Steam Update -- Winter 2001
This article was originally published by the Indian Steam Railway Society (ISRS) in its newsletter, and is reproduced here by permission, which is gratefully acknowledged. Copyright for the material here rests with the ISRS and the author(s) of the article. The ISRS is the premier organization in India engaged in preservation and efforts to promote awareness of the country's railway heritage.
Note: These are excerpts from the editorial of ISRS Newsletter No. 7, Winter 2001.
(From the Editorial of the newsletter)
There seems to be no major development so far on the tenders floated by the railway board for the purchase of new steam locomotives for Nilgiri and Darjeeling Himalayan Railways. The main concern appears to be the price quoted by the bidders apart from apprehensions of applying a new technology given that only one class of locomotives have been really successful respectively on each of these railways. The proposal of refurbishing the present fleet of locomotives instead of going for completely new ones altogethsr also seems to be gathering steam. There are two major players who could refurbish a 'B' class in the UK that have evinced interest and have hinted at the ballpark figure of about £300,000. Certainly cheaper than a new one.
(From the Editorial of the newsletter)
KC 520 is a 2-6-2 Tank locomotive of the Kalka - Simla Railway built by North British Locomotive in England in 1905. It was the last steam locomotive to work on this line till the late eighties after which it was proudly displayed at the Divisional Manager's office grounds at Ambala. Recently this locomotive has been refurbished by the Northern Railway locomotive workshop at Amritsar. The inaugural run by the locomotive in the 21st century took place on 26th September between Simla and Kanoh. The locomotive is planned to be kept in active service for special runs though commercial details are yet to be worked out. Another tender locomotive from the Dabhoi stable is also planned to be tested on this section shortly.