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Scinde Railway – this was the first railway of the railways of the Scinde Railway Company - see separate page for further information on the formation and development of the Company

Note

  • Some documents and references refer to the ‘Sind Railway’ which is not the correct spelling.'
  • Not to be confused with the ‘Sind Light Railway’ which is a separate narrow gauge railway.


Background

The Scinde Railway Company was first established by deed of settlement in March 1855 and incorporated by the ‘Scinde Railway Act’ of Parliament in July 1855 after which a contract was entered with the East India Company in December 1855.

The Company had been invited to tender in 1855 by the Government of India to build a railway from Kararchee(Karachi) to Hyderabad, to be called the Scinde Railway [1], this being a distance of about 120 miles(192km). The company contracted with the Government of India (GoI) to construct the initial section from Karachi to Kotri. The company was granted a 5% return on investment up to a maximum of £1 million in order to build the ‘120 mile’ line [2].

Construction

The work commenced in April 1858 to construct the broad gauge(BG) single track railway [3] 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. [4].

The line was constructed primarily to reduce the journey time on the final stage of long haul from Britain to Delhi and Calcutta. Once the ‘Karachi-Kotri Railway’ was completed the ’Indus Flotilla’ Company steamers, also owned by the Scinde Railway Company could take cargo from Kotri instead of Karachi upstream to Multan saving approx 250km of circuitous journey through Indus River delta. [5]. 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.

‘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 [6]

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records held at the British Library relating to this railway [7] gives the following:-

  • Z/E/4/25/I53; “Indus River, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
  • Z/E/4/25/R766; “Rivers, Indus, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
  • L/AG/46/17/1-13; “1. Scinde Railway Company”; 1855-1878

Personnel

  • John Brunton; 1857, Appointed Chief Resident Engineer of Scinde Railway (Sind Railway) [8]; 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" [9] 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' [8]. 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 [10].
  • Willoughby Charles Furnivall District Engineer in charge of construction under John Brunton c.1860-7 [11].

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 [6]
  • W T Warren [12]
  • Henry Stone [12]
  • Mr Thomas Warren [12]
  • Mr J Pinder [12]

Historical books online


Further Information

See Scinde Railway Company

and Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway following amalgamation in 1870 until 1886

and North Western Railway from 1886 when the line became part of the ‘NWR Mainline’

References

  1. ↑ British Library IOR/L/F/8/10 (853) ‘Contract to build a railway from Kararchee to Hyderabad’, 1855
  2. ↑ H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 134-135, paragraphs 3.78-3.83 Retrieved on 2 January 2016
  3. ↑ Sind Gazette British Library Compiled by E H Atkin Bombay Salt Department. Printed for government at the Steam Press Karachi 1907 Page 344
  4. ↑ Grace’s Guide “Scinde Railway” Retrieved on 2 January 2016
  5. ↑ All Things Pakistan “Karachi to Kotri - The first railways in Pakistan” by Owais Mughal, Posted on September 17, 2009; Retrieved on 8 Apr 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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
  7. ↑ “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 8 Apr 2016
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Google Books "The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads" by Stephen Hughes, page 126; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ "Karachi to Kotri: The First Railways in Pakistan" by Owais Mughal, 2009; Retrieved 22 Feb2018
  11. ↑ Institution of Civil Engineers "Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland - Furnivall, Willoughby Charles"; Retrieved on 21 Jul 2016
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 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

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