EIR Locomotive Workshops

East Indian Railways - Locomotive Workshops part of East Indian Railway page

Background

"The East Indian Railway(EIR) 'experimental line' from Howrah to Ranigani was authorised in 1849, and construction and started in 1851. The opening of the first section from Howrah to Hooghly in August 1854 was delayed due to unexpected impediments - one these was the locomotive shipped from England got misdirected to Australia, and could only be brought back (to Calcutta) in 1854 aboad 'Kedgeree'. Also 'HMS Goodwin' carrying the coaches (from Britain) sank at the Sandheads near Diamond Harbour (in the Hoogly River estuary near Calcutta). John Hodgson, the Locomotive Engineer of EIR, got the carriages locally built with the help of two Calcutta coach building firms - Steward & Co and Seton & Co." .

Locomotive Workshops - Howrah

The first workshops to repair Locomotives and build Carriages and Wagons were established in Howrah and operational in the mid 1850’s.

• 1852 Nov, John Hodgson was appointed EIR Superintendent of Locomotive Department based in Calcutta .
• 1853, the Locomotive Workshop at this time was at Howrah.
• 1856, a Locomotive Workshop was also operational at Allahabad under P D Nicholl Locomotive Superintendent, Upper Provinces,
• 1857, Charles Lingard Stokes was appointed Locomotive Superintendent on the death of John Hodgson on breakout of the Indian Mutiny and when the Mutiny at Allahabad forced a state of siege to be declared
• By the late 1850's it was apparant that the 'head-quarters of the Locomotive Department were at Howrah, but ... was too confined to admit extensions... there was ... no room in Howrah for the workshops of the Locomotive Department, as well as for the Company's Carriage and Wagon Building works, and after long and mature consideration it was decided to remove the former to Jamalpur" .
• In 1862, the EIR Locomotive Workshops at Jamalpur were completed leaving the EIR Carriage and Wagon Workshop at Howrah.

Locomotive Workshops - Jamalpur

Jamalpur was only an engine changing station and light repairs were carried out in the running shed there. It was on the original EIR mainline but with then opening of the First Chord Line(1871) and the Grand Chord Line (1906), it the became somewhat on the Sahibganj Loop.

• 1860; Decision to construct the new locomotive workshops at Jamalpur. The various reasons for selecting Jamalpur as the location of the new locomotive workshops are well described in 'The History of the East Indian Railway' pages 240-251 .
• 1862; William St. John Galwey, Resident Engineer in charge of the works of the EIR Jamalpur Locomotive works.
• 1863, David Wilkinson Campbell became Locomotive Superintendent , Jamalpur following the retirement of Charles Lingard Stokes.
• 1887, John Strachan became Locomotive Superintendent on promotion of

David Wilkinson Campbell to EIR Agent

• 1890, Alan Wood Rendell became Locomotive Superintendent when John Strachan retired
• 1901, Tomyns Reginald Browne became Locomotive Superintendent, he had previously been Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at Howrah then Lillooah
• On 15 January 1935, the Jamalpur Locomotive Workshops, along with the entire railway colony, were destroyed by an earthquake. It took 3 years to rebuild the facility.

Huddlestone in 1906 comments on page 244 that the "vast strides that have been made in the last few years, and the growth of the Locomotive Department of the rail way may also be gauged by the fact that in 1863 the total engine stock was 247, and at the present time is 952. The shops are now or will be very shortly in a position to build locomotives to meet all the requirements of the line. The work of building locomotives has been actually going on for some years, but owing to the amount of repairs to existing stock that is necessary, new-engine building has had to be kept back. Almost all the parts of a locomotive can now be manufactured in the shops, including all steel castings, and the actual cost of a locomotive built at Jamalpur is therefore considerably less than one purchased and imported. The Jamalpur built engines have given most satisfactory results."

Huddlestone in 1906 describes in full each of the sections of the Jamalpur workshops on pages 246-249 which comprised - Steel Foundry, Iron Foundry, Laboratory, Rolling Mill, Erecting & Fitting Shop, Point Crossing & Signal Interlocking Shop, Machine Shops, Other workshops: — Brass Foundry, Forge, Smithy, Pattern, Carpenter, Bolt and Nut, Brass Finishing, Tin and Coppersmiths', Cold Saw, Chain-testing, Wheel, Boiler, Millwright, Paint, and Tender Shop. In addition to which there was a large Detail Store.

The Indian Railways Fan Club IRFCA gives a good background to the history and development of the Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop .