New Delhi: Shrouded in steam, the oldest working steam locomotive in the World, the 1855 built EIR 22 — prominently known as the “Fairy Queen” — gave trainspotters a day to remember as it made its run this Sunday from Delhi to the Rewari steam locomotive shed, which is the oldest meter gauge shed in India.
After being operational for over 100 years, the shed was closed down in 1993 and declared a heritage steam shed in 2002 by the then minister of railways. By then, irnonically, the steam locomotives had taken a quieter exit from the tracks and the shed, with no activity, had lost its steam, forgotten in some musty abandoned corner.
It was then that Vikas Arya, senior divisional mechanical engineer of Delhi, took charge of Rewari steam loco shed and decided to bring it back to its glory. The heritage shed which was home to 10 rusting vintage engines would have faced a closure and selling of the heritage as scrap if a group of 25 dedicated railwaymen had not taken the task of reviving vintage steam engines and a closed steam engine maintenance depot to make it the finest steam destination in the world.
The schedule was not easy and the team worked continually for seven months for the task thought impossible. “We worked all weekends. It was non-stop work for seven months,” Mr Arya said with pride.
Based on his experience with steam engines in Rewari shed, he has has penned down a book, “Veiled in Vapor, the Black Beauties of Rewari”, a photo record of events and occurences that took place in a two-year period and saw the resurrection of the steam movement in India.
A simple phrase “people with passion can change the world” holds the secret to Mr Arya’s success. The book is about the passion and effort put in to restore steam locomotives to working order, and it is immense. The locomotive itself, a complex project and above all the book is about his commitment to get back the black beasts up and running. A director in ministry of health and family welfare, Arya’s book-unveiled by Sir Mark Tully, vice-president of Indian Steam Railway society, illustrates the hard work at the Rewari steam shed back in 2010.
If there was such a thing as love at first sight, or sound, something that can carry you through a lifetime, Mr Arya knows this well. For him the sound of the train whistle and the plume of steam was that. A thorugh rail enthusiast Arya’s environment is still dominated by trains-on the walls in his office and at home too.
