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Digboi Oil Refinery Railway was a metre gauge(MG) railway serving the oil fields and refinery at Digboi which had been developed by the Assam Railways and Trading Company (AR&TC).
History
Oil had been discovered in 1866 by a Mr Goodenough of McKillop, Stewart & Co and a concession was granted November 1866, at Nahorpung about 30 miles (48 km) south east of Digboi.
The AR&TC had found oil coming to the surface while constructing the ‘Dibru-Sadiya Railway’ between Dibrugarh and Margherita in 1867 [1] and were granted a concession.
At this time the AR&TC was more interested in the building of the railway and developing its collieries [2].
The first well was sunk by the AR&TC in 1888 yielded 2,000-3,000 gallons(9,100-13,600 ltrs) per month[3]
On 19 October 1889 Oil was struck at Digboi by the AR&TC and another strike followed in January 1892. Two Brothers with name of Slack were in charge. The elder was at Margherita when the break-through happened , he was about abandon the drilling and getting equipment for another well. The well was a gusher and oil shot 40 feet (12m) into the air. It was christened as the Well No. 1 or the Discovery Well and it set the scene of birth of the Oil industry in India. In 1893 The Company built a small refinery at Margherita and the oil was taken there [4] by the ‘Ledo and Tikak Margherita Colliery Railway’, owned by AR&TC that had opened in 1884.
The ‘Assam Oil Syndicate’ were granted exploration rights adjacent to the company’s area. To get equipment to new drilling sites elephants were used. And by 1893 there were 6 wells producing oil and the boundry of the company's land was agreed with the Government [4]. Thirty-one wells were subsequently drilled by the Syndicate but eleven were abandoned, as they yielded little or no oil. [3].
The ‘Makum Branch Railway’, owned by the AR&TC, had opened in 1884 from the ‘Dibru-Sadiya Railway’ at Makum Junction to Dihing Bridge with the only intermediate station at Borbhil. With the development of the oil fields by the AR&TC in 1899 they constructed the Digboi station preparatory to dismantling the old station at Borbhil [4].
The exploration was using up money, so to raise more capital in 1899 a new company , the ‘Assam Oil Company’ came into being and took over the old company’s concessions. The new company had its headquarters at [[Digboi}} where the oil fields had proved to be more productive than that around Makum. The new company also took over the ‘Assam Oil Syndicate’. Lord Ribblesdale, the chairman of the ‘Assam Railway and Trading Company’ became the first Chairman of the ‘Assam Oil Company’. The ‘Assam Railway and Trading Company’ held a large number of shares in the new company and the boards were connected. The new company moved its refining facilities to Digboi [4].
The works were taken over in 1899 by the ‘Assam Oil Company’, which was formed with a capital of £310,000. A large refinery was built at Digboi, which in 1903 gave employment to 10 Europeans and 569 local staff, the output in that year was 1.2million gallons (5.4million ltr) and 89,000 gallons(404,000ltr) of other oil plus wax and candles. The wells vary in depth from 600 to 1800 feet and the oil is forced to the surface by natural gas[3].
The records show that MG locomotives were supplied to the Digboi Refinery operation from 1896 onwards [2]. The extent of the track has not been determined.
The ‘Assam Oil Company’ was sold to the ‘Burmah Oil Company’ in 1921 [2].
References
- ↑ Wikipedia "Digboi"); Retrieved 5 Feb 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compiled 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 AS90 pages 103-104
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 344-45.; Retrieved 5 Jun 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 “The Story of the Assam Railways and Trading Company” 1881-1951 by Charles Folliott Birney, pages 44-47; Retrieved 5 Jun 2020
