RAILWAY HERITAGE PARK, TINSUKIA
A VISUAL TOUR
With the coming up of the Tea, Coal and Oil industries in Upper Assam during the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a need to improve the communication between the river port at Dibrugarh and the hinterland. This led to the setting up of the first Railway line in Assam - the Dibru-Sadiya Railway which was commissioned on 1st May, 1882. Thereafter, the Assam Bengal Railway was formed in 1892 to link Assam with the Chittagong port and this was eventually connected to the Dibru-Sadiya Railway at Tinsukia on 1st March 1903.
Standing at the confluence of the two oldest Railway systems in this region, the Tinsukia Division of Northeast Frontier Railway is the repository of a rich heritage of Railway culture that is more than a century old. The ‘Heritage Park’ commissioned on 24th July, 2010 in Tinsukia, Assam, showcases that and much more. This ‘magnum opus’ came up in a record period of 372 days.
The Heritage Park has been built over an area of about 6000 sq.m. The tour of the Park begins at its entrance, adorned by plaques which relate the histories of the Dibru-Sadiya and the Assam-Bengal Railways. The Mechanical yard displays a wide range of heritage items from the Railway Workshops like furnaces, boilers etc. Spoked wheels of Steam Locomotives, Fricon wheels (MG) and American IRS bogies of Second World War vintage are displayed along with sections of tracks depicting all the three gauges of the Indian Railways.
The Narrow-Gauge steam locomotive 781 (‘B’ class) built by M/S Sharp Stewart & Co. Ltd, Manchester in 1899 for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and later used by the North Eastern Coalfields at the historic Tipong colliery is displayed at the Heritage Park. It stands magnificently upon a pair of heritage bridge pillars manufactured during the last decade of the nineteenth century.
There is a separate section dedicated to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Asia’s first UNESCO listed World Heritage line with original carriages and a replica of a quaint DHR station.
For a long time, Lekhapani was the easternmost station on the Indian Railways and the ‘Assam Type’ station building is still a prominent milestone on the historic Stilwell Road built during the second World War connecting Ledo in Assam to Kunming in China. The heritage gallery in the park is modelled after this station and named the ‘Lekhapani Gallery’. It houses a rich collection of Railway memorabilia like old books, registers, maps, photos and other artefacts. Two photo exhibitions – one on the styles of architecture of the heritage buildings over Indian Railways and the other on the designs of the various bridges would certainly enthral any visitor.
This park is also the proud resting place for the only Metre Gauge Garratt locomotive still available in India. This MWGX class 4-8-2 + 2-8-4 articulated giant was one of 18 such locomotives in use in the Assam Bengal Railway during the Second World War.
The next stop on the tour of the Heritage Park is the ‘Virasat Hall’, the design of which has been inspired by London’s Charing Cross and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Victoria) Terminus stations. This houses an AC a Metre Gauge coach, used to display railway films for visitors.
On 21st February 1997, the YP locomotive ‘Joymati’ hauled the last steam train over Tinsukia Division from Dibrugarh to Tinsukia. She is now displayed inside the ‘Virasat Hall’, along with a YDM-4 Diesel locomotive and a Metre Gauge saloon for company.
No visit to the Heritage Park would be complete unless one takes the ‘Toy Train’ ride from the ‘Simanta Rail Junction’. A small engine hauls a colourfully decorated coach for a joy ride of a few laps of the park and has become a favourite for the young and old alike. The ride covers all the ‘sights’ of the Heritage Park and one can have a view at a glance while sipping a cup of coffee.
As one leaves the park, there is a certain feeling of enrichment – a visitor is certainly wiser with the knowledge that the Railways have so much to offer to the public in this remote frontier of our country.
The Railway Heritage Park at Tinsukia, Assam completed its 10th anniversary in 2020.
Written and uploaded by Sanjoy Mookerjee
Photos: Jiban Krishna Sarkar & Sanjoy Mookerjee