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Rail Transport In Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத சேவை ''Ilankai Pugaiyiradha Sēvai'') is Sri Lanka's railway owner and primary operator. As part of the Sri Lankan government, it is overseen by the Ministry of Transport. Founded in 1858 as the Ceylon Government Railway, it operates the nation's railways and links Colombo (the capital) with other population centres and tourist destinations. The Sri Lankan rail network is of broad gauge. Some of its routes are scenic, with the main line passing (or crossing) waterfalls, mountains, tea estates, pine forests, bridges and peak stations. History Beginnings The construction of a railway in Ceylon was first raised in 1842 by European coffee planters seeking a line be constructed between Kandy and Colombo as a quicker more effic ...
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Sinhala Language
Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million people as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script, which is a Brahmic scripts, Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada, Theravada Buddhist literature. The early form of the Sinhala language, is attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions with long vowels and aspirated consonants is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle Indian Prakrits that has been used during the time of the Buddha. The closest ...
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Loolecondera Railway
The Loolecondera estate was the first tea plantation estate in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) started in 1867 by Scotsman James Taylor, it is situated in Kandy, Sri Lanka. James Taylor and Loolecondera James Taylor started the plantation of tea within of land in Loolecondera and it grew rapidly. In 1872, he started a tea factory with his latest invention of the tea leaves cutting machine. He spent most of his life in Loolecondera until his death in 1892. The authorities of Sri Lanka built a museum at Loolecondera in 1992 to commemorate him. Loolecondera is a corruption into British English of the native name "Lool kandura" (ලූල් කඳුර in Sinhala). ''Loolkandura'' means "the stream full of loola fish"(''Channa striata''). See also *James Taylor (Ceylon) *Ceylon tea *Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philan ...
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Guilford Lindsey Molesworth
Sir Guilford Lindsey Molesworth (1828–1925) was an English civil engineer. Biography Early years Molesworth was born in Millbrook, Hampshire and was the son of John Edward Nassau Molesworth, Vicar of Rochdale who was a great grandson of Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth. Sir Guildford's great niece was Margaret Patricia Molesworth (1904–1985), the grandmother of Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Molesworth was educated at the College for Civil Engineers at Putney, apprenticed under Mr Dockray in the London and North Western Railway, and under Sir William Fairbairn at Manchester. Career He became a chief assistant engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, but soon resigned to conduct the constructions at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, during the Crimean War. He received the Watt Medal and the Manby premium in 1858 from the Institution of Civil Engineers for his paper on ''Conversion of Wood by Machinery.'' He returned to London for a number of years, wor ...
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Ambepussa
Ambepussa is a town in the Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. History The Ambepussa railway station, was the terminus station for the first rail passenger service, a ten-carriage train which departed Colombo Fort railway station on 22 October 1865. The first train however arrived at the station on 27 December 1864. Ambepussa is the site of the Heritage Ambepussa Hotel, previously the Ambepussa Resthouse, which is the country's oldest purpose built hostelry. Built in 1822 as the residence for the Public Works Department Executive Engineer, when the Colombo to Kandy road was being constructed. It was converted into a resthouse in 1828 and comprises a single-storey, seven room, Dutch-style bungalow with white circular columns. The town is also known for the Government Agricultural Farm, which is located on the bank of Maha Oya. Geography Ambepussa is northwest of Colombo and in the western part of the island. It is about east of Kandy and east of Kegal ...
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Railway Lines Near Colombo- Oct 1940
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer faciliti ...
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William Frederick Faviell
William Frederick Faviell (1822 – 3 July 1902) was a British railway constructor. He constructed the first railway in India and later built railways in Ceylon and South Africa. Biography Faviell was born in 1822 in Yorkshire. Son of a builder of bridges and canals, he began to work as a railway engineer on the Great Eastern Railway in Colchester with two of his brothers. Later, he decided to move his interests overseas and built railways in India, Ceylon and South Africa. Back in England, he bought the estate of Down Place in the Surrey where he lived with his wife Sarah and their six children until 1890. There, he decided to create one of the first Model Farm of the South of England at Blackwell Farm. He employed Henry Peak to design the new building. He died on 3 July 1902 at Tunbridge Wells. Work India In 1850, Faviell obtained the contract to build the first section of railway in India. Although the idea came in 1843 from the chief engineer of the Bombay Government G. ...
