There are many facts which we either forget or do not know at all, being unimportant. But a few of them are interesting. A few of them have been collected from pages of rail history for the web surfers' delight.

 

Railways (Rail Tracks)
     Most people think of the railways as being a new invention. But they started over 500 years ago, when very early versions of the railways were built in European mines.

     Wagons - called 'dogs' by the miners because of the noise they made - had a metal pin on the bottom, which fitted between two wooden planks. This meant the wagons could be guided through the mines along these planks. There were no engines, or even horses to push or pull the wagons along, though. The miners had to push them around themselves.
 
The First Railway
In 1604, the first railway in Britain was built, but it was called a wagonway then. It was made of wood, was only two miles long, and cost £166.

          Wooden railways spread throughout Great Britain, but during the 1700s and 1800s, people began making them out of iron. Iron railways could carry heavier loads - and the wagons were now pulled by horses instead of people.
The earliest railway in Britain was built between October 1603 and October 1604.
The steepest Cogwheel railway in the world is in Switzerland. It has a gradient of 48%.
The longest straight stretch of railway is in Australia. The part without any curves is 478 kilometres (301 miles) long. That  would take more than five hours to drive.

The heaviest train in the world was a freight train in Australia in 2001. It was 7.3 kilometres (4.6 miles) long and weighed 95,000 tonnes. That is as heavy as 2.8 million ten-year-olds or more than 27,000 elephants!

The fastest train in the world is the TGV in France. It is a similar train to the Eurostar which runs in the UK and across to France and Belgium. It can go at 515 kilometres (322 miles) an hour - four and a half times faster than a car on the motorway.
 
The longest possible journey on one train can be taken between Moscow and Vladivostok in Russia, on the Trans-Siberian Express. The journey is 9,297 kilometres (5,857 miles) long - which is ten times longer than Land's End to John O'Groats!

The largest station in the world is Grand Central in New York. It has 44 platforms.
The highest railway station in the world is at Condor in Bolivia. It is an altitude of 4,787 metres which is three and a half times higher than Britain's tallest mountain.
 

The only railway to go to the top of a volcano was built on Mount Vesuvius in Italy, in 1880.
 

THE FIRST TRAIN IN INDIA

        It is a well known fact that the First train in India ran on 16 th. April 1853 and we have been celebrating the day by observing Railway Week in India in the second week of April every year. But this is not factually correct. The actual things were a little different. On 18th. of February 1852 the first Steam Locomotive in India was seen shunting near the Byculla flats of Bombay. The scene of its daily shunting became a perfect fair for large crowds  of men , women and children. This Locomotive was later named "FALKLAND" after the then Governor of Bombay. On 18th. November 1852 the Company Directors  of Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company (GIPR), along with some of their friends travelled in the first Railway train from Bombay to Thana covering a distance of 21 miles in 45 minutes.14 months later on 16th. April 1853 the train which ran from Bombay to Thana "with 14 carriages and 400 guests amidst the loud applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns" made history ! The day was observed as a public holiday  for all government offices and banks.


Another fact that may delight is that the very next trip on 18th. April, 1853, the entire train was booked by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the second baronet for a pleasure trip for his family members and friends.
THE POOR FATE OF CALCUTTA

Calcutta could have had the legacy of being the first to run trains in India. But luck did not favour it. The reasons can be as under.

             1. Though the earliest Railway mania invaded Calcutta as early as 1845-46 and a project from Calcutta to Bhagawangola (Murshidabad) along the river hooghli was put forward in a colourful prospectus of a Company to be started with a capital of   1.500.000 pounds,  to be called Central Bengal Railway Company, but shortly afterwards the promoters and the money both  vanished !

            2. Mr. Ronald Macdonald Stephenson, the first Agent of East Indian Railway Company brought the company into being in  1844, but could not start the work till 1850, due to deadlock in getting permission from British Government in London. "The interval   was occupied with discussion, doubts, objections and their solution and removal" ( Red tape existed in white British also.)

            3. The ship bringing the first models of railway carriages, HMS Godwin sank at Sandheads.

            4. The ship bringing the first Locomotives was misdirected to Australia.

         5. Some problem with the French controlled Chandernagore area through which the trains were supposed to  run.

Here also the first train ran not on 15th. August 1854 but on 28th. June 1854 from Howrah to Pundooah for a trial run.
 
RAIL CARS

The idea of running buses on rail line took shape in Europe in early 20th century. These were called Rail Cars. You will find rail cars running in many places on IR for short distances all diesel driven. But the history is something else.

The first Broad Gauge Rail Car used in India was introduced in 1906 by Madras & Southern Marhatta  Railway . The cars were built by M/s Kitson & Co. of Leeds. This car had a Steam engine. Similar Steam Railcars were also used in Jharia Coalfields.

The first Narrow gauge railcar was used in Kalka-Simla  section of North Western Railway in 1911. This 4-wheeler car was used to carry mail and was petrol driven.

The Gaekwad Baroda State Railway was the first railway in the world to introduce diesel-electric rail cars in 1933.

A FEW LITTLE KNOWN FACTS 

1. Early carriages opened on the outside. Inward opening coaches were introduced only in 1909, probably because the hitting of open doors to permanent structures posed a problem.

2. The initial coaches were all four wheeler. 8-wheeler coaches were introduced in 1903.

    3. Initially the 8-wheeler coaches were 56' 10'' X 9'  . Later this was modified to 70' X 10' 8"

4. Initially trains were controlled by Locomotive brakes. later hand brakes were also introduced in coaches to be operated manually. Vacuum brakes  were  introduced in 1879. Now more effective air brake is in use.

5. Roller bearing axle boxes were introduced in 1930. 

6. Trains did not have electric lights for many years after inauguration of the first train. In India train lighting was first introduced not by big brothers GIP  and EIR but by a small state railway Jodhpur Railways.

7. It took 100 years for IR to provide ceiling fans in III class coaches only at the behest of the then Rly Minister Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1953.

8. Double decker coaches were first introduced in India in 1865 by Eastern Bengal Railway. Later withdrawn as there was delay in alighting and getting  in  causing detention to trains in other railways' territory.
         

THANK YOU FOR VISITING THIS PAGE.
There will be more such forgotten or little known stories on this page in future. Please repeat your visit often. 


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