101th BLOG POST -->>
Thanks
Parveen Kumar Sahrawat
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| Heritage Steam Engine Azad |
Heritage Steam Engine
Azad... This was 3rd meeting to this Engine at two different places. As it was brought to India
in 1947, the year of independence, it was named AZAD. A commemorative run of iconic steam engine WP-7200 popularly known as
Azad, Steam powered locomotives were Indian Railways’ go to option in the 60s
and 70s before diesel and electric variants were introduced. A total of 755
steam engines of the WP class were built for the Railways between 1947 and 1967
and designed specially to feed on Indian coal varieties. In world Steam Engine is known as the king of
inventions.... First meeting was at New Delhi during 63 rd railway week exhibition.
Watched all inside function... Yet I've watched Coal furnace in movies and now
checked it. In summer day’s not easy to operate. When I was curious to know
about furnace then Train Operator opened once. Now the ride is open to public and the charges are nominal at Rs 10.
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| Inside Operating Function Of Engine |
Indian Railways ran its first passenger train
on 16th April, 1853, between Bombay (Bori Bunder) and Thane, a remarkable day
in the history of the nation heralding the dawn of speedy long distance
locomotion in the country. Over time by linking major cities and far-flung
locations through the challenging hilly terrain and adverse climatic
conditions, the Railways created its own metaphor of existence and rapidly
evolved as a mass transportation mode of men and material and earned the
distinction of the “Lifeline of the Nation”. Once the mode of haulage over
Indian Railways the Steam Engines were slowly phased out and replaced by Diesel
and Electric locomotives. It is a matter of pride that some steam engines still
run on the 5 spectacular Hill Railways.
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| Small Video Of Heritage Steam Engine Azad |
In the late 1920s, after
years of manufacturing non-standardized and British standard locomotive
designs, the Indian Railways came up with their own set of design specifications. These
Indian Railway Standard or IRS designs were made post World War I, for the
Indian Government by British consulting engineers.
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| Coal Furnace for Heat |
The classifications were
done as follows - X and W class (for broad gauge locomotives), Y class (for
meter gauge), Z and N class (for narrow gauge). Of these, all broad gauge locos
have been completely withdrawn from service, with the exception of steam
specials like Angadh, Akbar, and Azad, currently housed at Rewari Heritage
Steam Loco Shed.
In the mid 1940s, after World War II, upon
experiencing a shortage of locomotives in the system, Baldwin Locomotive
Works (BLW), Philadelphia, USA, was awarded the task of building the first
sixteen prototype WP class locomotives. These were numbered from 7200 to 7215
and went to Great Indian Peninsular Railway, Bombay Baroda & Central India
Railway and East Indian Railway. The initial locos were called WP/P, the extra
P indicating prototype. After being taken off service in May 1987, it received
a full overhaul at the Amritsar Railway Workshop in April 2015.
With the British manufacturing works diverted
towards the war, American manufacturers got headway in the locomotive market in
India. It was well suited as the American designs were not only lighter and faster,
but also this class was specifically designed for the low-calorie, high ash
Indian Coal. The WP design hence marked a new era of locomotives, marking the
change from X to W as classification code. As opposed to bulky, British models,
the WPs were a much lighter and faster class of locomotives. All WP class
locomotives can be easily recognised by their standard cone-shaped bulging
nose, usually with a silver star painted on it. The
American WP locomotives were made on bar frames instead of the plate frames
used by the British manufacturers. This reduced the weight of the locomotive
considerably.
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| WP-7200 Class |
It is believed that WP-7200
was the first WP class of engine that was handed over to Indian Railways, on
the 15th of August 1947, India's Independence Day, inspiring them to name the
locomotive Azad.
On 15th September 2018, Azad also became the
chosen locomotive to run the first ever time tabled, weekly steam service
between Farukh Nagar and Gadi Harsaru, in Haryana. It had been a long standing
demand of the people of Farukhnagar to have a train service on Sunday. Using a
steam engine for this service is an attempt to fulfil not only that demand but
also boost tourism related activities and attract steam enthusiasts from all
over the world to visit these places.
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| Coal Storage |
A railway worker shovels coal into the grate. The giant engine
has a capacity to hold around 25,000 litre of water and 15 tons of coal and can
run at a speed of 100 kmph.
It will be the first time in nearly 25 years,
since the last steam engine ran on the Indian Railways that such a weekly
service in steam is being made available. For Azad, this will be a new lease of
life since being withdrawn from service 30 years ago, in May 1987. The locomotive has been restored to its pristine
beauty and mechanical engineering perfections. This locomotive can run
up to 60 miles per hours. Now major repair works have been done to revive the
locomotive and shall be run on mainline. Its
revival has been carried out at Heritage Steam Shed in Rewari in keeping with
the insistence of the minister for Railways, Piyush Goyal, in reviving tourism
and preserving railway heritage,” said Arun Arora, the principal chief
mechanical engineer of Northern Railway.
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| Wheel Arrangement with Hollow Space |
It is a typical British
design, easily distinguishable because of its heavy plate frame, on which all
the other running parts are bolted. This makes the structure, bulky and quite
slow. Another significant design element of this locomotive is the wheels. They
are solid, heavy with bulky spokes. This again, adds to the overall weight of
the locomotive. They have a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. The wheels were made of
two plates joined at the edges, leaving a hollow space between, making the
wheels lighter than those in the British models. Some rail enthusiasts also
prefer its softer visual aesthetics over the others.
Azad in particular has even appeared in various movies, one
of them being Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti, Guru and Rifle man Jaswant Singh
Rawat.
See more pics on following link https://www.instagram.com/p/BpCXEtZj2VY/
Parveen Kumar Sahrawat
