The Barsi Light Railway

 

 

 The Barsi Light Railway between Latur and Miraj in Maharashtra was a pre-independence private company.) And set up a private company with a share capital of Rs. 7,014,477. The company's office was permanently located at Winchester House, Broad street, London. The Narrow-Gauge Railway, 2 feet 6 inches wide, was started on March 1, 1897, just 9 feet wide along Kurduwadi Barshi Road. The company's India office was initially located in Barshi and later in Kurduwadi. A. L. Alexander was appointed chief manager and agent. The duo of Alexander and Calthrop brought BLR a golden day by night. His salary was 2200 and 1500 rupees per month.

Initially built only for Barshi Road (Kurduwadi) to Barshi, it grew to 323 km from Latur to Miraj in 1927, becoming the largest private narrow gauge railway in India. Due to the Warakaris going to Pandharpur, this vehicle was called the vehicle of God. Even on Ashadi Ekadashi, people used to sit not only on the train tracks but also in front of the locomotives. The company was expanding day by day. Initially, the train stopped at Pandharpur near the river. He then spent Rs 8,66,000 on the bridge over the river Bhima and the next line, hence the name of the railway bridge at Pandharpur, the ‘Willington Bridge’. This company helps you to understand some interesting things in history. According to this, only Barshi light railway came and Kurduwadi village was formed. In fact, until 23 October 1914, Kurduwadi was known as Barsi Road and the English pronounced Barsi as Barsee till the end and after 1870 as Barsi.

According to the BLR Company's 1912 annual annuity, the Pandharpur Yatra of Karthiki Ekadashi in November 1911 had to be canceled due to plague and the Ashadi Yatra of July 2012 had to be canceled due to cholera. This means that from 1911 to 1912, the Pandharpur temple was closed due to an epidemic and it helps to understand that the concept of lockdown existed even 90 years ago. As a result, the company lost Rs 41,650 due to non-arrival of 4,53,768 passengers. The following example shows how advanced the English were. Accordingly, in 1897, a company was raised and capital was raised from the people through shares to build a large industry. There was a 4% bonus for 10 euros per share. The Prince of Wales Fund, set up by the London government, provided 500 euros in financial support to the Barsi Light Railway Company, which suffered financial losses due to an epidemic in 1911-12 and immediately after World War I in 1914.

The land required for the company was provided free of cost by the government. In 1930, a large workshop was set up at Kurduwadi. Even though the engine of Kingston Company was from London, it was customary for a Marathi man to keep his verbal name in Marathi like Rukmini etc. Coal-powered engines took a long time to generate steam, so sometimes a train would stop for hours at a station. In the Ramling Ghat of Yedshi, a double engine was needed. Before the arrival of the train, especially in the forest area, a horseman used to run and inspect the railway line to see if there was any obstruction. The speed of the vehicle was so low in Ramalinga ghat that sometimes if the animal came horizontally, the driver would get down and push the animal aside and then the vehicle would move forward. While the work of Kusalamb to Tadwala line is being started by Pathak and Walchand Company, the Chief Engineer of the company A. L. Alexander liked the pindi-shaped hill of Durga Devi near Ramalinga and built a very beautiful rest house in 1907, ordering literature from England. Even today it is just as strong and its lighting, meeting, cooking, hunting, cold water is all worth seeing.

On January 1, 1954, Barshi Light Railway Company was acquired by the Ministry of Railways, India. Later, its route changed in some places, but the people of Latur Osmanabad area will never enjoy sitting in this train without Ramling station. Even today, in some places, old rules and station name plates are lying. When he looked at it, he remembered the puffy smoke, the whistle of the engine, the driver of the coal and the embers in the engine, the memories of God's car are fresh. All the credit for this memorable moment goes to a visionary engineer named Everrard Calthrop, who made it a reality by experimenting with a 2.6-inch-wide railway in India.

Reference:

Prof. Dr. Satish Kadam

President,  Akhil Maharashtra History Parishad.

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