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Henry George Ward
Sir Henry George Ward GCMG (27 February 17972 August 1860) was an English diplomat, politician, and colonial administrator. Early life He was the son of Robert Ward (who in 1828 changed his surname by sign manual to Plumer Ward) and his first wife Catherine Julia Maling, daughter of Christopher Thompson Maling of West Herrington, County Durham; and the cousin of William Ward and William George Ward. He was born in London on 27 February 1797. Educated at Harrow School, and sent abroad to learn languages, he became in 1816 attaché to the British legation at Stockholm, under Sir Edward Thornton. He was transferred to The Hague in 1818, and to Madrid in 1819. He was appointed joint commissioner to Mexico in October 1823, and returned to England in 1824 and he married Emily Elizabeth Swinburne in London on 8 April. Emily was the daughter of Emma Bennett and Sir John Swinburne, 6th Baronet. The Wards went together to Mexico in 1825, as ''chargé d'affaires'', and two daughters wer ...
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Governors Of British Ceylon
The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was the head of the British colonial administration in Ceylon, reporting to the Colonial Office. With Ceylon gaining self-rule and dominion status with the creation of Dominion of Ceylon in 1948, this office was replaced by the Governor-General, who represented the British monarch as the head of state. The office of Governor-General was itself abolished in 1972 and replaced by the post of President when Sri Lanka became a republic. Appointment The governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the prime minister and the secretary of state for the colonies), maintained executive power in Ceylon throughout British rule. Powers and functions The governor was the head of the executive administration in the island. Initially limited to ...
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Maradana Railway Station
Maradana Railway Station ( si, මරදාන දුම්රිය ස්ථානය, ta, மருதானை ரயில் நிலையம்) is a major rail hub in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The station is served by Sri Lanka Railways, with many inter-city and commuter trains entering each day. It is the terminus of several intercity trains."Sri Lanka Railways Timetable"
Maradana is home to the suburban-Colombo network's centralised traffic control centre.


History

When the railways first opened in (Sri Lanka) in 1864, trains terminated at Colo ...
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Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton
Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, PC (; 15 August 179813 July 1869) was a prominent British Whig and Liberal Party politician of the mid-19th century. Background and education Labouchere was born in Over Stowey, Somerset, into a Huguenot merchant family. His father was Peter Caesar Labouchere and his mother Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Baring. He was educated at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his B.A. (1821) and his M.A. (1828). Political career In 1826, Labouchere became MP for St Michael, as a Whig. In 1830, he moved to the Taunton seat, which he held until 1859. In 1835 he was opposed by Benjamin Disraeli for the Taunton seat; Labouchere won by 452 votes to 282. He was first appointed to office by Lord Grey in 1832, serving as Civil Lord of the Admiralty . After beginning the second Melbourne ministry as Master of the Mint, Privy Counsellor, and Vice-President of the Board of Trade (and, later, Under-Secretary of State for War ...
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Secretary Of State For The Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. History The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome Thirteen colonies, North American colonies, following passage of the Townsend Acts. Previously, colonial responsibilities were held jointly by the Board of Trade, lords of trade and plantations and the Secretary of State for the Southern Department, secretary of state for the Southern Department, who was responsible for Ireland, the American colonies, and relations with the Roman Catholicism in Europe, Catholic and Islam in Europe, Muslim states of Europe, as well as being jointly responsible for domestic affairs with the Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Joint responsibility continued under the secretary of state for the colonies, but led to a ...
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William Moorsom
; Captain William Scarth Moorsom (1804–1863) was an English soldier and engineer. After assisting Robert Stephenson he created railway lines in England, Belgium, Germany and Ceylon. Early life and career Moorsom was born at Whitby into a military family, the youngest of the four sons of Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom, who had served at the Trafalgar, and his wife Eleanor. He entered the Royal Military College in 1819, and became especially adept in fortification and military surveying. In 1823 he joined the 79th Highlanders Regiment, then stationed in Ireland. During his stay there, he made a survey of Dublin and its neighbourhood, which remained in use until it was superseded by the publication of the Ordnance Survey. In 1825 he served in the Mediterranean as a lieutenant in the 7th Fusiliers. In 1826 he transferred to the 69th Regiment, and then to the 52nd Light Infantry in Nova Scotia, having been promoted to Captain. During this time he served as deputy quartermaster-genera ...
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