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{{System_Railways_Infobox
|image=
|caption=
|timeline1date= 1915
|timeline1details= First line opened
|timeline2date=
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|timeline3date=
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|timeline4date=
|timeline4details=
|timeline5date= 1967
|timeline5details= Last line nationalised
|company1= 1915
|company1details= [[Burdwan-Katwa Railway]](BKR)
|company2= 1916
|company2details= [[Bankura-Damoodar River Railway]](BDRR)
|company3= 1917
|company3details= [[Kalighat-Falta Railway]](KFR)
|company4= 1917
|company4details= [[Ahmadpur-Katwa Railway]][AKR)
|company5=
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|headquarters= [[Calcutta]]
|workshop=
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|system1date=
|system1details= Some lines taken over by [[Indian Railways]]
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|gauge1= 2' 6" NG
|gauge1details= 150 miles (241km)
|gauge2= 2’0” NG
|gauge2details= 36 miles 1915-24 [[Jessore-Jhenidah Railway]](JJR)
|gauge3=
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'''McLeod's Light Railways'''
'''[[McLeod & Co|McLeod & Company]]''' was the subsidiary of a London company of managing agents, '''McLeod Russell & Co. Ltd'''.
<br>The Company was formed to build and operate four 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]])
narrow gauge railways in and around Calcutta. Each railway was created as a separate Company.
<br>All these railways had a 3½% return guaranteed by the Government <ref>“Indian Locomotives Part 3 – Narrow Gauge 1863-1940” by Hugh Hughes No. 28 McLeods Light Railways - page 56-59</ref>
The lines continued to operate independently after the Independence in 1947, the last being transferred to Indian Railways in 1967.
They also managed the ‘[[Jessore-Jhenidah Railway]]’ from 1915-24
[[File:Mcleod's Light Railways 5.png|thumb| McLeod’s Light Railways]]
==Lines operated and worked by McLeod's Light Railways==
<br>
*'''[[Burdwan-Katwa Railway]]'''(BKR), 2’ 6” NG, 33 miles(54km), constructed by ‘Burdwan-Katwa Railway Company’, opened 1915<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n229/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; pages 211-212 (pdf229-230)]; Retrieved 24 Nov 2016</ref>. The line ran from [[Burdwan]], on the [[Howrah-Delhi EIR Main Line|EIR Mainline]] to [[Katwa]], where it linked to the AKR - ''see below'' and where there was an interchange with the [[East Indian Railway]] [[Sahibganj Loop EIR Line|EIR Loopline]].
<blockquote>Marked '''1''' on Map. [[Burdwan-Katwa Railway|''See separate BKR page'']].</blockquote>
*'''[[Bankura-Damoodar River Railway]]'''(BDRR), 2’ 6” NG, 60 miles(96km), constructed by ‘Bankura-Damoodar River Railway Company’, opened 1916-17<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n219/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 211 (pdf219)]; Retrieved 24 Nov 2016</ref>. The line ran eastward from [[Bankura]] on the [[Bengal-Nagpur Railway]] to Raynagar (near to the Damoodar River).
<blockquote>Marked '''2''' on Map. [[Bankura-Damoodar River Railway|''See separate BDRR page'']].</blockquote>
*'''[[Kalighat-Falta Railway]]'''(KFR), 2’ 63 NG, 25 miles(40km), constructed by ‘Kalighat-Falta Railway Company’, opened 1917<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n240/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 232 (pdf240)]; Retrieved 24 Nov 2016</ref>. The line, to the south of [[Calcutta]], from Kalighat , in the southern suburbs of Calcutta, to [[Falta]] on the bank of the Hooghly River.
<blockquote>Marked '''3''' on Map. [[Kalighat-Falta Railway |''See separate KFR page'']].</blockquote>
*'''[[Ahmadpur-Katwa Railway]]'''(AKR), 2’ 6” NG, 32 miles(51km), constructed by ‘Ahmadpur-Katwa Railway Company’, opened 1917<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n213/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 205 (pdf213)]; Retrieved 24 Nov 2016</ref>. The line ran from [[Ahmadpur]] on the [[First Chord EIR Line|EIR First Chord]] to [[Katwa]], where in linked to the BKR - ''see above'' and where there was an interchange with the [[Sahibganj Loop EIR Line|EIR Loopline]].
<blockquote>Marked '''4''' on Map. [[Ahmadpur-Katwa Railway |''See separate AKR page for further details'']].</blockquote>
==Other Railways taken over by McLeod's Light Railways ==
<br>
*'''[[Jessore-Jhenidah Railway]]'''(JJR) 2’ 0” NG, 36 miles(57km), opened 1913-14. Owned and worked by Private Co., together with [[Kotchandpur Branch Railway]] <ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n238/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 230)]; Retrieved 24 Nov 2016</ref>. The management taken over by 'McLeod and Company', August 1915 through to 1924. The railway connected [[Jessore]], a station of the [[Eastern Bengal Railway]]-‘EBR Central Section’, to [[Jhenidah]] on the Nabaganga River.
<blockquote>Marked '''5''' on Map. [[Jessore-Jhenidah Railway |''See separate JJR page'']].</blockquote>
== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Railways]]
[[Category:Private Railways]]
[[Category:Narrow Gauge (NG) Railways]]
[[Category:Managing Agencies]]
