Delhi Delights
Coming from the relative order and cleanliness of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, my first time in India - February 1974 - was something of a culture shock.
Having arrived in darkness in the early hours at Delhi Airport and clutching my baggage tightly, I negotiated the mass of humanity milling around the exit doors and hired a taxi into New Delhi. It was an Ambassador of course, better known in the UK as a Morris Oxford. The driver was a Sikh, but just as we were about to leave the front passenger door flew open and what looked like a bundle of rags jumped in - I never found out what he was doing, presumably just cadging a ride. We drove through the silent streets virtually devoid of other motor traffic - though I could see plenty of people sleeping on the pavements or just rising and starting their daily routine.
We drove into the centre of New Delhi and through the entrance gates of my hotel, the Oberoi Maidens*, the best hotel in these parts in Raj days, but now exhibiting a genteel, somewhat faded charm. After getting to my room, I slept well and late morning went in search of sustenance. It was a hot sunny day, so after food and drink in the hotel I decided to venture outside and wander round the corner to the business heart of New Delhi, Connaught Circus, the location of my workplace, giving myself a day to acclimatise before going into the office.
The sights, the sounds, the smells were all very vivid. The colourful saris, the beggers beseeching me for baksheesh, the man with no legs dodging the heavy traffic using his arms, another man dragging a huge block of ice along the road, secured with a dirty old rope wrapped round it, the street vendors selling all manner of spices, fruits, cloth, books, stationery and much else.
During my stay, I contacted Indian Railways requesting a permit to take photos and visit the loco depot at Delhi Junction. I received a prompt reply and presented myself at the railway offices. After bureaucratic formalities had been satisfied, I was introduced to a Railway Security Inspector who was deputed to accompany me on my shed visit.
Railways in India were, and still are, a huge undertaking. In 1974 the Delhi area was still very steamy, though electrification work was not far away. Diesels were also seen on some passenger and freight services.
I always found that as soon as I set foot in a railway station in India, I felt at home - with the trains, the signals, the platforms,albeit often extremely crowded and chaotic with folk waiting hours, probably days, for their trains, or just hanging around, not actually going anywhere. It all worked and in some ways felt like a refuge for a railway enthusiast with plenty of trains and train movements to observe.
There wasn't a broad gauge loco shed as such at Delhi Junction, just a yard by the station where locos congregated for servicing between turns. Only a few shunting locos were allocated here, all other engines were visitors.
On 16 March 1974, around 25 locos were present, with post-war WP Pacifics prominent in the pictures. The one on the left above displays a splash of green, while the two, above right, have red livery - each Division had its own colour scheme with red for the Northern Division which covered Delhi.
Different generations of loco face each other. A turn of the century class SGC 0-6-0 has had its side rods removed awaiting attention. Several of this class, built by Vulcan Foundry and North British Loco Co, were shunters at Delhi.
Here is the rarer type of standard post-war Pacific, a WL visiting from the Punjab; one arrived at Delhi on a passenger train from Firozpur every day. 15003 was built at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, in 1955. 104 WLs were built, contrasting with 755 WPs.
AWD and CWD 2-8-2s came to India from North American builders in World War Two and one is depicted here. AWDs were built in the USA, CWDs in Canada. They were used on freight and passenger workings, including heavy suburban trains in the greater Delhi area. ' N R ' on the tender denotes a Northern Railway allocated loco - in June 1977, the NR had 287 of these 2-8-2s.
An SGC receives attention in the shed yard, with the big steam crane hoisting its front end, while another of the class is used to position the crane. Another SGC trundles some carriages around the station area.
The SGCs shared station duties with WW class 0-6-2T, one is shown here. The WWs were intended to be one
of the post-war standard classes, but in the event only four were constructed and all were at Delhi Junction.
A standard WG 2-8-2 awaits departure with a local passenger with an SGC brewing up on the adjacent track. Although intended as freight locos, WGs were well used on stopping passengers, both local and long distance.
Two WPs, one very grubby, the other clean, ready to go. Some WPs had a regular crew who took pride in their engines; the driver's name was often shown on the cabside.
WG 2-8-2 10522 powers long suburban train no. 382 to Palwal along the Delhi chord line on 10 February 1974. Some of these workings were diesel hauled. 10522 was part of the last batch of WGs manufactured in the period 1968 to 1970, at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, so was just a few years old! No less than 2450 WGs were made,mostly in India, but the first, dating from 1950, were 90 from North British Loco Co and 10 from Vulcan Foundry.
Scenes on the main line from Delhi to Agra with another WG hauling a long heavy freight. The location is Hazrat Nizamuddin, which I believe has a large interchange station nowadays. At the same place a Northern Division WP steams out of the capital with an express working, train no.24 to Bombay, the Janata (People's) Express, on 24 February 1974.
Left: A local Shuttle service, 1DND, to Safdarjang, with a tender-first AWD or CWD 2-8-2. Above: Humayun's Tomb is a prominent monument at Hazrat Nizamuddin and literally overshadows a WG heading a freight to Delhi.
The metre gauge was also present in Delhi in the 1970s, with services to important places like Jaipur. Motive power was virtually all standard YP 4-6-2 and YG 2-8-2. 871 YPs were built, the last in 1970. There were 1074 YGs constructed between 1949 and 1972. At Delhi Sarai Rohilla loco shed were a few YL 2-6-2s in store.
2507, left, is a YP and is one of the first batch of 100 locos dating from 1952 built by the North British Loco Co, Glasgow.
Below left is a YG 2-8-2 on a local service.
Bottom left YP 2635 departs from a station in the Delhi area.
Below right YP 2794 approaches Delhi on an express from Ajmer which will terminate here.
One of the quirkier aspects of Indian Railways was the annual beauty contest - for steam locomotives! Here is a report which was published in the highly respectable 'Statesman' newspaper in November 1976.
Footnote * See website http://www.maidenshotel.com/our-heritage