CHENNAI: The loud, distinctive whistle of a steam engine is not familiar to many today. Showing young India, the rich railway heritage of our country, and giving the older generation a chance to reminisce about the good old days, the world’s oldest steam locomotive took a heritage run on Monday.The Southern Railways (SR) ran EIR 21, a 156-yearold steam locomotive, which was brought to India by the British. It started off at Chennai Egmore Railway Station, and went up to Guindy. Decked with flower garlands, streamers and the national flag, with billows of smoke eddying up from the smoke stack, the locomotive lent an old world charm to the train station.The train also halted at Kodambakkam station for around 20 minutes, to ensure that the engine was watered well and was not experiencing any strain or other problems. The halt also gave the public the benefit of seeing one of the biggest restoration works undertaken at the Loco Works, Perambur.The engine was decommissioned in 1909 and was placed in the museum at Jamalpur. It was brought to Loco Works in 2010, and restored in time for last year’s Independence Day. Senior PRO of Southern Railways, M Boopathy said, “Last year, the locomotive had some pulling problems but this year we have fixed it, and increased the power.” The train had run from Chennai Central to Avadi last year. As it had run a longer distance, a few technical glitches were observed.Speaking to City Express, MA Inbarasu, workshop manager of Loco Works, said that the boilers had been technically improved, and its efficiency level was increased. “The actual capacity of the engine is 130 HP. So as not to overload it, only one coach was added. We conducted numerous trials from August 2 and sorted out all the problems we experienced last time,” he said.The coach also had a 5000-litre tank, extra coal, a diesel generator for powering the split ACs in the coach and an air brake with twin pipe systems in addition to the mechanical hand brake. Conventional speedometers do not register speeds less than 30 kph.So, a GPS speedometer has been installed. A wireless video monitoring system enables those in the coach to view what goes on in the engine.When asked if the engine is capable of making weekly runs in its present condition, Inbarasu said, “It is possible to do so, because we have upgraded its condition to that extent. But the priorities of the loco works and railways are different, and we should see if the public would respond favourably to such an option.” The primary function of the workshop is to repair and look after currently running coaches, and the restoration project was a unique project that they had taken on, he added.Public at the station were thrilled to have the opportunity to see the engine, as were the children present.Many stood around clicking pictures and marvelling at the restoration done.
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