Masjid Bunder station success

Again this post is due to Rajendra Aklekar, who is always ready to swoop down and report on any heritage and preservation activities going on around town. Many thanks Raj, for a top quality report !!
.
The gas lamp you see in the previous post is not the only thing preserved after Masjid Bunder bridge was demolished. By the way, Masjid Bunder is a small suburban station a few kilometers away from Bombay VT on the ex-GIP line.  Says Rajendra: "The final demolition of the Masjid road over-bridge took place in 2009. But the plaques that you see in the pic and an old cast iron gas lamp (see post below) with vivid carvings has been saved from the hammer and may be seen in the museum at Mumbai CST. The Central Railway has been considerate to take efforts of not touching these precious things. Thanks to the chief public relations officer Shriniwas Mudgerikar, who got it done. The road over-bridge at Masjid was built in 1857, when the Indian Mutiny was on, and completed in 1867, ten years later. The booking office had come up later in 1924."
.
Picture and report courtesy of Rajendra Aklekar

Aladdin and the lamp


What is common between Aladdin and an archaeologist? Nothing much except that if you are a railway archaeologist, as Raj is, you are going to come up with an interesting assortment of mechanical gadgets dug up during the course of research, maybe even an antique brass lamp that cast its orange warmth on a station master’s desk a century ago.

.

It would be superfluous to introduce Shri Rajendra Aklekar here. He is already known to readers of this website. Besides being a Special Correspondent with the Hindustan Times, he is a steam train enthusiast, a DHR fan, and a railway archaeologist who has done the impossible task of trudging all the way along Bombay’s rail tracks researching station buildings and trackside looking for artefacts of a bygone age left behind by those two giants of old—the GIP and the BBCI Railways.

.

If there is anyone here who secretly feels this is a silly preoccupation, he needs to think again before forming an opinion. Rajendra has come up with some extraordinary discoveries; his findings along the BBCI route have been published in a supplement of Shri Anoop Jhingron’s Western Railway: Heritage, Traditions and Legend. And that’s no mean feat.

.

The pictures you see here show an antique lamp discovered by Raj at Masjid Bunder station, which now is now on display in the musuem at Bombay VT station. See the close-up below : this lamp was manufactured as far back as in 1857 by Turner & Allen of London.
.
Pictures courtesy of Rajendra Aklekar

A tete-a-tete (Contd)

IT APPEARS DR. DAMANIA LOVES TRAINS as much as any rail enthusiast, and in Rajendra Aklekar he has found a friend with whom he can share his views and receive good natured feedback, comments, hints and tips. Some days back Raj sent him a picture of the Bhor Ghat Reversing Station hoping to receive a comment, and here is what the doctor said in his reply dated 25 October 2010:

Hello Rajendra,
The reversing photo is great. Thanks. Here is what I know from my dad who had actually seen the "reversing" being operated during the days of steam traction from 1860s up to 1928. I have myself never seen it being operated as it was discontinued around 1928-29 when electric traction was introduced and a new tunnel (the last one in the ghats before Khandala Station) was constructed by the Tatas.

When the construction of the Bhor Ghat was undertaken under the supervision of James Berkley with over 40,000 labourers all went well until they came to the last section where they encountered a sheer block of granite mountain just under Khandala west of the Duke's Nose. The normal practice, as was the case with the Matheran narrow gauge railway, was to go around the mountain in increasing gradient in circles till the height is reached. But in this case the GIP engineers discovered that there was no place to lay the tracks in circles around the mountain (there was a sheer drop below the Duke's Nose). Since they did not have the equipment or the time to blast a long tunnel through solid granite rock, they came up with a ingenious "reversing" method that would enable a train to ascend the gradient to reach Khandala.

The trick was, that instead of going around the mountain, the reversing tracks were laid out in a Z-manner so that the train gained height by going to and fro in a Z-pattern gaining height with each arm of the Z. That is what you see in the photograph that you sent me.

The train would be pulled by two steam engines in the front and a bunker at the rear. Then the train would be pushed up in the "reverse" direction until the tracks ran out, and then finally once again in the forward mode till they had reached the height just below Khandala. There two short tunnels were constructed and the train arrived at Khandala at the point where was the main bazaar. All that changed when the Tata Construction Co. (a plaque is embedded in the rock at the start of the tunnel No. 25/ 26) managed to bore a tunnel with gradual gradient that resulted in bringing the tracks just outside the Khandala station. The two short tunnels that had been used with the "reversing" procedure were abandoned and the last time I went down (around late 50s) from Khandala bazaar and walked on what were the previous rail tracks (there were no tracks only flat piece of 'road') towards the two tunnels there were trees and bushed growing all around but the two tunnels were still very much there and it was rather eerie walking through them. Later, when the traffic increased, the Bombay-Pune highway passed through the same tunnels in the upwards direction (one way) and the old Bombay-Pune road up to the reversing was used for the descend only (one way). Recently with the completion of the Bombay-Pune highway the old Bombay-Pune road from the reversing up to Khandala may have fallen in to disuse. May be the two short tunnels below Khandala are still there?

The photograph above shows a steam engine pulling a goods train up the ghats at Khandala Station of the GIP Railway. The photo was taken by my father Mr B. M. Damania in 1915.

ARDESHIR DAMANIA

And here is Shri Aklekar's reply to the doctor’s question:
Sir,
Yes. the tunnels are still there. The reversing station was pulled down to build the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. I had complained and expressed anguish with the railway ministry, but nothing came out of it and the reversing station was demolished.
I may have some pics of the place taken by my friends. Shall try and find them for you.
Regards
Raj
---------------------------------------
For rail heritage enthusiasts, here is yet another surprise from the collection of Dr. Damania , a grand sweeping view of the Bombay Poona Bhore Ghat under construction during 1863-64. This picture is like a window to the past ; I can almost imagine myself standing on the nearby hillock watching the workmen busy all through the day digging and shifting loads of earth from one place to the other, and engineers busy supervising the work with their theodolites and other instruments. When you pass this way again by train, it is good to have this picture in mind... just imagine the sheer manpower needed and the time spent in building a rail link over the Bhore Ghat ... all thanks to the good doctor for sending along this priceless jewel !!

Another interesting bit sent in by Dr. Damania telling us how the railway first came to Bangalore :  We are told that a dedicated Magneto phone was in use on stations in those days without a number dialling facility on it. It would be great if any such phone could be found lurking around in some museum or railway heritage gallery ; if anyone comes upon such a thing, do tell us about it. And now over to Dr Damania . . .

Bangalore’s first train had a steam engine for its loco, and ran between Cantonment station and Jolarpettai in what is now Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, beginning 1864. The first train was called Bangalore Mail and was run by Madras Railway, one of the dozen or so companies incorporated to develop a railway network in British India.

The city’s first railway link to the outside world was a meter gauge line and 149 kms long. Cantonment station, where one end of the link lay, had two platforms on either side.

The backbone of the service was not only the narrow gauge line but also the non-dialling Magneto phone for communication between stations. A dedicated line of sorts, the phone was widely used by the railways in those days and had neither a dial nor a number pad. If a user at one end rotated the handle, it would ring at the other end.

The Cantonment—Jolarpettai railway line was extended to Bangalore City station 18 years later. The earliest route catered to by the City station was Bangalore Mysore. While the Cantonment—City link was serviced by Madras Railway, the other services from the City station were operated by the Mysore State Railway. Two years later, in 1884, Bangalore City—Tumkur—Gubbi services began operating and in 1889, the line was extended upto Harihar.

