Mysore Iron Works Light Railway

The Mysore Iron Works Light Railway at Bhadravathi was in operation from the early 1920’s, it was a metre gauge(MG) railway

No specific information has been found but it would appear that the railway was used for internal operations within the Iron Works and there was a connection at Bhadravathi to the Birur-Shimoga Railway, MG branch line which was worked by the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway(M&SMR) . Thus the Iron Works would have direct connections to the main cities and ports.

History of Mysore Iron Works

The Iron Works was established to tap the rich iron ore deposits near Kemmanagund, in the Baba Budangiri hills, and manufacture pig iron and other products. A preliminary investigation of setting up an iron and steel factory at Bhadravathi was done in 1915-16. This investigation was done by a New York based firm who explored the possibility of manufacturing pig iron with the use of charcoal fuel. The years 1918-22 were spent in setting up the factory. To start with, a wood distillation plant for manufacturing charcoal and blast furnace for smelting iron were set up in the factory. A cast iron pipe plant, open hearth furnace, rolling mills and a cement plant were later added and the name of the factory was changed to ‘The Mysore Iron and Steel Works’

In 1939, the Shimoga-Talguppa Railway line was laid, using wood from the Malnad forests were transported to this plant, to be used as a fuel in its furnaces Works’

Remark

Kemmanagundi, in the Baba Budangiri hills, the location of the rich iron ore deposits mentioned above, is very close to Hebbe, the terminus of the Tadasa-Hebbe Tramway. It seems most likely that this tramway which opened in 1917 was used to carry iron ore to the Iron Works