Hill Railways of the Indian Subcontinent

Richard Wallace

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781785008092
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Rail Transportation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book describes seven branch lines which climbed into the mountain ranges that span the length and breadth of the countries of India and Pakistan. Some - like the Darjeeling Himalayan - are well known, but others - like the Zhob Valley, Khyber Pass and Kangra Valley lines - are less so. Several of these railways were also the last bastions of steam operation in the sub-continent. Unsurprisingly, as hill railways, most of them reached remarkable heights, many using ingenious feats of engineering to assist their climb into seemingly impenetrable terrain. These lines served diverse locations, each with its own characteristics, from the hostile territories of the North-West Frontier, along the spectacular foothills of the Himalayas, skirting the Western Ghats of the Deccan down to the gentle rolling landscape of the Nilgiris, or Blue Hills, of South India. The book gives the histories of the seven hill railways including summaries of their operations and routes. Maps and gradient charts for all seven railway lines are given as well as listings of the locomotives operating the hill railways.

CHAPTER 1

The Zhob Valley Railway

The narrow-gauge Zhob (Fort Sandeman) line was a later addition to the network of the North Western Railway (NWR) and built largely for military purposes, initially to extract chromite ore needed to satisfy the demands of munitions during the First World War. It was later extended to the remote outpost of Fort Sandeman, in the depths of Baluchistan, to support the garrison there, and eventually became known as the Zhob Valley Railway (ZVR) after the river that rises near Kan Mehtarzai and flows northeastwards, eventually joining the Indus. Fort Sandeman was named after Sir Robert Sandeman, governor-general of the area in the late nineteenth century when it was under British colonial rule. The line became the longest narrow-gauge line in the Indian subcontinent, stretching some 184 miles (296km) in length at its furthest extent, a record that is unlikely to be surpassed.

Fort Sandeman was based around the village settlement originally named Apozai but, at the wish of the Pakistani Prime Minister, renamed Zhob in 1976 after the river. A remote and dangerous area, its history is littered with repeated skirmishes between the British and local warlords, often ending in murder. Small wonder then that western rail enthusiasts rarely visited the line. However, a small number of hardy travellers made the trip before increasing political unrest along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border rendered this impossible without serious risk to life and limb.

An early photograph taken in the 1930s of one of the redoubtable G Class operating the ZVR. No. 73 is at Khanai, heading some chromite empties bound for Hindubagh. Compare the running plate and cylinders with those on the G/S No. 64 pictured later. W.H. KELLAND/BOURNEMOUTH RAILWAY CLUB TRUST

The known summit of the line at Kan Mehtarzai was first recorded as 7,221ft (2,201m) above sea level in timetables of the 1930s and 1940s, which qualified it as the highest station on the NWR, well above the summits of both the NWR’s Kangra Valley and the Kalka–Shimla lines and only just below that of the Darjeeling line’s summit at Ghum of 7,407ft (2,258m), the highest station in the Indian subcontinent. However, a photograph at Kan Mehtarzai from 1984 shows the height displayed at the station as 2,224m, which is around 7,298ft – over 70ft (21m) higher than originally recorded. Andrew Smith, who travelled the line in 1969, notes that the actual summit was not at Kan Mehtarzai station but a short distance west of it where the line crossed the main road and at a slightly higher level. This could explain the later change to 2,224m on the station building, reflecting the actual summit height a little further to the west.

The difference in height from Fort Sandeman to the summit is around 2,750ft (838m) although the overall length means that the average gradient is only around 1:90 on its main line so did not approach the steepness of the other three NWR hill lines, where the ruling gradients varied between 1:25 and 1:33. While the maximum gradient on the ZVR is recorded as 1:40, over the section between Khanai and Hindubagh, that on the longer chromite branch probably approached 1:32, but this climb would be for empties only.

The line was classified as a military railway by the Indian Railway Board due to the strategic importance of the garrison at Fort Sandeman, and its operating statistics came under the umbrella of the NWR so it never had a formal classification. However, statistics were published separately up until 1933–4, which show that the low level of gross earnings would have seen it as a Class III railway. The highest gross annual earnings recorded were in 1929–30 and these were only Rs4.6 lakh, equivalent to £34,590 (£2.2m at 2020 prices). The net figure for the same period showed a significant loss, reflecting the high costs of operating such a long line. The deficit was Rs –10.9 lakh, equating to around –£82,000 (–£5.2m today), a not inconsiderable sum. These figures exclude revenue from transporting the chromite ore and there is no mention of the chromite branch in Indian Railway Board statistical papers. Presumably the strategic military value of the ore meant that these figures were not publicized for security reasons.

History

Chromite ore had been mined in the area first known as Hindubagh at least from 1901, and camel trains were used to transfer the ore southwards to the nearest railhead at Khanai on the Sind Pishin State Railway (SPS), which had opened in 1887. This was the first through line to connect Baluchistan’s principal town of Quetta with the NWR’s main system down at Ruk Junction/Rohri on the Indus floodplain via Jacobad, Sibi and the Chappar Rift. A link via the Bolan Pass, which went direct to Quetta and not via Khanai, had opened a year earlier but involved an intermediate section of metre gauge; it would take at least another ten years before an alternative through route via the Bolan was devised, with completion believed to be in 1897. The Bolan route was not quite as prone to washouts as the SPS: the latter line would eventually be completely severed in 1942, impacting on the ZVR as shown later.