Dr. A. B. Damania

A tete-a-tete between two heritage enthusiasts

Hi folks, you may not know it but Shri Rajendra Aklekar has been in correspondence with Dr Ardeshir Damania over the past one week over the subject of Bombay Railway history, providing pictures, notes, and useful bits of information. Raj is a tough guy to crack when it comes to railway matters, and runs an amazing site on Bombay’s Rail History. Railway heritage, like me, is his life. Once I said to him: “Raj, all this correspondence between you and Dr. Damania is getting so very interesting—keep it up, and do send me copies”.
.
Just scroll down to the post below. Here at the bottom you will find a picture sent in by Dr. Damania showing a 1930 shot of the Dharavi Receiving Station of the Tata Power Company Limited.
.
Raj was as excited over this picture as I was. On 23 October he wrote to me with a copy to Dr. Damania: “The siding between Sion and Matunga still exists. Will go there today and take a pic and mail it to you. There's a small substation just below the point where the harbour line crosses the main line on CR. And there is a BG line going in there. The crossovers have now been removed, but the tracks exists, all covered with bushes. The loco used to enter this small garage like substation. Shall get pics. –Rajendra.”
.
Raj is a perfect gentleman and when he promises you a thing, he keeps his word. I am reproducing two of the pictures he’s sent us. The first picture on the left shows the exact gate/iron fence where the siding used to enter the garage-like substation. All these pics were taken from a fast train moving towards Matunga station. The picture below shows the old sidings as they continue towards Matunga station. The small patch of white painted wall seen behind the middle OHE mast stands at the site where the rail link used to enter the Matunga workshop. Many thanks Raj for this bit of quick research.
.
Copies of these pictures were also sent to Dr. Damania and this is what the good doctor said in reply:
.
YES RAJENDRA, THE TATA POWER siding started just after the point where the Harbor line crosses over the GIP (CR) main line. The siding tracks entered the Tata Power Company Receiving station through a metal gate. The gate may not exist today but there may be a wall. The tracks if any would be rusted and covered with bushes. The level crossing on the Matunga side of the GIP/Harbour crossover point does not exist now and has been walled over. My father and I would wait for the level crossing to open for sometimes half an hour if it was a busy time. The level crossing used to be operated manually through a key system. There were two large "keys" as big as the palm of a hand. There was a very small "kholi" or cabin where both keys (one of each level crossing gate) had to be inserted for the signal to change to green on eitheir side of the level crossing. Similarly, the keys would only be released from the "lock" AFTER the signal had changed to red on both sides (up and down lines) for the gateman to pull them out of the lock and with each key in hand run to open the level crossing gates on either sides.
.
For many many years the man who operated the gates had only one leg, having lost the other leg during a shunting accident. Any railway yard employee who would lose a leg was given a level-crossing keeping job. There were many accidents during shunting of goods wagon at the railway yards like Wadala, Kurla, etc. as the shunting engine would push/pull before the man who was detaching or attaching a wagon had time to move out from between the wagons. Victims of such accidents were kept employed by the railways. The man at this Dharavi level crossing ran with one wooden leg from one gate to another across 4 track lines to open the gate, giving a stiff salute to my father as we drove across in our big black car (1930s to 1959). Then a bell would start ringing and the gateman would start to close one gate at a time and lock them. Only AFTER he had removed the keys from the gates and re-inserted them in to the lock in the cabin would signals on both sides turn to green/yellow. This fail safe system designed by the British prevented from any accident happening on the level crossing. Most of the leveling crossings with gates were manned by gatemen with only one good leg, the other would be a wooden one!
.
A. B. Damania

