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*[http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/17/karachi-to-kotri-the-story-of-first-railways-in-pakistan/ "Karachi to Kotri: The First Railways in Pakistan" by Owais Mughal, 2009]
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'''Scinde Railway''' also known as the '''Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway'''<br>– this was the first railway of the railways of the [[Scinde Railway Company|'''Scinde Railway Company''' - ''see separate page for further information on the formation and development of the Company'']]
''Note''
[[File:Scinde Railway Company - Lines.png|thumb|File:Scinde Railway Company - Lines]]
The 'Scinde Railway' was one part of a communication link developed by the '[[Scinde Railway Company]]' constructed primarily to reduce the journey time on the final stage of long haul from Britain to [[Delhi]] and [[Calcutta]]. The line from [[Karachi]] to [[Kotri]] could move cargo and passengers to [[Kotri]] instead of [[Karachi]], saving approx Once 250km of circuitous journey through Indus River delta. At [[Kotri]] the ‘Karachi-Kotri Railway’ was completed line linked to the [[Indus Flotilla|’Indus Flotilla’]] Company steamers, also owned by the [[Scinde Railway Company]] could take cargo from [[Kotri]] instead of [[Karachi]] which operated upstream to [[Multan]] saving approx 250km of circuitous journey through Indus River delta.<refname=Mughal> [http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/17/karachi-to-kotri-the-story-of-first-railways-in-pakistan/ All Things Pakistan “Karachi to Kotri - The first railways in Pakistan” by Owais Mughal, Posted on September 17, 2009]; Retrieved on 8 Apr 201623 Feb 2018</ref>. From [[Multan]] the ‘[[Punjaub Railway ]]’ ran to [[Amritsar]] where it became the ‘[[Delhi Railway]]’, both owned by the [[Scinde Railway Company]], connected to the [[East Indian Railway]] at [[Ghaziabad]](just east of [[Delhi]] ) , thus providing a connection between [[Karachi]] and [[Delhi]] and onward to [[Calcutta]].
==Construction==
The work commenced in April 1858 to construct the broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) single track railway <ref name=Gaz344> Sind Gazette British Library Compiled by E H Atkin Bombay Salt Department. Printed for government at the Steam Press Karachi 1907 Page 344</ref> and on 13 May 1861 succeeded in connecting the port town of [[Karachi]] to [[Kotri)) ]] on the Indus River, the first railway line for public traffic between these towns.
<ref> [http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Scinde_Railway Grace’s Guide “Scinde Railway”] Retrieved on 2 January 2016</ref>.
The challenges faced during the construction were considerable as described in the article “Karachi to Kotri - The first railways in Pakistan” by Owais Mughal <ref name=Mughal/]], which shows maps and describes many of the problems encountered by the Chief Engineer [[John Brunton]].
‘Bahrun River Railway Viaduct’ The route involved construction a large stone viaduct, the heaviest piece of masonry upon the line with a length of 1,728 feet(527 metres), work commenced 1859 and completed in Jan 1861. In addition there were 19 bridges of 48 arches each of 20ft spans; 1 bridge of 3 arches each of 30ft spans; 2 bridges of 10 arches of 40ft spans and 2 bridges of 4 arches of 45ft spans.
‘Mulleer Railway Viaduct’ this was the longest of 6 viaducts using 80 feet clear span Iron Girders – this longest the being 21 spans <ref name=Bruntonp23>[https://books.google.fr/books?id=1WsEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books ‘The Line and Works of the Scinde Railway’ by [[John Brunton]], Institution of Civil Engineers, 1862-63 Page 23 ]; Retrieved 19 Feb 2018</ref>
==Records==
==Personnel==
*[[John Brunton]]; 1857, Appointed Chief Resident Engineer of Scinde Railway (Sind Railway) <ref name=Hughes>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C-pzUWrCU5sC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=description+of+the+line+and+works+of+the+Scinde+Railway&source=bl&ots=DTW2uSH2hD&sig=_JCaeiJ6FfK1irALjNQRIr_RF-8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiypcPWoKfNAhUFIMAKHbSaBOYQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=description%20of%20the%20line%20and%20works%20of%20the%20Scinde%20Railway&f=false Google Books "The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads" by Stephen Hughes, page 126]; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016</ref>; 1858-62, 'Supervised the construction of the 108 miles(174km) of the Scinde Railway between [[Karachi]] and [[Kotri]] until its completion in 1862. His detailed "Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" <ref>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/imotp.1863.23344?src=recsys Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 22, January 1863, pages 451-"Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" by John Brunton]; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016</ref> itemise the problems of building in the tropics.'
*[[William Arthur Brunton]], the son of the above; 1857 at age 17, Assistant Engineer; then Area Surveyor on the Scinde Railway; 1859-1961, responsible for the erection of the thirty-two 45 foot (13.7M) spans of the 'Bahrun Valley Viaduct' <ref name=Hughes/>. This is the longest bridge on the [[Karachi]]-[[Kotri]] section and is a viaduct across the Bahrun River. Construction on this bridge was started on 5 March 1859 and completed on 26 January 1861 <ref name=Muhal>[http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/17/karachi-to-kotri-the-story-of-first-railways-in-pakistan/ "Karachi to Kotri: The First Railways in Pakistan" by Owais Mughal, 2009]; Retrieved 22 Feb2018</ref>.
*[[Willoughby Charles Furnivall]] District Engineer in charge of construction under [[John Brunton]] c.1860-7 <ref name=biog>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/bdoceigbai.58347.222 Institution of Civil Engineers "Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland - Furnivall, Willoughby Charles"]; Retrieved on 21 Jul 2016</ref>.
Other staff of the Scinde Railway involved during the construction are acknowledged:-
*[[J E Hartley]]; c.1859-c.1861, ‘Scinde Railway’ Resident Engineer supervising the 'Mulleer Railway Viaduct' construction <ref name>[https://books.google.fr/books?id=1WsEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=Bruntonp23false Google Books ‘The Line and Works of the Scinde Railway’ by [[John Brunton]], Institution of Civil Engineers, 1862-63 Page 23 ]; Retrieved 19 Feb 2018</ref>*W T Warren <ref name=Bruntonp25>[https://books.google.fr/books?id=1WsEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books ‘The Line and Works of the Scinde Railway’ by [[John Brunton]], Institution of Civil Engineers, 1862-63 Page 25-26 ]; Retrieved 19 Feb 2018</ref>*Henry Stone <ref name=Bruntonp25/>
*Mr Thomas Warren <ref name=Bruntonp25/>
*Mr J Pinder <ref name=Bruntonp25/>
==Historical books online==
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=ASFcAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover "Report of proceedings of an extraordinary general meeting of the Scinde Railway Company, held on Friday the 24th July, 1857"] Google Books
*Brunton, John, "Description of the Line and Works of the Scinde Railway". 1863. Available in [http://books.google.com/books?id=1WsEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1 Full View Google Books] or [http://www.panhwar.com/rarebooks/Description%20of%20the%20Line%20and%20%20Works%20of%20the%20Scinde%20Railway.pdf pdf] from Panhwar.com
== Further Information ==
See '''[[Scinde Railway Company]]''' , '''[[Indus Flotilla]]''', '''[[Punjaub Railway ]]''' and '''[[Delhi Railway]]'''
and '''[[Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway]]''' following amalgamation in 1870 until 1886
