Berhampur: A replica of the vintage rail engine of the ‘Parlakimidi Light Railway’ (PLR) was mounted on a pedestal at Paralakhemundi railway station in Odisha’s Gajapati district as part of the redevelopment project on Sunday.
The original 20-ton 0-6-0 tank locomotive with small (27-inch diameter) coupled wheels and an axle load of 4.75 ton and all India number PL 691 built by ‘Kerr Stuart’ is plinthed outside Southern Railway headquarters Chennai.
During the SER centenary celebrations in 1987, a set of four postage stamps were released and one of the stamps featured the PL 691 locomotive. It has now become a centre of attraction for visitors and the local residents, most of whom serve it as a popular selfie point. Railway officials said the replica of the vintage steam engine put on display was manufactured by Waltair Workshop.
“Though it is a replica of a vintage PLR loco, we hope that the original engine will come to Paralakhemundi during the opening of a PLR-based Rail Museum at Paralakhemundi,” said Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, a member of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Odisha Charter.
Adhikari along with Anil Dhir, Deepak Kumar Nayak and Conservation Architect Satyam Jyoti had submitted a report on the locomotive to the Indian Railways in May last year.
Maharaja Goura Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deb of Paralakhemundi, who introduced first privately managed Railway in Odisha, had laid the narrow-gauge railway line from Naupada to Paralakhemundi of 40 km distance in 1898-99. His son and the first Premier of Odisha Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati extended the line from Paralakhemundi to Gunupur (51 km) in two phases in 1929 and 1931.
The Naupada-Paralakhemundi gauge line of PLR opened on April 1, 1900. Paralakhemundi was under a single ruler till 1607 and came under British rule in 1768.
Seven of the original locomotives are lying scattered across India which have no relevance with Paralakhemundi. While PL 691 has been kept in Chennai, PL 692 has been plinthed outside BNR hotel Puri. PL 693 is on Ramakrishna beach in Visakhapatnam, PL 694 is outside Visakhapatnam station and PL 697 outside DRM office, Visakhapatnam.
These engines used to take about 6 to 7 hours to haul the distance of 90 km with 3 bogies. The maximum speed was about 30 km per hour.
INTACH Odisha had earlier urged the Railways for heritage tag to Paralakhemundi railway station. At least original heritage locomotives of the PLR should be brought back and properly plinthed at the Paralakhemundi Heritage Railway Station, INTACH opined.
