A fully overhauled oil-fired steam locomotive of Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is all set to roll out of Golden Rock Railway Workshop next week. This will be the first refurbished steam loco to be dispatched from the workshop during the current fiscal.
Trial run of the metre gauge steam loco belonging to ‘X’ class is expected to be conducted on the workshop premises on Friday. It will then be given a fresh coat of polyurethane paint before being dispatched for resumption of operation.
The steam loco arrived at the workshop for overhaul last year and was scheduled for dispatch in March. But things did not go as per plan due to closure of the workshop and delay in movement of material due to lockdown. Work on the ₹4 crore-project resumed in June.
A 50-member technical team was involved in the complete overhaul of the steam loco, which has been fitted with a new boiler.
The key component was manufactured by a Tiruchi-based private firm based on basic drawings given by the workshop, a senior official said.
The oil-firing works, which were outsourced, have also been completed paving the way for the trial. The loco has been provided with a new generator set and modified LED fittings in the cabin for better illumination.
It has also been fitted with a new cogwheel assembly with cylinder reclamation works done at the workshop. The loco has two fuel tanks, a 2,250-litre furnace oil tank and a 725-litre high speed diesel tank.
“The overhauled steam loco is proposed to be dispatched to Mettupalayam by road on July 15. Transportation arrangements to move the steam loco on board a low-bed trailer lorry has been arranged,” said Chief Workshop Manager Shyamadhar Ram on Wednesday.
A technical team from the workshop will be sent to Mettupalayam, where the trial run of the overhauled loco will be done on NMR hilly section with empty passenger coaches.
Once the oil-fired loco is dispatched, the workshop will take up overhauling of a coal-fired steam loco of NMR and expects to complete it by November.
The workshop, whose core activities are overhauling of broad gauge passenger coaches and diesel locomotives, has been entrusted with the task of manufacturing two new steam locomotives for NMR.