Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock is an

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

located in

Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli Golden Rock ( ta, பொன்மலை, ''Ponmalai'') is one of the four zones of Tiruchirappalli. The railway colony and railway workshop are nearby Demographics The majority of the area is occupied by Golden Rock Railway Workshop and its ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

in India. It is located north of Golden Rock railway station, falling under

Tiruchirappalli railway division Tiruchirappalli railway division () is one of the six railway divisions of Southern Railway zone (SR) of India. It has its administrative headquarters located at Tiruchirappalli. It serves most of the districts of delta region and Central Tami ...

. It is the largest of the four locomotive shed under the Southern Railway zone of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

History and developments

The foundation stone for the shed was laid on the 25th of December, 1971 by the then

Railway Minister A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...

, K. Hanumanthaiah. The shed was open for operations in 1975 with a total area of and covered area of . The shed initially homed 45 of the

YDM-4 The class YDM-4 is Indian Railways' workhorse diesel locomotive. The first units were imported fully built from the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in 1961. Since 1968, it has been manufactured in India by the Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), ...

class metre-gauge locomotives. Three subsequent expansions were taken up which resulted in the holding capacity being increased to 100 metre gauge locomotives (1998), 40

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

locomotives (1993) and 100 broad gauge locomotives (2000).

Infrastructure

The shed was started as a metre-gauge shed. However with expansion over time, the bays and catwalks were converted from metre gauge to broad-gauge standards to home broad-gauge locomotives. Later, the shed went for a major expansion of its bays at a cost of to undertake maintenance activity for the unconventionally longer high-speed fuel efficient 4,500 HP (3.4 MW)

EMD 710 The EMD 710 is a line of diesel engines built by Electro-Motive Diesel (previously General Motors' Electro-Motive Division). The 710 series replaced the earlier EMD 645 series when the 645F series proved to be unreliable in the early 1980s 50-se ...

locos, which were homed since July 2011, thus becoming the first-of-its-kind shed in India to maintain such high powered locos, which were extensively utilised for both passenger and freight services. The shed also houses a Diesel Traction and Training Centre (DTTC), opened on 7 April 1988, to impart theoretical and practical training for the newly recruited Assistant Loco Pilots, Engineers and other technical staffs. The centre only one of its kind in the zone also conducts periodical refresher courses for the in-service staffs of

, and also too railway personnels from other countries. The DTTC along with Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI), Trichy made a mark by imparting training to women, by which Narayana Vadivu and Jhansi Rani, became the first all women loco crew in the history of Southern Railway zone piloting a goods train on the Chord Line. With Indian Railways inching towards 100%

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

Mission, 2 of its Old Metre Gauge bays were converted to New Electrified Broad Gauge ones. Electric Loco trials in these bays with an Erode Shed (EDDS)

WAP-4 The Indian locomotive class WAP-4 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1993 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Passenger traffic (P) ...

locomotive, numbered 22273 were conducted successfully on 3rd February 2022, with the commissioning of these locos expected anytime soon.

Operations

The shed, headed by Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer (Diesel), has about 750 employees in different ranks in the day-to-day operations of the shed, which include periodical overhaul, maintenance and repair works. The locos of this shed were thoroughly traverses over entire South India for passenger and freight services.

Locomotives

Awards

The shed was adjudged the best shed among in the Southern Railway zone during 2012–2013. Also it won the "Performance Efficiency Shield" for the fifth time, since its inception in 2004–2005.

References

External links

* * {{Transport in Tiruchirappalli * GOLDEN 1975 establishments in Tamil Nadu Rail transport in Tiruchirappalli