Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway

Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway
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Line of route
Gauge / mileage
MG	308 miles (1944)
2' 6" NG	356 miles (1944)
Timeline
1949	Nationalised & merged into BB&CIR
Key locations
Presidency	Bombay
Stations	Baroda
System agency
	Own agency
How to interpret this infobox

The Gaekwars of Baroda were responsible for building several metre and narrow gauge lines in and around the Princely Baroda State and the eastern Gujerat. Several of these lines were merged to form the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway(GBSR).

The origin was the Gaekwar's Dabhoi Railway, the name of the ox-driven line between Dabhoi and Miyagam Karjan, a distance of 20 miles(33km) and opened in 1862.

The line was a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) with rails weighing 13 lbs to a yard and a pair of oxen used to haul trains composed of 4-6 vehicles.

In 1863, steam locomotives proved to be too heavy for the rails. During the reign of Malharrao in 1871, the old rails were removed and new rail 30 lbs to a yard were laid.

The Miyagam-Dabhoi line was reopened for traffic on 8.4.1873 and renamed the Gaekwar's Baroda Railway.

Additional lines were constructed up to 1929, creating a complex network using two railgauges:-

• 1000mm metre gauge (MG)
• 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG)

In 1949, the GBSR was merged into the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.

NG Lines constructed and worked by GBSR

• Kosamba-Zankhvav Railway - a NG line opened in 1900

External Links

• Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway by Vikas Singh, Editor of Indian Steam Railway Society Magazine