Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR) or Gaikwad Baroda State Railway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway line owned by the

Princely State of Baroda Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

, which was ruled by the

Gaekwar Gaekwads (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) (IAST: ''Gāyakavāḍa''), a Hindu Maratha dynasty of the former Maratha Empire and its subsequent (erstwhile) princely state of Baroda in western India from the early 18th century until ...

dynasty.

History

Bullocks hauled train on 2 feet 6 inches wide 3 lbs rail to connect Dabhoi with Miagam

The railway track has the distinction of being the first narrow-gauge line to be laid in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, and also the first railway to be owned by any Princely State of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1862, Maharaja

Khanderao Gaekwad Shrimant Maharaja Sir Khanderao II Gaekwad, Sena Khas Khel Shamsher Bahadur, GCSI (1828–1870) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1856 to 1870.Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey by Arnold Wright - 1922 - P ...

, the Maharaja of Baroda, inaugurated of a railway line from

Dabhoi Dabhoi is a town and a municipality in the Vadodara district in the state of Gujarat, India. Dabhoi has a big popular sunni masjid (mosque) named Kaziwad Masjid. History Dabhoi was historically known as Darbhavati, Darbikagrama, Darbhavat ...

to Miyagam. Oxen were used to haul the train, although in 1863, Nielson & Co. built a locomotive to be operated on the line from Dabhoi to Miyagram, as the 6.5 km/m rails were not suited for the regular use of an engine. Later, during the rule of

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born as Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal ...

, the railway's network was further expanded. In 1873, the Dabhoi-Miyagam line (the first line) was re-laid with stronger rails to allow locomotives to be used, rather than oxen. However, locomotives were not regularly used on the line until 1880. During the Maharaja's reign, railway network extended to Goyagate, Chandod,

Bodeli Bodeli is a town and taluka in Chhota Udaipur district in the eastern part of the state of Gujarat, India. History Bodeli became a taluka on 26 January 2013 along with the new district of Chhota Udaipur. It was part of the Vadodara district ...

and Samalaya Jn with Dabhoi as its focal point. In 1949, the GBSR was merged with the

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadod ...

which was subsequently merged in 1951 with other adjacent zones to form Western Railway. The narrow-gauge line is currently under conversion to broad gauge.

Rolling stock

In 1936, the company owned 66 locomotives, 3 railcars, 483 coaches and 1674 goods wagons.

Classification

It was labeled as a Class II railway according to

Indian Railway Classification Rail transport in India consists of primarily of passenger and freight shipments along an integrated rail network. Indian Railways (IR), a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India, operates Indi ...

System of 1926.

History

Rolling stock

Classification

See also

References

Further reading