DHR 778

DHR Locomotive number 778 was built for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Nicknamed the "Toy Train", the railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway 19
(All-India No. 778)
No. 778 hauling a train on the Ffestiniog Railway
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderSharp, Stewart & Co.
Serial number3518
Specifications
Configuration:
  Whyte0-4-0ST
  UICB n2t
Gauge2 ft (610 mm)
Driver dia.26 in (0.660 m)
Axle load7.75 long tons (7.87 t)
Loco weight14 long tons (14 t)
Firebox:
  Firegrate area
9 sq ft (0.84 m2)
Boiler pressure140 psi (0.97 MPa)
Heating surface316 sq ft (29.4 m2)
SuperheaterNone
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size11 in × 14 in (279 mm × 356 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort7,750 lbf (34.47 kN)
Career
Operators
ClassDHR B Class
Number in class3rd of 34
Numbers19, 778 in all-India scheme of 1957
Withdrawn1960
DispositionPreserved in Great Britain
DHR19 in the station at Leighton Buzzard.

DHR 778 is a 0-4-0ST B Class, a design built between 1889 and 1927. A total of 34 were built. By 2005 only 12 remained on the railway and in use (or under repair). The B class locomotives were designed by Sharp Stewart & Co. of Glasgow and built by them, their successors North British Locomotive Company (NBL, Glasgow), and three each by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW, Philadelphia, USA), and the DHR works at Tindharia.

Number 778 (originally No.19) was built in 1889 by Sharp Stewart & Co at the Atlas Works in Glasgow. It is the only DHR locomotive that has been taken out of India. After many years out of use at the Hesston Steam Museum, it was sold to enthusiast Adrian Shooter in the United Kingdom and restored to working order. As of 2009, it is based on Beeches Light Railway, a private railway in Oxfordshire, and has also run on the Ffestiniog Railway, the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway and the Launceston Steam Railway.

Special events

In mid-2011, for the 40th anniversary of preservation of the Froissy Dompierre Light Railway in France, three British-based locomotives visited, including locomotive 778.[1]

In 2013, locomotive 778 ran as a part of Indian Extravaganza Fest in Bedfordshire in East England.[2]

References

  1. "British-based Trio Steam in France". Rail.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2021. 40th anniversary of the Froissy-Cappy-Dompierre line entering preservation. … invitations extended to The Greensand Railway Museum Trust's Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778 and Adrian Shooter's Darjeeling Himalayan Railway B-Class 0-4-0ST No. 19 (SS 3518/1888) to visit.
  2. http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-historic-indian-steam-locos-to-run-again-in-england-amid-extravaganza-on-weekend-1830550
  • Hughes, Hugh & Jux, Frank (1980). Steam Locomotives in India. Part 1 – Narrow Gauge. Harrow, Middlesex: Continental Railway Circle. pp. 69, 79, 87. ISBN 0-9503469-5-0.
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