-----------------------------------------------

Pictures Courtesy of Rajendra Aklekar

Dr Damania on Bombay's Rail History

Dr Damania, a research scientist who was earlier with the UN, has an abiding interest in history which is evident from his posts here on this site (scroll down below to read his writings). Here are a few more nuggets on Bombay’s railway history from the boffin's prized collection. Many many thanks Doctor, and we look forward to having more such exciting pictures and material on the railways from you. Cheers!!
------------------------------------------------
SOME OF MY FATHER’S RELATIVES and my uncle worked for the railways in the 1930s and 40s. In the 1830s and 40s the railways were well established in England and they tried to do the same for Bombay. Poona being the cultural capital even at that time and a good hill station with a nice climate for the gora sahibs attempts were made to build a railway Bombay-Poona first. But the sheer wall of the western ghats made it a daunting task which the equipment available then could not surmount in the beginning. Steam power (even with 3 engines) was barely able to pull a train in the early days and instances of the train rolling backwards were common. My father (1893-1982) who had actually seen steam engines pulling the train up the ghats told me that the locomotives strained very hard (with very thick black smoke) and their heavy puffing made a sound which he narrated to me in Marathi "Ghata saathi, pota saathi, Khandala cha ghata saathi". He would repeat this 3-5 times in quick succession to make me understand how difficult it was for the steam engines to pull the train up the ghats even though there was reversing which he had also seen being used and would tell me how it all worked when we went each time by car below the viaduct before the last climb to Khandala on the old Bombay-Poona road.
.
The Punjab Mail in 1930
.
This is a picture of the Punjab Mail (1930) at halt due to some reason at a small station with platform only for stopping at all stations trains. The Punjab Mail is on the fast track going out of Bombay I think. This is definitely GIP railway and the electric masts are of the same type as the railway inspection photo below.
.
Dadar Station with Steam Local Trains, 1923
.
This is a 1923 photo of the BB&CI railway Dadar Station (the area on the west side of the station is still called "BB Dadar"). Notice that the local trains are being pulled by steam engines. There are no electric traction masts. This was at a time when there were no houses north of Dadar. It was all vacant land with targola and mango trees and infested with monkeys!
.
The photo is taken from the South side of the station. The newly constructed "Tilak Bridge" can be seen faintly in the background. Lokmanya Gangadhar Tilak Bridge is the oldest railway bridge in Mumbai. The amazing thing about this bridge is that it is made of only hard granite rock and hard English steel. The bridge is very important as it connects the east side to the west side of the city at a critical junction.
.
Rail Inspection Pictures
.
To the right are a couple of old photos of rail inspection, (1) during 1895, the earliest days, and (2) during the 1930s, between Matunga and Sion stations on GIP railway. About the second picture, we can’t be sure, it could have been taken beyond Bandra on the BB&CI railway, and not on the GIP. The targola trees always grow in the interior and not close to the sea, so I am thinking that the photo is beyond Bandra, perhaps somewhere around Goregaon.
.
Arial Picture of the 1930s
.
I have a picture of the Receiving Station of the Tata Power Company Ltd, Dharavi, of which my father was the Superintendent (he also held a pilot's license and was simultaneously also the Secretary of the Bombay Flying Club and hence his access to aircrafts). The rail lines just happened to be in the picture because they run very close to the Power Station (there were no slums at that time and Dharavi was just an extension of Matunga). The Power Station had a railway siding too. Whenever a wagon containing machinery or cables for the Power Station was to be delivered, a small shunting engine would bring the wagon and place it on the siding outside the gates. The engine would depart quickly because it would be holding up the up and down lines between Matunga and Sion stations. After that my father would order that the wagon be hand-pushed in to the Power Station. For this about 30-40 labourers would be hired. They would sing in unison so that all of them push the heavy 22 tons railway wagon in to the Power Station. I can still remember their cries and the strain their poor thin bodies had to be put to move the wagon inch by inch. As a young boy I felt very sorry for them as they sweated in the hot sun their bodies glistening. After the wagon was unloaded inside the Power Station, they would have to push it back outside the gates the same or next day (to avoid paying penalties to the railway) and wait for an engine to come and take it away. Sometimes the empty wagon would lie there for days, but outside the gate. The GIP or CR workshop was just next door and so finding an engine was never a problem, but once the wagon had left the Power Station's premises and the gates were shut it was the railways responsibility to take away the wagon. I wonder if the siding still exists? It was just after the level-crossing (which has now been canceled) on Bhaudaji Road. The Harbor line passes across on the top.
.
Notice there are no slums on the left or the right except some government barracks. Also note that the GIP railway line had just been electrified. Also notice on the right a railway siding, between the targola trees, where a railway goods wagon would be hand pushed right up to the workshop on the extreme left by 30-40 labourers.
.
Dr Ardeshir B Damania
-------------------------------------------------
Photo credits : Mr B M Damania, L.E.E. (engineer, aviator, entrepreneur, adventurer, and businessman - born 1893, died 1982).

VIictoria Terminus in 3-dimensions

Here is a stereoscopic picture of Bombay Victoria Terminus, taken in around 1903 by James Ricalton. Stereoscopic pictures are taken with a special camera which makes two exposures of a scene simultaneously with lenses separated by a distance equal to the average inter-ocular distance of the human eye, and a special type of viewer incorporating lenses or mirrors is required to fuse these images into a 3-D representation.

.

By the way, have you read the Noticeboard on the sidebar of this website? This is a new feature we are incorporating, and will feature news announcements, information about forthcoming posts and other notifications.

.

Picture courtesy: http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/