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Listed below are several books that you might find interesting on the topics of railways in India. Not all of them are devoted entirely to India. Also note that the books listed here cover a large span of publication dates, with some books having been published over a hundred years ago. A few books also have reading notes attached.

In many cases, the information below may be somewhat out of date as many of the older books are out of print and difficult to obtain. If you are interested in purchasing them, please search the internet for the most latest information on their availability.

General Indian Railway History

Railways of India

J N Westwood
David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1975 ISBN 0-7153-6295-X
192 pages with 34 B&W photographs and 13 maps

A concise but comprehensive history of railways in India up until its publication in 1975. Its contents became something of a standard text over the 40 years following its publication. It has some very nice photographs of a wide variety of steam diesel and electric locos and the set of maps of the railway zones in 1973 is excellent. Out of print but widely available through 2nd hand channels at a reasonable price.

Railways of the Raj

M G Satow and R Desmond
Scolar Press, UK, 1980

Concise description of development of railways until the early 20th century, human interest, with many period illustrations and photographs (115 pages of plates).

Indian Railways

M A Rao
National Book Trust of India, New Delhi, 1975 (3rd edition, 1999) ISBN 81-237-2589-2

Some pictures and some interesting material on IR history, with quite a lot of overlap with Sahni's book (q.v.).

Indian Railways: one hundred years, 1853 to 1953

J N Sahni
Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), New Delhi 1953 LC Card: 55018553

This book focuses on the early years of railways in India, with little corporate history and virtually no engineering history. The many pictures in this book are rather poorly printed, and the production quality of this book is not very good.

Building the Railways of the Raj 1850-1900

Ian J Kerr
Oxford University Press, UK and USA 1995, 1998 ISBN 0-19-564238-4, 0-19-563444-6

Focus on construction and spread of railways, and social history thereof, with some strong political theory infused throughout. 284pp, 3 maps, 10 halftones.

27 Down: New Departures in Indian Railway Studies

Editor: Ian J Kerr
Orient Longman, 2007 ISBN 978-81-250-3063-8
pp. 448, photographs, statistical tables, CD-ROM with additional material

This book aims to explore some of the neglected dimensions of India's colonial and postcolonial railways. Topics include: Railways and the nineteenth century capitalist development of South Asia, porters at a twenty-first-century Mumbai station, late nineteenth-century Hindi accounts of train travel, post-1947 films and writings that represent railways during the Partition of India, railway art on Bangladeshi rikshas, railway workshop labour, financing and managing the railways of North India, an exploration of why India's railways did not contribute more positively to colonial India's economic development. Included CD-ROM contains bibliography, the film 'Veiled in Vapour' by Gilbert Loreaux and Mukul Mangalik, statistics, and poems.

Railways in Modern India

Ian J Kerr
Oxford University Press, UK and USA, 2001 ISBN 0-19-564828-5
400pp, 3 maps, 1 halftone

Series: Oxford in India Readings: Themes in Indian History Reprints of significant writings on Indian railway history. Historical context, suggested approaches to the study of railway history in India.

Halt Station India: The dramatic tale of the nation's first rail lines

Rajendra Aklekar
Rupa Publications, 2014 ISBN 8129134977, ISBN-13 978-8129134974
pp 227

Rajendra Aklekar, an IRFCA member and journalist based in Mumbai, has compiled a history of the early railway lines in the Mumbai area, with numerous nuggets of information gleaned from his research over the years.

Permanent Way through the Khyber

Victor Bayley
Jarrods, London, 1934

An account of the difficult task of building the tracks to the northwest for the Khyber Railway.

North West Mail

Victor Bayley
Robert Hale, London 1939
pp 352

History of Bombay Suburban Railways (1853-1985)

Dr A K Arora
1985

History of Indian Railways

G. S. Khosla
Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) and A. H. Co., New Delhi, 1988

Not very well organized in its content. Much emphasis on administrative issues, with little on engineering history. Out of print.

Railways in India : A Legend

Sitanshu Shekhar Ghosh
Jogmaya Prakashini, Kolkata, 2009

Covering the origin and development of railways in India from 1830 to 2008.

Nehru and Indian Railways

A K Arora and B S Misra
Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), New Delhi, 1989

Line Clear to India

A Ramarao
Subtitled: Incorporating Rowland MacDonald Stephenson's "Report Upon Introduction of Railways into India - 1844"
(NRM Heritage Series Volume 1). 1998, Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), Govt. of India, New Delhi

Selected official reports, correspondence, etc. related to the inception and early growth of railways in India, including a reprint of the Stephenson report.

Steaming East

Sarah Searight
1991, Bodley Head, London

Account of the efforts to forge steamship and railway links between Europe and India. Covers battles, diplomacy, engineering, and social and political history. Includes maps.

Report on the Practicability and Advantages of the Introduction of Railways to British India

R MacDonald Stephenson
1868, London. Printed by Kelly & Co.

Early proposals for railways in India, with official and unofficial correspondence and trade figures and projections. See the NRM publication "Line Clear to India", published in 1998, which incorporates this report.

Indian Railways and their Probable Results

Sir William Patrick Andrew
1848, 150pp, maps

Author was a pioneer of the railways and promoter of the military, political, and commercial benefits of railways and telegraphs in India.

The Railways of India

E (Edward?) Davidson (possibly G Davidson?)
1868, E. & F.N. Spon, London
pp 384, plates, maps

With an account of their rise, progress and construction - written with the aid of the records of the India Office.

Indian Railways: Reports by and about the Indian Railway Companies

John Clark Marshman
1868, Publisher unknown, 30pp

Article formerly published in the Quarterly Review.

Railways in British India

H. Trevor
1891, London

Light Railways for the United Kingdom, India and the Colonies

John Charles Mackay
1896, Crosby Lockwood & Son, London, 322pp

Pioneer Irrigation and Light Railways Manual of information for farmers in the Colonies

Ernest O. Mawson and Everard Richard Calthrop
with additional chapters on light railways by E.R. Calthrop.
1904, London, Crosby Lockwood and Son

Indian Railways

K. V. Aiyar
1st ed. 1924, pp 131 India of Today, Vol. 7 Oxford University Press, London
2nd ed. 1925, pp 133 India of Today, Vol. 7 Oxford University Press, London & Madras

Development of Indian Railways

Nalinaksha Sanyal
1930, University of Calcutta
Photos, maps, 397pp

Colonization, Defence, and Railways in our Indian Empire

Hyde Clark
Date and publisher unknown

Full Steam Ahead

Issued by the Press Information Bureau, Government of India for the Railway Board, 1946?
Printed by Times of India Press, Bombay, 56pp, 93 halftones, maps

A typical morale boosting wartime booklet. Brief history of Indian Railways and the demands made on them by war and how they were met. Data about traffic, etc., and ideas on what was to happen on the Railways immediately post-war.

Millions on the Move

1948, publisher ???

An account of the refugee traffic after Partition.

Narrow Gauge Railways - Two Feet and Under

Leslie S. Robertson
A reprint of an Institution of Mechanical Engineers paper of 1898
1988, Plateway Press, Croydon, Surrey

Includes numerous photos, drawing of Sharp Stewart 4826/1901 (Howrah-Amta Light Railway), and additional material by Andrew Neale.

Light Railways, their rise and decline

W.J.K. Davies
1964, Ian Allan, London

Palestine, Egypt, and India Connected by a Railway System

S McBean
1876, W H Allen, London

Non-technical exposition with plenty of proposals for various international railway connections.

The Reconstruction of the Empress Bridge over the River Sutlej

Jon Douglas Watson and William Macrae
Reprint from proceedings of the ICE, vol. 237, 1933-34
1935, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

The Regirdering of the Railway Bridge over the Krishna River, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway

Harold Nugent Colam
Reprint from proceedings of the ICE, vol. 227, 1928-29
1929, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

General Rules for All Open Lines of Railways in British India Administered by the Government with the Bengal and Assam Railway

1944, East Indian Railway Press, Calcutta

Exploration Survey for a Railway Connection between India, Siam, and China

Holt S Hallett
1886, Royal Geographical Society, London
Map, 20pp

Geological Notes on the Central Railway Tunnels of the Western Ghats, India

B C Roy
Bulletin of the Geological Survey of India, Series B: Engineering Geology and Ground Water, No. 12
1958, Controller of Publications, New Delhi

Biographical Directory of Railway Engineers

Marshall Railway Canal and Historical Society
ISBN 0901461229, 2003, Oxford

Engines of Change: The Railroads That Made India

Ian J Kerr
Orient Blackswan. Hardbound 2006, Paperback 2012
Hardbound ISBN-10: 0275985644, ISBN-13: 978-0275985646
Paperback ISBN-10: 8125045627 ISBN-13: 978-8125045625

Comprises 8 chapters, endnotes, and bibliography. Impeccable historical research; text supported by numerous monochrome illustrations throughout. Widely available through online and offline retail platforms. Reasonably priced, available in both hard bound (224 pages) and soft bound (236 pages).

India Junction: A Window to the Nation

edited by Seema Sharma
Rupa Publications, India, 2014
ISBN-10: 8129132680 ISBN-13: 978-8129132680

296pp, Hardcover. Price: INR 695

A collection of in-depth, analytical essays, travelogues and rare photographic features. Featuring renowned authors Sir Mark Tully, Ruskin Bond, Gillian Wright, Ian J. Kerr, Jerry Pinto, Omair Ahmad, Kartik Iyengar, Shoba Narayan, Sandipan Deb and Sharmila Kantha.

Tracking Modernity: India's Railway and the Culture of Mobility

Marian Aguiar
University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Paperback
ISBN-10: 0816665613 ISBN-13: 978-0816665617
Hardcover ISBN-10: 0816665605 ISBN-13: 978-0816665600
272pp. Price: $25 (paperback)

The book presumably builds on the author's 2000 dissertation "Tracking Modernity: Writing the Rails of Empire" which reviews selected literature from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Revealing railways as a microcosm of tensions within Indian culture, Aguiar demonstrates how their representations have challenged prevailing ideas of modernity, starting with colonial-era perspectives, continuing through the partition and postcolonial eras, and concluding with a look at terrorism and the railways. The latter is broadly defined and includes accidents, crime and sabotage in addition to recent terrorist incidents.

Bridges, Buildings & Black Beauties Of Northern Railway

Vinoo N. Mathoor
Institute of Rail Transport, in association with National Rail Museum, 2008
ISBN-10: 8190562517. ISBN-13: 978-8190562515
Hardbound, 455pp. Price: INR 3900
Available at the bookshop in National Rail Museum, New Delhi

An illustrative book introducing engineering achievements, including detailed notes on major bridges and buildings. Also includes pictures and diagrams of various classes of steam locomotives used by the Northern Railway.

Major Railway Accidents in India, 2000-09

Ajai Banerji
ISBN-10: 8192187608. ISBN-13: 978-8192187600
Paperback, 112pp. Price: INR 225

A compendium of all the major railway accidents of the decade by IRFCA member Ajai Banerjee.

Tracks of Change: Railways and Everyday Life in Colonial India

Ritika Prasad
Cambridge University Press, 2016
ISBN-10: 1107084210. ISBN-13: 978-1107084216
Hardcover, 324pp. Price: INR 895

This book makes an attempt to examine how the railways impacted the daily lives of Indian society and how society in turn adapts itself to accept the growing presence of railways. Available both in online and offline retail outlets.

Indian Railways: Glorious 150 Years

R. R. Bhandari

Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India. 2005.
ISBN-10: 8123012543. ISBN-13: 978-8123012544
Hardcover, 252pp

Indian Railways, The Final Frontier: Genesis and Growth of the North-East Frontier Railway

Arup Kumar Dutta
Northeast Frontier Railway, 2002
304pp

A comprehensive study of the history of the railways in the North-Eastern parts of India. Includes illustrations and photographs of construction. Available in both hardbound and paperback from the office of the Chief Public Relations Officer at NF Railway Headquarters in Maligaon.

The Railways in Assam, 1885-1947

Sarah Hilaly
Pilgrims Publishing, 2007. ISBN-10: 8177694227 ISBN-13: 978-8177694222
Hardcover, 346pp

A socio-historical analysis of the railways and Assam in the given period geared towards historians rather than railway enthusiasts.

A Short History of Indian Railways

Rajendra B. Aklekar
Rupa Publications, India, 2019. ISBN-10: 9353332877 ISBN-13: 978-9353332877
Paperback, 248pp. Price: INR 225 onwards

A short history of the Indian Railways from the 1830s to present day told through a series of anecdotes.

Changing Tracks: Reinventing the Spirit of Indian Railways

V. Nilakant
Collins Business (1 December 2009). ISBN-10: 8172238622. ISBN-13: 978-8172238629
Hardcover, 236pp

Indian Railways: The Weaving of a National Tapestry

Bibek Debroy et. al.
Penguin Random House India (10 February 2017). ISBN-10: 0143426753 ISBN-13: 978-0143426752
264pp. Price: INR 248

Readings in Indian Railway Finance

K.B. Verma (Editor)
Academic Foundation (1998)
ISBN-10: 8171881211 ISBN-13: 978-8171881215
Price: INR 995

Indian Railways: A Journey

Gautama. Q
B.R. Publishing Corporation (12 October 2012)
ISBN-10: 9350500302 ISBN-13: 978-9350500309
Hardcover, 197pp

Our Indian Railway: Themes in Indias Railway History

Rupa Srinivasan et al
Cambridge University Press India; illustrated edition (28 March 2006)
ISBN-10: 8175963301 ISBN-13: 978-8175963306
Hardcover, 308pp

The Purveyors of Destiny: A Cultural Biography of the Indian Railways

Arup K Chatterjee
Bloomsbury India. 2017. ISBN-10: 9386349523 ISBN-13: 978-9386349521
329pp. Price: INR 595

The Great Indian Railway: A Cultural Biography

Arup K Chatterjee
Bloomsbury India, 2018. ISBN-10: 9388038886 ISBN-13: 978-9388038881
376pp. Price: INR 503 onwards

The Great Indian Peninsula Railway: A Journey Through Time (1853-1871)

Dr. Rita P. Bhambi.
Bharti Publications, New Delhi, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-9385000768
Hardcover, 258pp. Price: INR 880

A historical narrative on the construction and growth of the GIPR, including detailed notes on the contract system adopted by the company.

Railways and The Raj: How the Age of Steam Transformed India

Christian Wolmar
Atlantic Books, 2017. ISBN-10: 0857890646, 1786495279
Hardcover, paperback and Kindle. 384pp. Price: INR 2646.00 (hardcover), INR 599.00 (paperback), INR 349.00 (Kindle)

Transforming the Nation's Destiny: Indian Railways, A Visual Journey

DK (formerly Dorling Kindersley), London. 15th July 2020. ISBN: 9780241414842
Hardcover, 304pp. Price: £20

An illustrative compilation of historical moments, railway engineering, buildings, rolling stock etc. Pictures and plates are accompanied by descriptive text notes. Foreword is by Bibek Debroy.

Company Specific History

Couplings to the Khyber

P.S.A Berridge
1969, David & Charles, Newton Abbott
ISBN 7153 4342 4

This is a well-written, predominantly civil engineering history of the N.W.R.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: A Photographic Profile 1962-1998

Emile D Badawy and Lindsay Crow

1999, Train Hobby Publications, Studfield, Vic., Australia
pp. 48, 59 colour photos, map

Stunning photographs of the DHR, 1962-1998

Halfway to Heaven: Darjeeling and its remarkable railway

Terry Martin
2000, Rail Romances, Chester, UK
332pp, 52 colour pages, over 300 illustrations
Available from the DHR Society in the UK

A detailed history of the DHR

Darjeeling Wagons

John Flower and David Charlesworth (ed.)
2002, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society

Konkan Railway : A dream come true

Menaka Shivdasani and Raju Kane
Konkan Railway Corporation, Ltd.

Anchoring a City Line

Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra
2000, Western Railway, ISBN 81-900602-4-4


History and details of WR services (especially suburban), buildings, etc. Many old and new photographs.

Garden Reach

Saibal Bose

Subtitled: A Railway Story
2006, South Eastern Railway
52pp

A history of Garden Reach, which housed the headquarters of the Bengal Nagpur Railway and is still used by the South Eastern Railway. Photographs, facsimiles of early documents, biographies, etc.

Western Railway Meter Gauge system(Western Railway, 1987)
Western Railway Narrow Gauge system (Western Railway, 1987)
The Blue Chip Railway (South-Eastern Railway, 1988, ISBN X901613 087)
Exotic Indian Mountain Railways ((out of print) Railway Board, 1984)
Kalka-Simla & Kangra Valley lines (Northern Railway, 1983)
Jodhpur Railway (Northern Railway, 1982)
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (National Rail Museum, 2000)
Locomotives in Steam (Railway Board, 1981)
Rail Race to Jammu (about the completion of the line from Pathankot (published?)
Rail Transport Museum (Railway Board, 1980)
South Eastern Railway: March to New Millennium (SER, 2001)

All by R.R. Bhandari, the first curator of the National Rail Museum.

The books on specific railway systems are good, concise histories of the systems, with specific information on dates of opening of various lines, etc., and with fairly good quality black-and-white and colour plates.

No ISBNs for some of these. The older ones are generally long out of print. Some of these may still be available from the National Rail Museum in New Delhi. A few are also available from the British Overseas Railways Historical Trust. The book on the DHR is a new one (available at the NRM), and is the first in a new series planned on the mountain railways, including material re-issued from the book Exotic Indian Mountain Railways along with some new material.

Western Railway: A Glorious Saga

R R Bhandari
Western Railway, 2008

The book traces the history of Western Railway from its precursor the BB&CI Railway; pictures, facts and figures.

Mumbai Local

Vimal Mishra
Western Railway, 2008. In Hindi

History of the WR and CR Mumbai suburban system - railway stations, impact on society - anecdotes from commuters, pieces by well-known figures.

Heritage, Legends, and Traditions

A K Jhingron
Western Railway, 2010

Treatise on the heritage of Western Railway - covers documentation and archives, photographs, and preserved artifacts. Includes a chapter on documentation of WR relics of heritage significance, by IRFCA member Rajendra Aklekar.

Raj in Sunset

Phillip Napier
1961, Arthur H. Stockwell, Ilfracombe

A recounting of the author's career as a railway official in India.

History of the North Western Railway

B. de Villeroi
1896, Self published by the author, Lahore

History of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway
Part 1, Vol. 1 : 1853-1869
Part 1, Vol. 2 : 1870-1900

S N Sharma
1985 (vol. 1), 1990 (vol. 2)
Published by the Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway, Bombay V.T.

The early history of the East Indian Railway: 1845-1879

Hena Mukherjee
1966, PhD dissertation, London University, London
1994, ISBN 8171020038 South Asia Books

History of EIR: planning, fund-raising, land acquisition, cargo carried, and economic impact on the eastern region.

History of the East Indian Railway

George Huddleston
Vol. 1, 1906, Thacker Spink & Co. Calcutta
Vol. 2, 1939, St Stephens, Bristol Press, Bristol

History of Indian Railways: Constructed and in progress

Government of India, Railway Department (Railway Board)
Simla, Government of India Press

Details of all railway operations in India from the middle of the 19th century, with dates of opening of routes, train running arrangements, contract dates and information, and many maps. This was an annual publication; the issues were produced until the 1960s or so.

Railway Systems of India, Ceylon, Siam, and Malaya

The First and Second Special Indian and Eastern Numbers of The Railway Gazette, Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, 1929, republished
152pp, 168 full-page plates, plans, maps

Historical record of Indian and south-east Asian railways, with pictures.

Administration Report on the Railways in India

British Parliamentary Papers, published annually
Annual, up to the 1940s, HMSO, London. Also Simla.

Usually including maps, charts, photographs and illustrations of rolling stock, etc. Usually in two volumes; one with descriptions, maps, illustrations, and the other with tabulated data on finances, traffic, etc.

Railway Construction In India in 3 volumes

Indian Council of Historical Research
ISBN: 81-7211-102-9 1999, xlii, 572pp, 25 cm. Hard Cover
Available from Books of India, affiliated with Bibliofind/Amazon.
Approximate price US $450.00

A comprehensive look at the construction of various lines until the early 20th century. Includes documents and correspondence.

Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway Company,
Including the Mayavaram-Mutupet and Peralam-Karaikkal Railways

1900, Higginbotham, Madras
1910, South Indian Railway Company, London
466pp (1910 ed. 368pp.), map

The Nizam's State Railway Commemorative Book (about 1940)
Darjeeling - Himalayan Railway Co
Darjeeling and its mountain railway: A guide and souvenir

Author unknown; the compilers' preface signed 'R.B.A.'
1921, Caledonian Printing Co, Calcutta for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Co.
1983 reprint, Jetsum Publishing House, Darjeeling.

Illustrated Guide for Tourists to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Darjeeling

1896 (second printing), Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Reprinted by Pagoda Tree Press, Malvern Buildings, Fairfield Park, Bath BA1 6JX, England
With many engravings and photographs, pp 106

Delhi Durbar Railway: Traffic administration report

1912, Delhi Durbar Railway
Two Volumes, maps

Pamban Viaduct, South Indian Railway

Colin Robert White

Excerpted minutes of proceeds of the Instn. Civil Engineers, vol. 199, session 1914-15. 1915, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

Railway Reports: Report and estimate of the Baroda Railway

Arthur A West and others
1850, 1851, Bombay

Detailed proposal and estimates for Baroda Railway, including land surveys, sketch maps, economic analyses, etc., foreshadowing the BB&CI Rly.

The Electrification of the Suburban and certain Main-line Sections of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway

F Lydall
1932, London

Reprint of a paper presented to the Institution of Electrical Engineers on April 28, 1932

Madras Railway Company: Pictorial Guide

F Dunsterville
1902, Higginbothams, Madras

The Frontier Mail: India's fastest daily service to Delhi, Lahore, and Peshawar

1900s? BB&CI Rly.

Souvenir book with photographs of landscape and route.

Bridges on the northern section of the Nagda-Muttra State Railway

John Kerr Robertson
1913, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

Excerpts of Instn. of Civil Engineers proceedings, vol. 193, session 1912-13.

Alphabetical List of Indian Railway Stations M. K. Jain

Subtitled: All-Indian Rly. Distance Table and Code Book
No ISBN, 1997 (?) Prince Publication, G. T. Road, Shahdara, New Delhi

Contains an extensive list of stations with their codes, distances from New Delhi, and route information.

Alphabetical List of Railway Stations in India

Published by the Indian Railway Conference Association
No ISBN

Contains a comprehensive list of passenger and goods stations, sidings, cabins, etc. Published irregularly every few years. The last one was published in 1995(?). Available from offices of the Chief Commercial Managers of the zonal railways.

Bradshaw's Railway Manual, Shareholders' Guide and Directory

by Henry Blacklock (1891)
Published periodically
1891, London

Details of UK, British Colonial, and other British-owned railways. Administrative details, fold-out maps, staff directories.

Locomotives & Rolling Stock

Indian Locomotives Part 1, Broad Gauge 1851-1940 (1990)
Indian Locomotives Part 2, Meter Gauge 1872-1940 (1992)
Indian Locomotives Part 3, Narrow Gauge 1863-1940 (1994)
Indian Locomotives Part 4, 1941-1990 (1996)

Hugh Hughes
The Continental Railway Circle
25 Woodcock Dell Avenue,
Kenton, Harrow,
Middlesex, HA3 0PW, England.

The definitive guide to all the locomotives used in India until 1990, including makers' information, serial numbers, etc. Comprehensive details of steam locos used in former railways in India, including movements to and from India and final dispositions. (Was also available from Midland Counties and other UK booksellers.)

A Guide to the Diesel and Electric Locomotives of Indian Railways

Jal E Daboo, M.A
ISBN 1 901613 02 X

Comprehensive descriptions of and data on all IR diesel and electric locos, from the early designs of the 1920's until the late 1990's. Fifteen pages of diagrams, 36 photographs. Out of print.

Loco Profile 17: Jones Goods & Indian Locos

Brian Reed
1971, Profile Publications, Windsor, UK

Loco Profile 23: Darjeeling Tanks Brian Reed

1972, Profile Publications, Windsor, UK

Extensive information on the DHR and its locomotives. Photos, map, drawings.

Steam Locomotives in India, Part 1 - Narrow Gauge

Hugh Hughes and F. Jux
(Title on cover: Indian Narrow Gauge Railways)
1968??, Original edition published by Frank Jux, Richmond

Photos, tables, maps, descriptions, historical data, 39pp. See revised edition below.

Steam Locomotives in India, Part 1 - Narrow Gauge

Hugh Hughes and F. Jux (1980 revision)
1980, 2nd (revised) edition, Continental Railway Circle, Harrow

Photos, tables, maps, descriptions, historical data, pp. 39

Steam Locomotives in India, Part 2 - Narrow Gauge (1977)
Steam Locomotives in India, Part 3 - Broad Gauge (1979)

Hugh Hughes
1977, Continental Railway Circle, Harrow

Photos, tables, sketch maps, descriptions of locos

Garratt Locomotives of the World

A. E. Durrant
1987, Bracken Books, London

Renovation

Saibal Bose and Subhasis Ganguly
Subtitled: Revival of a Garratt locomotive
2007, South Eastern Railway, Kolkata
ISBN 9788175258266, 100pp

An account of the restoration of a 1926 Beyer-Peacock Garratt of the Bengal Nagpur Railway, along with historical accounts of Garratts in India and related material.

Indian Railways, Locomotives in Steam

R R Bhandari and the Rail Transport Museum
1981, Indian Railways/Rail Transport Museum (now National Railway Museum)
64pp., illustrations

Pacific Locomotive Committee 1938-39: Report

1939, Delhi

More on the XB Pacific class.

Indian Railways: Calcutta Electrification

The English Electric Company Ltd.
Subtitled: 3000V DC Locomotives Class EM/2 Operation
Date Unknown

Operations & Engineering

Line of Communication: Railway to the East

John Thomas

An account of the role of the railways in India in World War II, focusing on the activity in the east in facing off Japan in Burma.

Adapting Steam Locomotive Boilers to lower Grade Coal

(Article on Giesl ejectors for Indian Railways)
Dr Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen
Indian Railways (periodical), New Delhi, February 1961

Design for Ease of Application and Maintenance - The Giesl Ejector for Steam Locomotives

(Article on Giesl ejectors for Indian Railways)
The Indian Railways Workshop Magazine, May-July 1962
Dr Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen

Increasing Steam Locomotive Capacity

(Article on Giesl ejectors for Indian Railways)
Dr Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen
The Indian Railway Engineer (periodical), July-September 1963

Men May Come and Men May Go

Raj Kumar Jain
ISBN 81-241-0079-9, 1993, 305pp

The book describes historical incidents on IR, with focus on human elements and highlights the importance of research and technological upgrades for IR to effectively play its national and social roles.

Hints to Young Engineers employed on Indian Railways

A. Addis
154pp, 1910, E & F.N. Spon. London

Railway Operation
Advanced Railway Operation

Francis Da Costa
Publisher??

These two books above have operational details of IR.

A Textbook of Railway Engineering

S. C. Saxena and S. Arora
1st ed. 1973, then 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981 Dhanpat Rai and Sons, Delhi

Railway Track

K. F. Antia
1st ed. 1945, 2nd ed. 1949, 3rd ed. 1954, 4th ed. 1957, 5th ed. 1960,
progressively revised

New Book Co, Bombay

Railway Bridges and Tunnels

Vazirani and Chandola
(publisher?)

Railway Track (Practical)

Wheeler and D. S. Thakur
1988, Vernam & Co, Sahampur, U.P. (third, revised and enlarged edition)

Modern Railway Signalling (principles and practice)

M. K. Kaul
1983, Bahri Brothers, Delhi

Paper on the Bhore Ghaut Incline of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway

James John Berkley
Submitted to the Bombay Mechanics Institute
1858, 1863, The Education Society Press, Byculla

Railway Signalling in India Charles

William Hodson
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1909-1910, Part II
1909, Institution of Civil Engineers.

Railway Signalling: Theory and Practice

S T Dutton
(in the series "Lockwood's Manuals")
1928, Technical Press, London.

Indian signalling principles and practice described.

Economics, Policy, Organization

Transport Development in India

S. K. Srivastava
2nd ed. 286pp (revised & enlarged)
1956, Publishing House, Ghaziabad

Railways in Modern India

R Tivari
1941, Bombay

Indian Railways -- A Commercial Guide for Railwaymen and Rail Users

S C Halder
399pp, 2001, K K Lodha / Kamal Law House, 8/2 Kiran Shankar Ray Road, Calcutta

Commercial rules and procedures, information for commercial department staff.

Economics of Indian Rail Transport

J. Johnson
1960, Bombay

Remarks on the Indian Railways Reports published by the Government, and Reasons for a Change of Policy in India

John Dickinson (Chairman, Indian Reform Society)
1862, London, P. S. King

The Law relating to Railways in British India including the Indian Railways Act 1890 etc

Henry Edward Trevor
447pp, 1891, Reeve & Turner, London

Railway Policy in India

Horace Bell
pp vii 359
1894, Rivington Percival & Co, London

Recent Railway Policy in India

Horace Bell
reprinted from the Journal of the Society of Arts
1900, H & F Millard, London

State Management & Control of Railways in India : A Study of Railway Finance Rates and Policy During 1920-37

L. A. Natesan

496pp, University of Calcutta, 1946.

Indian Railways: A study in Public Utility Administration

Amba Prasad
435pp, 1960, Asia Publishing House, London & Bombay

Indian Railways

K. Saxena
1962, Bombay

Indian Railways, Problems & Prospects

R. N. Saxena

Four Decades of Indian Railways: 1950-1990

R. N. Saxena
ISBN 81-7188-059-2, 81-7188-058-4
1991, 2000, Academic Foundation

A study of the growth of IR in a socio-economic context.

An alternative approach to capital productivity and resource allocation on Indian Railways

K. B. Verma
ISBN 8171881106
1996, Academic Foundation

The Trade Union Movement in Indian Railways

Mahesh K. Mast
ISBN 084261379X
1969, Verry, Lawrence Incorporated

History of Railway Trade Union Movement, A Study

Nrisingha Chakrabarty
1985, Centre for Indian Trade Unions, New Delhi

Human resources management in Indian Railways

M. Gangadhara Rao
ISBN 8170490049
1986, Manas Publications

Cost Management: A case study of some aspects of Indian Railways

Prem Lal
ISBN 8185251010
1988, Anupama Publications

Econometric cost functions: A study of Indian Railways

Hari Om Varma
ISBN 8170410703
1988, Anmol Publications

Economics Of Alternative Fuel Technology In Railway Transport

Arti U. Nanavati
1989, New Delhi, Ajanta Books International

Management Of Indian Railways

S M Imamul Haque
1989, publisher unknown

Railway Management in India

G. Khosta
1975? publisher unknown

Railway Establishment Rules And Labour Laws 1999

B S Mainee
1999, 896pp, ISBN: 81-7274-299-1

Organization of IR, recruitment, training, pay policies, employment policies, etc.

Migration of British Capital to 1875

L. Jenks
1927, New York

Early plans for railways in India and the difficulties of financing them.

Investment in Empire : British Rail and Steam Shipping Enterprise in India, 1825-1849

Daniel Thorner and Mira Wilkins (Ed.)
1950, 1977, Ayer Company Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0405097239

The Hump Yard in India

H. W. Wagstaff
Calcutta, East Indian Railway Press (date?)

Notes on the hump yards based on compiled from data made available in the Railway Board's Office, and from visits paid to most of the more important hump yards in India.

Freight Yards, Terminals, and Trains: Indian Practice

S C Ghose
1925? Publisher unknown.

Railway Land Management - A Practical Approach

Rakesh Kumar
5 Aab Prakashan, Jalandhar

Transportation Technology of the Millennium

(Seminar Proceedings) 2001, Central Railway

Travelogues

Travels by a Lesser Line

Bill Aitken
1993, HarperCollins
ISBN 81-7223-086-9

Author spent two months travelling through 14 Indian states in a quest to find out whether it was possible to travel to all four corners of India by narrow gauge trains.

Exploring Indian Railways

Bill Aitken
1994, Oxford India Paperbacks / Oxford University Press
ISBN 0-19-56371-5, 0-19-5631-09-9

Interesting and amusing series of essays, travelogues, and reflections on all aspects of Indian Railways

Branch Line to Eternity

Bill Aitken

2001, Penguin

Author's travels on the branch lines (meter and narrow gauge) lines of the Southern and South Central railways (some since closed).

Great Railway Journeys of the World

BBC/ Sphere Books 1981

This book has essays and photos from the original series. The Indian chapter is " Deccan" by Brian Thompson.

Great Railway Journeys

collection, various authors
1994, BBC Books / Penguin Books
ISBN 0-14-024743-2

Has "Karachi to Khyber" by Mark Tully, in addition to other pieces.

Great Railway Bazaar: by train through Asia

Paul Theroux
1975, Houghton Mifflin, Boston
1976, Ballantine Books, New York
LC Card: 75009981
ISBN: 0395207088

Imperial Way : making tracks from Peshawar to Chittagong

Paul Theroux and Steve McCurry
1985, Hamilton, London
ISBN: 0241116686

A Gricer In India & Pakistan

K. Taylorson
1972, Published privately, London

Journey on a Perfect Little Train

Gavin Young
1977

In the anthology, "Worlds Apart: Travels in Peace and War". Description of steam-hauled trip on the Kangra Valley Rly.

Sunrise with Seamonsters : travels and discoveries 1964-1984

Paul Theroux
1985, Hamilton, London
ISBN: 0241115434

Travel and general essays, most of the book is not about India or IR, but it has the essay, "Tracks to Chittagong"

India By Road And Rail: Diary of an Overland Journey in Nehru's Time

Daniel Griffin
1996, published by author, Southbury, Connecticut, USA

A few descriptions of rail travel.

Jules Verne's Express

Werner Solch
1980, Alba Press, Dusseldorf

(German) About the Indian Mail route from the UK to India, with a long section on Indian railways.

Around India in 80 Trains

Monisha Rajesh
264pp, Roli Books (1 September 2012)
ISBN-10: 8174369139. ISBN-13: 978-8174369130

Chai, Chai

Bishwanath Ghosh
216pp, Tranquebar Press; First edition (16 September 2009)
ISBN-10: 9380032862. ISBN-13: 978-9380032863

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the tracks of 'The Great Railway Bazaar'

Paul Theroux
496pp, Penguin UK (28 May 2009)
ISBN-10: 0141015721. ISBN-13: 978-0141015729

Autobiographies and Biographies

Wheels of India

John Mitchell and A. M. William
1934, Thornton Butterworth, London
pp 319, plates

Autobiographical reminiscences of a Railway Official in India. Coverage of the Bengal Nagpur Rly.

A Soldier with Railways

Lt. Col. A. A. Mains
1994, Picton Publishing, Chippenham, England
ISBN 0-948251-70-0

Author's memoirs as officer in the 9th Gurkha regiment (1934-1953) in India, Iraq, Syria, and Burma between 1934 and 1953, with a focus on railway experience. Details of locos, rolling stock, and operations.

India's Railway Man: A Biography of E. Sreedharaan

Rajendra B. Aklekar
253pp, Rupa ISBN-10: 8129145219 ISBN-13: 978-8129145215

Photography Compilations

Indien, Ein Kaiserreich fur die Bahn

P C Bet, B Hollingsworth, and G Moorhouse
In German
1985?, Orell Fussli (Switzerland)

India - No Problem Sahib!

Peter Jordan, Richard Paget, David Charlesworth
1989, Three Counties Publishing

Great photographs of locos and trains covering all zones.

Rail across India: a photographic journey

by Paul C Pet, Geoffrey Moorhouse, and John Brian Hollingsworth
1985, 1986, Abbeville Press, New York; New Cavendish Books, London; Listre Press, New Delhi
220pp, over 140 plates: chiefly ill. (some col.); 35 cm
ISBN: 0896596524, 0904568709 (New Cavendish)

Steam: India's Last Steam Trains

Stephen Dupont
ISBN: 1899235272, published Nov. 1999

Beautiful black-and-white photographs of steam trains in India, with attention to the nitty-gritty details of life in loco sheds and workshops.

India's Disappearing Railways: A photographic journey

Angus McDonald

224pp . ISBN 1783130113, ISBN-13 978-1783130115
2014, Goodman-Fiell (Carlton Publishing Group)

Photo-essay on India's narrow gauge railways. The author lived and travelled in India for several years.

Steam Railways of the World
Steam Through Five Continents

Keith Strickland
1991, Allan Sutton (1st ed.)
1998, 1999, Wrens Park Publishing (republished)

Both contain several excellent black-and-white photographs of steam locos in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Relics of the Raj

C J Gammell
1985, G R Q Publications, London

Pictures of all sorts of exotic railways, NG, sugar railways, etc.

