Holkar State Railway

The Holkar State Railway opened 1874 as a metre gauge(MG) line from Khandwa reaching Indore in 1876, a line length of 69½ miles(111km). The line was financed by the Maharaja of Holkar of Indore and was owned by the Princely Indore State and initially operated as the Holkar & Scindia-Neemuch Railway.

Some early records describe this railway as the Indore State Railway.

Note.

• ‘Holkar State’ does not exist, it was only the name given to the railway, the correct name is ’Indore State’
• Narmada (Nerbudda) River – Narmada is the later name. The Imperial Gazetteer uses both

Early History

The Government of India accepted payment from the Maharaja Holkar of Indore towards the construction of a railway from the Great Indian Peninsula Railway(GIPR) station at Khandwa to his capital city of Indore and in March 1870 preliminary Surveys were started .
Particular attention was given to the crossing of the Narmada (Nerbudda) River (see spelling note). The result was a route from Khandwa via Sanawad to Kheri Ghat , crossing the Nerbudda; then ascending the Chorul Valley on to the Malwa plateau onward to Mhow and Indore. The Government was not happy with this route through the Chorul Valley. The final route was for a metre gauge(MG) line 69½ miles long.
The Holkar Railway required very heavy works due to very steep gradients(upto 1 in 40) on the Vindhya Ghats. It also involved digging of 4 tunnels, deep cuttings and heavy retaining walls. The River Narmada was crossed by a bridge of 14 spans, 197 feet each and piers 80 feet above low water level. There are 14 other large bridges with high piers, the highest pier being 152 feet above the bottom of the ravine.
The first section Khandwa-Sanawad was opened for traffic in Dec 1874. The Narmada Bridge was opened for traffic on Oct 1876; it was named the ‘Holkar-Narmada Bridge’

Amalgamation

In 1881-82, the Rajputana-Malwa State Railway (RMSR) was created, joining under single management, existing State Railways:-

• Rajputana State Railway (RSR)
• Holkar State Railway
• Scindia-Neemuch Railway
• Neemuch Nasirabad State Railway
• Western Rajputana State Railway

All these railways were worked by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway(BB&CIR).

In 1900 the RMSR was merged into the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway(BB&CIR), becoming the latter's Metre Gauge(MG) section; known as Ratlam Division of BB&CIR.

Personnel

No Staff Records for the Holkar State Railway (or the Indore State Railway) have been found.

The following have been identified from various sources:-

• Horace Bell and Archibald Crellin Cregeen were deployed in 1870 from the newly formed Railway Branch of the Public Works Department to the Indore State Railway as Executive Engineers during the construction and the railway opened in 1874.
• William Sinclair Smith Bisset from Railway Branch - PWD, was posted as Asst Consulting Engineer in Nov 1870, promoted Executive Engineer Mar 1871-77. He later became Dir-Gen of Railways and Dep-Secretary to Government of India, Public Works Department
• Ernest Ifill Shadbolt, who later became Director of Railway Construction for the Government of India, was Assistant Engineer, Construction. James Rhind in 1873 went to India, and served in the Locomotive Department, 'receiving certificates of good service from his superior officers' before travelling back to England .
• Henry Dangerfield in 1878 transferred to Holkar State Railway and Scindia-Neemuch Railway, transferred as Superintendent of Way and Works, and he held this post till Dec 1880, being also manager of the line for the last two years .
• James Condor was appointed Manager of Holkar State Railway in 1881. He was, at the same time Manager of Sindia-Neemuch Railway and Neemuch Nasirabad State Railway..

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records held at the British Library relating to this railway gives the following:-

• V/24/3585; "Public Works Department: Administration report on the Holkar State Railway, 1874/75"
• V/24/3590; "Public Works Department: Railways" which contains "Administration report on the Holkar State Railway, 1878/79"

Further Information

See Rajputana-Malwa State Railway and Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway