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Western Railway - Narrow Gauge |
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The Western Railway in the 1970s had more narrow gauge steam activity than any other. The majority were built for what became the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railways which was based on Dabhoi as its hub with a few other isolated branches off what was then the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway which actually operated the GBSR lines. All were 2ft 6in (762mm) gauge although the closed line between Ujain and Agar was 2ft 0in (610mm) gauge. At the time when most of the pictures here were taken, the Dabhoi trains were entirely operated by standard post Second World War ZB 2-6-2s, attractive locomotives but this meant that enthusiasts tended not to bother with the less heavily trafficked lines, especially as most were laid across flat open countryside. Fortunately, a number of non-standard locomotives were used for shunting in the Dabhoi area. The other outstanding types in this area were the W 0-6-2 (with WS and W1 variants) and WT 0-6-4T. The former also worked the 'Bhavnagar Tramway'. Two narrow gauge lines survived in the far west - the rest had been converted to metre gauge and these were worked by attractive 4-8-0s although the service frequency and unattractive countryside meant that only the most dedicated of narrow gauge enthusiasts got to see them. I have dug up pictures of most of the systems. Conspicuously missing are pictures of some of the Dabhoi branches and I would very much welcome offers from those visitors who went 'the extra mile' to complete the story. |
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