Whistling Steam - Romance of Indian Rails

Dileep Prakash
64pp., paperback, ISBN: 81-7436-187-1
2003, Roli Books

Photographs of Indian steam locomotives. Published in the 'Pocket Art Series'.

Steam in India

Hugh Hughes
1976, D Bradford Barton, Truro
ISBN 0-85153-258-6

Photographic album of Indian steam, with notes.

Tales of Asian Steam: The Last Decade

Cyrill Basler, Florian Schmidt, and Bernd Seiler
196pp, 271 colour pictures, English and German text
ISBN 3-88255-282-4
2001, Eisenbahn Kurier

Covers the middle East, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma, China, North Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The section on India is 34 pages long (35 photographs), the section on Pakistan is 16 pages long (17 photographs).

Indian Narrow Gauge Steam Remembered

Lawrence Marshall
272pp, maps, about 200 B&W and about 50 colour photographs
2001, Plateway Press, Norfolk, United Kingdom

Travels in India going back to 1970. Industrial NG railways, sugar railways, private railways.

Literature

The Penguin Book of Indian Railway Stories

Ed. Ruskin Bond
1994, Penguin Books India / South Asia Books
ISBN 0-14-024066-7

Railon ki Yatraen ('Rail Journeys'), in Hindi

Sushil Chandra
2002, Central Railway, Mumbai, India
No ISBN available

A compilation of Hindi poetry on the topic of railways.

The Koochpurwanaypore Swadeshi Railway

Joe Hookum (pseudonym, real name W H Deakon)
Around 1900, Thacker, Spink, and Co., Calcutta and Simla

Sepia drawings, paper covers. Humorous sketches on the state of the railways in India. Originally published for the GIP Railway Magazine. Title translates to "It-doesn't-matter city, home-made railway"; author's pseudonym translates to "At your service".

Jute-Waste : Indian Railway Rhymes

E B Chase
24mo, 47pp
1923, Erskine Macdonald, Ltd., London

The Boy Who Loved Trains

by Deepak Sapra
Pages: 256, paperback
Publisher: Readomania. Published in June 2018
ISBN-10: 9789385854644 ISBN-13: 978-9789385854644

The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories

by Ruskin Bond
Pages: 248. Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Random House India. Published in March 2016
Language: English. ISBN-10: 014011615X ISBN-13: 978-0140116151

The Great Train Journey

by Ruskin Bond
Pages: 136 pages. Paperback
Publisher: Rupa. Published in August 2018
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9353041511 ISBN-13: 978-9353041519

How the Railways Came to India

by Anuradha Kumar
Pages: 242. Paperback
Publisher: Curato LLP. Published in 2018
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8193947525 ISBN-13: 978-8193947524

The First Train

Anuradha Kumar
Pages: 218. Paperback
Publisher: Curato LLP. Published in 2019
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8193947568 ISBN-13: 978-8193947562

Travel Guides

South Indian Railway: Travel, Scenery, Sports, Health Resorts, Ancient Monuments & Temples in South India

1913 (?), South Indian Railway
41pp., incl. 30 pages of full-page photographs, map

Guide book of tourist sites and description of railway system.

South Indian Railway Co. : Illustrated Guide

Madras, Hoe & Co., Premier Press, 1921, pp. 248

Hints for travellers, routes, Hindu customs etc., and the Nilgiri railway.

The Traveller's Companion - Containing a Brief Description of Places of Pilgrimage and Important Towns in India

by Abdur Rasheed
Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1907. 275pp.

Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs, frontispiece map of the Indian Railway system, exhaustive description of the railways in India at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Indian Railway Travellers' Guide

The 'Bombay Gazette' Steam Press, Nov. 1891. pp. 224, Bombay

Containing the special time and fare tables of all the Indian railway companies, steam boats and dak companies, places of interest along the coast, postal and telegraphic information, the routes between the principal towns of Northern, Central, Southern, and Western India, etc., "corrected up to 30th June 1890"

India by Rail

by Royston Ellis
1st ed. 1989, 3rd ed. 1997
ISBN 1-898323-49-6
Bradt Travel Guides, Bradt Publications (UK) or The Globe Pequot Press (USA, 1997), or Hunter (USA, 1987 1st ed.)

Discover India by Rail

by Sandeep Silas
Sterling, India, 2001

Basic tourist information on 100+ destinations and rail tours with tips for rail travel. Covers most of the rail routes in India.

The Indian Railway Servant's Manual

by J. Hardless
Compendium of railway rules and procedures
1898, Calcutta

Through Rajputana to Delhi

by Carlton Stubbs
1907, Bombay Times Press, Bombay

An illustrated guide to the areas served by the BB&CI Rly. B&W photos.

Books for Children

There are several books on IR and trains in general by Varsha Seshan, Uday Singh Mina and Bipin Chobhe. Published by TC67 Simulation Systems and Services LLP, they feature Bholu, IR's mascot. They are available on online retail stores including Amazon.

Other Books

Dak Tikton Ka Safar

("The journey of railway stamps")

by A K Jhingron, ex-GM of Western Railway
In Hindi
Published by Western Railway, 2010

Treatise on postal stamps with a railway theme, with a catalogue of many rare and notable stamps.

The History Of The Railway Thieves In India
With illustrations and hints on detection

Rai Bahadur M Pauparao Naidu (M Paparau Nayadu), Madras Police
No. 1, The Criminal Tribes of India Series
ISBN: 81-85326-87-8
1915, Higginbothams Ltd., Madras, also republished

More books and media — atlases, maps, films etc.

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