Shanan Hydro Electric Construction Transportation
Shanan Hydro Electric Construction Transportation
The Shanan Hydro Electric Power Station was built by the 'Punjab Hydro Electric Company' from 1922, commissioned in 1932 and officially opened on 10 March 1933 by the Earl of Willingdon, then then Viceroy of India. It was known as the 'Uhl River Project' during construction.
Kangra Valley Railway – see separate page
The Kangra Valley Railway was a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) mountain railway branch of North Western Railway(NWR), climbing from the Punjab plains up into hills of Mandi State. The line had reached Jogindernagar in 1928-29 [1][2]. During 1928 the Kangra Valley Railway were operating a 1300 foot(400 metre) long 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) siding to the site of the 'Power House', prior to this all material was carried over the Kangra Valley Cart Road [3]
Pipeline Haulageway[3]
A metre gauge(MG) rope hauled incline ran from the site of the 'Power House'. It was 5250 foot(1600 metres) long and climbed to 2700 foot(820 metres), running parallel with the water pipeline most of its distance to a terminus.
Adit Tramway[3]
From the 'Pipeline Haulageway' terminus a 2ft 6in/762mm NG tramway ran to the site of the Compressor Staion for the southern tunnel headings for a length of nearly a mile(1600 metres).
Winch Camp Haulageway[3]
From the 'Adit Tramway' a second rope hauled tramway, 7000 foot(2100 metres) long climbed another 2000 foot(610 metres) to the southern terminus of the 'Hill Top Tramway'. This Haulageway could convey loads of up to 5 tons and the journey took 3½ hours.
Hill Top Tramway[3]
The southern terminus was the location of the Winch House, Locomotive Shed and stores, from here a 2ft 6in/762mm NG tramway ran for nearly 2 miles(3.2km) to a third rope worked incline.
Brot Haulageway[3]
From the 'Hill Top Tramway' a third rope hauled incline ran down a distance of 2200 foot(670 metres) to the bank of the Uhl River to a third tramway.
Headworks Tramway[3]
At the terminus of the 'Brot Haulageway' was another locomotive shed and trasfer crane, from here a third 2ft 6in/762mm NG ran for just under 1¾ miles(2800 metres) to the upper end of the 'Diurnal Reservoir' where the main stores were located. At this point the tramway split into two parts:- one round the bounday of the reservoir to the stone dump; the other, passing the crusher plant and compressor house, into the northern tunnel heading. There were a number of construction sidings on each branch.
The records show the details of the wagons, the overhead electric and battery powered locomotives in the north and south tunnels all dated 1927-29[3]
References
- ↑ Wikipedia "Kangra Valley Railway"; Retrieved 17 Feb 2017
- ↑ Indian Express Newspaper "Kangra Valley Railway" Thu May 21 2009; Retrieved 17 Feb 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compliled by Simon Darvill. Published by ‘The Industrial Railway Society’ 2013. ISBN 978 1 901556 82-7. Available at http://irsshop.co.uk/India. Reference: Entry HP03 page 162
