Commercial Section Main Line’
== References ==
<references />

Latest revision as of 17:57, 30 December 2020

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