100-year-old train wheels give historic touch to new Borivli station
The Borivli station has now got a piece of history to display. Three pairs of giant wheels of a steam engine have been placed right outside Borivli station by the Western Railway (WR).
The Borivli station has now got a piece of history to display.
Three pairs of giant wheels of a steam engine have been placed right outside Borivli station by the Western Railway (WR).
The more than 100-year-old wheels were rusting at railway yards and the Western Railway authorities have decided to put it to good use.
A five-feet-high silver metal wheel connected with a rod is on display outside Borivli (East) station, adjacent to the new station building. The wheels of this steam engine that used to run on metre gauge system, was bought from Mhow in Indore, which during British raj was a centrally located region.
“It was lying in a corner of a railway car shed after the body of the steam locomotive was sent to the scrap yard for dismantling and selling off at a price, which doesn’t really gauge the value of a heritage figure,” said a senior WR official, on condition of anonymity.
The WR authorities will also soon put up a information board about the wheels along with other details.
“We are planning to display machines of engines, trains and other equipment of heritage value at railway stations,” said S Chandrayan, chief PRO of Western Railway.
An artistic mural showing the important places of Borivli is also displayed behind the wheels. Smaller such artistic representations are displayed at ticket counters at stations like Bandra, Mahalaxmi and Borivli.
Both Western and Central Railways have a heritage gallery at Churchgate and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station buildings. However, it is closed most of the days and doesn’t seem to be attracting visitors as it is situated right on the main administrative buildings of Western and Central Railways. “The heritage gallery is in the main building and so only groups from schools and offices visit the gallery after taking appointment,” S Mudgerikar, chief PRO, CR.