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[[File: Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway Map 1909.png|thumb| Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway Map 1909]]
Map and info from Railway Magazine added
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The '''Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway''' (HSLR) was a short 2ft/610mm narrow gauge([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]]) railway which ran from [[Howrah]] north-westwards to [[Sheakhala]] <ref name=Admin>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n253/mode/2up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 245]; Retrieved 1 Sep 2016</ref>.
[[File:Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway.png|thumb|'''Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway''']][[File: Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway Map 1909.png|thumb| Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway Map 1909]]
'''Spelling'''
*Sheakhalla, is the spelling used in all documentation relating to the ‘Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway Company’, hence we use this for the name of the railway.
*Siakhala, is used on Google Maps
*Shiakhala, is used in Wikipedia <ref name=Martins/>, the spelling appears to be in error.
The HSLR was one of several small narrow gauge concerns owned and worked by [[Martin's Light Railways]], a management company based in [[Calcutta]].
The Howrah- Sheakhalla Railway line from Kadamtala was reached [[Sheakhala]] in November 1897, a line length of 17.3 miles(28km) and the Chanditala-Janai Branch Line of 2.4 miles(3.8km) opened in 1898 <ref name=Admin/>.
A line from Autpur to Rajbalhat was sanctioned but never built <ref name=Maiden>”Two foot gauge at Howrah Maiden” by P J Bowcutt and H C Hughes. ‘Railway Magazine’ September 1965 Vol III No 773 pages 497-501</ref>
The Amta and Sheakhala companies both prospered and by 1904 the shareholders were already getting dividends of 7 and 5 per cent respectively. By 1914 over 2,500,000 passengers were being carried annually on the two lines, and by 1928 the number was nearly 4,000,000. Working frequent trains through the streets of Howrah, each preceded by a runner with a bell to warn pedestrians, became a major headache and from September 26, 1939, after the Municipality had refused to renew the existing agreement, Kadamtala became the terminus and the line to Howrah Ghat was abandoned <ref name=Maiden/>.
The lines continued to operate privately long after Independence in 1947 <ref name=Martins/>, and this line was finally closed in 1971 <ref>[https://indianrailwaynotes.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/south-eastern-railway.pdf “Indian Railway South Eastern - Notes and Sources” by Keith Scholey” ]; Retrieved 1 Sep 2016</ref>