Once the SPS route closed, the only broad-gauge access to the ZVR was from Quetta on the lengthy line to Chaman. Having reversed into the station, HG/S No. 2189 takes water on a Chaman-bound mixed train. On the left is the ramp for unloading chromite ore surmounted by two narrow-gauge hoppers. The ZVR (and the former SPS) headed onwards from the broad-gauge platform towards the mountains in the background. ROBERT KINGSFORD-SMITH

Like Fort Sandeman, Hindubagh was also subject to a name change, the title Muslimbagh being adopted, reportedly during the 1960s, but Bradshaw’s ‘All India’ timetable of 1972 still shows the original name. Perhaps the name of the town itself had changed but the railway stubbornly conformed to the old identity to maintain tradition.

Chromite Mines – the Need for the Railway

The chromite mines near Hindubagh lie in the Zhob Valley between the mountains of the Toba Kakar range to the northwest and Sulaiman Range to the southeast, both of which are a southerly offshoot of the Hindu Kush, which eventually links into the Himalayas. These mines were some 50 miles (80km) or more from Khanai and the SPS and it would have been an arduous trek, especially as they would have had to climb 1,300ft (396m) in 16 miles (26km) to get over the watershed and summit at Kan Mehtarzai. The mines were worked by the Baluchistan Chrome Ore Company, which was established in 1902 and had lobbied hard for a rail link due to the slowness and limited capacity of the camel trains. Reportedly they threatened to close the mines unless such a link was forthcoming and so, at the request of the British government, work started in 1916 on a narrow-gauge (2ft 6in) line from Khanai to the mines, many of which were situated to the south, close to the village of Hindubagh.

With G Class No. 59 leading, banked by No. 52, the sole weekly Up train leaves Khanai and begins to tackle the climb to Kan Mehtarzai in 1984. ROBERT KINGSFORD-SMITH

Detailed maps show most mines served by the railway were located in the north-facing foothills of the Sulaiman range south of Hindubagh, and the line was constructed on a southeasterly alignment from there, extending some 14 miles (20.5km) and ending near a small settlement detailed as Zaromba – although the location was actually, and more accurately, described as ‘Mine 136’. According to records there was a junction approximately 6 miles (10km) beyond Hindubagh named Khatoka Junction, previously known as Gilzai Junction, where a shorter branch ran just over 2 miles (3.5km) southwestwards to serve, and terminate at, Mine 135.

Little else is known of any of these two lines, which, after passenger workings commenced on the initial main section between Khanai and Hindubagh, were, as far as is known, used exclusively for ore trains and never saw timetabled passenger trains. On the longer branch there were at least four other mines recorded as being served (in order, Nos 26, 27, 70 and 34) in addition to Mine 136, which was the end of the branch, just over 8½ miles (14km) from Khatoka. These other mines were situated between 1½ and 6 miles (2.5–10km) from Khatoka Junction. Research on these workings was by Simon Darvill for the Industrial Railway Society. Further research by the author has ascertained that the terminus at Mine 136, which was a good way up a narrow valley, was in all probability the highest point on the line at around 7,300ft (2,225m). The average gradient of this branch would have been around 1:32, but as workings against the grade would normally be empty ore hoppers, it is unlikely that trains would have needed assistance – assuming adequate braking was available for the loaded descent.

The ore discharge ramps at Bostan Junction with a couple of hopper wagons can be seen as G Class No. 74 brings its train from the sheds to the platform in 1983. GEORGE BAMBERY/ ROBERT KINGSFORD-SMITH COLLECTION

Rail operations are reported to have started on 3 September 1917. The whole line at the time was classified as an ‘assisted siding’ for the mining company and first known as the Khanai Hindubagh Railway (KHR). It appears that the trains were not operated by the mining company, as a small number of locomotives were transferred from both the Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) and the NWR’s own Kalka–Shimla line in 1917 specifically for the KHR. The KHR was eventually acquired by the State and absorbed into the NWR on 1 January 1921; it was probably run as a subsidiary operation from the start. Transhipment of the ore from narrow gauge to broad gauge would at first – before the closure of the SPS – have taken place at Khanai, by discharge from loading ramps, as was the eventual case at Bostan.

Opening for Passenger Traffic

Some reports state that the line opened in 1921, but this was presumably the formal opening for passenger traffic when it was acquired by the NWR. As noted, operations to and from the chromite mines started well before that time, in 1917, when the needs of the First World War still demanded munitions. This is also supported by Hugh Hughes’ book Indian Locomotives, Narrow Gauge 1863–1940, which places the transfer of the locomotives from the BNR and Kalka–Shimla to the KHR in 1917. The section of line from Khanai to Hindubagh was some 46 miles (74km) long, with the mines situated beyond the town on the aforementioned extensions. Once passenger operations commenced, the freight-only extension lines were soon relegated to branches off what was to become the principal route towards Fort Sandeman. There is no detail of these branches from Hindubagh to the chromite mines in the Indian Railways’ individual statistics published for the ZVR up to 1933–4; as mentioned above, their strategic military value probably resulted in suppression of details of th...