It was good reading about dedicating a locomotive engine each to the two bravehearts of the Indian Army ("Trains for living legends,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 21-April 6, 2025).
The tradition of dedicating railway engines was started by the British government. However, while such dedication was done with great pomp and ceremony, little attention was given to the fact that these engines would one day become old and inefficient for normal train pulling.
The locomotive engine dedicated to Sir Roger Lumley Photo: Wikipedia
During my school days I once saw a very old electric locomotive engine at Dadar Station with long bonnets at both ends. Having become useless at pulling passenger trains or even pushing trains up the ghats as a banker engine, it had been assigned the duty of pulling the garbage goods train from Mahalaxmi. As the train passed the platform, people covered their noses with their handkerchiefs to escape the stink. Incidentally, this engine was dedicated to Sir Roger Lumley, who was at one time the governor of Bombay, and bore his name!
GAYOMARD M. KATHAWALLA
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