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hide options panelNorthern Railway
17 photos
updated : 2024-12-03
The Northern Railway operated a complex network of broad gauge lines serving the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh together with a metre gauge network in Rajasthan. Steam was still fairly common on the broad gauge around cities such as Lucknow and Moradabad when we visited in 1986.
Metre Gauge
6 photos
updated : 2024-12-03
In 1986 the metre gauge network ran to almost 24,000 route km or 39% of the country's total and steam still handled much of the traffic. There was more variety than on the broad gauge with a handful of older types still in use alongside the standard YP Class Pacifics and YG Class Mikados.
North Eastern Railway
5 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
The North Eastern Railway operated a large network of metre gauge lines running across the north of India from Agra in the west, almost to the border with Bangladesh. By 1986 a number of lines had been converted to broad gauge but there was still plenty of metre gauge steam to be seen.
Eastern Railway
5 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
The Eastern Railway covered a relatively small geographical area, north and north west of Calcutta, including some very busy main and suburban lines. It was primarily a broad gauge operation with a few interesting narrow gauge lines. Coverage here is limited to a single visit to Katwa in 1986.
YP Class 4-6-2s
5 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
The YP Class Pacific was the standard metre gauge passenger design of the post independence period with 871 built between 1949 and 1970, more than half of them by Telco in India. They had much in common with the YG Class 2-8-2s and the last examples remained in service into the late 1990s.
Lucknow
13 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Lucknow is a city in northern India which was the junction of busy broad and metre gauge routes in 1986. It was served by both the Northern and North Eastern Railways, each with its own station, and saw a significant amount of steam working with WP and YP Class Pacifics and WG and YG Class 2-8-2s.
Moradabad
7 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Moradabad is a major railway junction in northern India. In 1986 there was still a significant amount of steam working, mainly WPs and WGs on the Northern Railway broad gauge lines with a few North Eastern Railway metre gauge trains as well. The broad gauge shed was unusual in being a half roundhouse.
Katwa
5 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Katwa is a small town on the broad gauge 146km north of Calcutta and was the junction of a pair of narrow gauge lines to Burdwan and Ahmadpur. We only spent an afternoon there in 1986 but got a few interesting pictures on both gauges featuring no fewer than four different classes of loco.
Steam Locos
55 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Indian Railways was still a major steam user into the 1980s and some steam working continued well into the 1990s. Most early locos were British built but European, Japanese and American builders were represented in later years. Indian built locos dominated new construction from the 1950s onwards.
Passenger Trains
21 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
In the 1980s India's passenger trains spanned the gamut from comfortable air-conditioned sleepers linking the major cities to painfully slow and overcrowded all stations passengers and the delights of the narrow gauge. It was still possible to find steam haulage but generally on the less prestigious trains.
Narrow Gauge
27 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
In the context of India, narrow gauge refers to lines of less than metre gauge, principally 762mm and 610mm gauges. These varied from short branches to extensive networks hundreds of km in length. Steam operation was a feature of many lines into the 1980s and 1990s with a wide variety of loco types in use.
sheds and workshops
24 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
As India's railways modernised, steam workings became harder to find and visits to sheds were often a good way to fill the gaps between trains and to find some of the older or rarer classes. The depots themselves varied enormously, from large roundhouses to tiny sheds looking after one or two locos.
Broad Gauge
26 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
Most of the Indian network was built to a broad gauge of 1676mm or 5'6" after an 1850 directive from the East India Company, concerned about the stability of trains in high winds. This included most major routes and many connecting lines. Many MG and NG lines have also been converted to BG in recent years.
WP Class 4-6-2s
16 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
The WP Class Pacifics were introduced in 1947, a development of the pre-war GIPR XP Class, with bar frames and a larger boiler and firebox. A total of 755 had been built when production ceased in 1967. They could be found all over India but by the 1980s had largely been relegated to secondary passengers.
WG Class 2-8-2s
16 photos
updated : 2024-12-02
The WG Class 2-8-2 was India's standard broad gauge main line freight engine, introduced in 1950. Although many builders were involved, almost 80% of the 2450 WGs were built at Chitteranjan in India with production continuing until 1970. The last examples remained in service into the 1990s.
Mixed Trains
6 photos
updated : 2024-11-20
Mixed trains were a practical method of conveying both passenger coaches and goods traffic on lines where it would be difficult to justify the expense of running separate freight and passenger trains. They were common on Indian narrow gauge lines in the 1980s but could also be found on metre and broad gauges.
South Eastern Railway
30 photos
updated : 2024-10-18
The South Eastern Railway succeeded the former Bengal Nagpur Railway in eastern central India, linking Calcutta with Nagpur on the route to Bombay and to Waltair on the route to Madras. It was principally a broad gauge operation with some significant narrow gauge lines and still used some steam in 1986.
Raipur
13 photos
updated : 2024-10-18
Raipur is located on the SER's broad gauge main line from Nagpur towards Calcutta but the photos here are mainly from the 74km long narrow gauge line running south to Dhamtari and Rajim. This line used CC Class Pacifics dating from 1906 to 1908 on all services well into the 1980s.
CC Class 4-6-2s
12 photos
updated : 2024-10-18
These 762mm gauge Pacifics were built by North British between 1906 and 1908 for the Bengal Nagpur Railway as C Class, becoming CC Class when they were superheated. They remained in service on several SER lines for many years and were still going strong on the Raipur NG system in 1986.
BS Class 2-8-2s
2 photos
updated : 2024-10-18
The BS Class was superheated version of the earlier B Class 762mm gauge 2-8-2. 29 BS were built for the Bengal Nagpur Railway by Nasmyth Wilson, NBL and Yorkshire Engine between 1915 and 1924 and a number remained in service on the South Eastern Railway into the mid-1980s.
ZE Class 2-8-2s
9 photos
updated : 2024-10-16
The ZE Class 2-8-2 was an IRS design, introduced in 1928 for 762mm gauge lines. A total of 65 were built in the UK, France, Germany and Japan, the majority post-independence. They saw use on various NG lines with many working the Satpura lines around Nagpur and Gondia in central India.
Gondia
12 photos
updated : 2024-10-16
Gondia Junction is an intermediate station on the SER broad gauge main line, around 100km east of Nagpur on the route to Raipur. There was still a little steam on the BG in 1986 and more on the 762mm gauge lines heading north and south, known as the Satpura Railway, but dieselisation was underway.
Nagpur
6 photos
updated : 2024-10-14
Nagpur is an important junction in central India, on the cross country route from Bombay to Calcutta. It's also the starting point of the extensive Satpura NG network. There was steam on both gauges in late 1986 with WP and WG classes photographed on the broad gauge and BS Class on the NG.
India is a vast country with a rail network to match. Nowadays electrified broad gauge lines are the norm but in the mid 1980s there was still plenty of metre and narrow gauge as well. Not only that, there were still a large number of steam locomotives on all gauges. Most of these pictures were taken on a 1986 trip.
