RailEnquiry

Bathinda:
The station superintendent's ante-room houses some of the rare photos of the Bathinda-Ambala division of the Railways. A treat for the engineers as well as the common man, the small gallery showcases 34 photographs, while a set of another 20 awaits a bigger room.The brainchild of a former area traffic manager (ATM), SP Bhatia, who is now posted as ATM (coaching) at Ferozepur, the gallery not only has photos of the Bathinda-Ambala division, but also an old railway chart mentioning the Delhi-Bathinda-Lahore route of the Punjab Mail.An interesting picture is that of a rail line that was especially laid in the bed of the present Sirhind Canal when it was being constructed in 1884. The 54-km railway line from Doraha to Nalagarh quarries was laid to transport material for construction of the canal but was closed soon after the work was completed.Other interesting photos include ice slabs being laid in the Frontier Mail at Bayana junction in 1932. "The ice slabs were laid under coaches and then fans were run in order to create AC-like cooling effect," said station superintendent Pradeep Sharma, who is looking after the gallery after Bhatia's transfer.There are also pictures of overloaded trains arriving from Pakistan at the time of India-Pakistan partition, elephants performing the shunting work of bogies, an undated picture of Mahatama Gandhi alighting at a railway station and others.
Sharma said there was an urgent need to conserve the Railways heritage that speaks the journey of technology in Indian Railways and the affiliation the railway men had with the engines they worked on. "I still remember that the last steam engine was phased out from Bathinda in 1996. A number of families in the railway colonies did not cook food that evening," he added.
Talking to TNS, SP Bhatia said the need of the hour was to conserve the history of each division of the Railways. "Last year, I discovered an abandoned weighbridge in the yard of the Bathinda railway station. It was constructed by the Hodgson and Stead, Manchester, England, and imported in 1906. Then, such weighbridges were not present at any other place in North India. Huge consignments were weighed on the weighbridge. It clearly implies that Bathinda was the hub of exports through which goods were sent from Delhi to Lahore and further," added Bhatia, who is an honorary member of the Road Rollers Association (RRA), England.Even the building of the railway station itself comprising different offices, dates back to the British era, he added.Bhatia said the Ambala division has been requested to provide some funds for expanding the gallery.Station superintendent Pradeep Sharma added that the photo gallery was open for the students who could visit the place during working hours."We want to popularise it so that children and grown-ups could know the glorious past of the Bathinda railway station," he added.
Tracking history : Bathinda was a busy trade hub for cotton and grain producers from where the produce was sent to KarachiThe Ferozepur-Bathinda-Delhi railway line was commissioned in 1897. A train running on the track followed the route of Delhi-Bathinda-Hindumal Kot-Bahawal Nagar-Sama Satta-Karachi.The Rajpura-Bathinda line was commissioned in 1889. It was financed by the Maharaja of Patiala.