My Story
The Rupsa-Baripada-Bangriposi Narrow Gauge line was started by the erstwhile ruler of Mayurbhanj, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo.
The first section of 52 km, from Rupsa to Baripada, was inaugurated by then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, Sir Andrew Fraser on 20th January, 1905.
Rupsa was the junction with the Bengal Nagpur Railway’s Broad Gauge line. An agreement was signed on 2nd December, 1918, between the Mayurbhanj State and Mayurbhanj Railway Company, for extending the line to Talband, 61.5 km away. This section was opened on 15th July, 1920, and the management of the entire section was handed over to M/s Hoare Miller & Co. of Calcutta.
To work the line, the Railway chose 20 ton 0-6-4 T locomotives, designated as ‘ML’ class. The first two of these (No-691, 692) were built by Kerr, Stuart and Company. Later in 1924, two more locomotives (No-693, 694) built by the same company were added.
The four dashing original locomotives have survived the day. PL 691 has been plinthed outside the Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai. PL 692 has been plinthed outside BNR Hotel (now Chanakya) at Puri. PL 693 has been plinthed on the Ramakrishna beach, Vishakhapatnam and PL 694 has been plinthed outside the Vishakhapatnam station. All of them are in fairly good shape.
This lice converted to broad-gauge in between 1996 and 2006
