Chennai: The Southern Railway has received two awards at the 16th National Congress of Indian Steam Railway Society (ISRS) for its efforts on reviving two vintage steam locomotives, namely EIR-21 and X-37392.
Union Minister of Culture, Dr Mahesh Sharma and Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain presented the award to Southern Railway Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer A K Kathpal during the award ceremony held at the National Rail Museum in Delhi recently.
According to a press release, EIR-21 is a 163-year-old steam locomotive refurbished by Perumbur Loco Works, Chennai.
The Southern Railway organises heritage special runs of the locomotive covering Chennai, Tiruchi and Madurai divisions.
Proposals are on to conduct such runs at Salem, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad divisions soon. EIR-21 has also been recommended for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.
As for the X-37392, the century old ‘X’ Class metre gauge coal-fired locomotive has won laurels for its heritage special run in Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Under the instructions of Railway Board Chairman, the locomotive was revived by the mechanical wing of Southern Railway.
Southern Railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha who was present during the award ceremony, appreciated the efforts of railway officials in recreating the steam locomotive.