Mayurbhanj State Railway (MSR) was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway owned by

Mayurbhanj State Mayurbhanj State (or ''Morbhanj'') ( or, ମୟୁରଭଞ୍ଜ ରାଜ୍ୟ) was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. It was one of the largest states of the Eastern States Agency and one of the thre ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

History

The railway was built by the erstwhile ruler of

, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo. The first section of 52 km from

Rupsa Rupsa is a Village development committee (Nepal), village development committee in Kalikot District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 2659 people living in 423 individual hous ...

Baripada Baripada () is a city and a municipality in Mayurbhanj district in the state of Odisha, India. Located along the east bank of the Budhabalanga river, Baripada is the cultural centre of north Odisha. In recent years, it has emerged as an educ ...

was opened for traffic on 20 January 1905. Rupsa was the junction with

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

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 ...

line. An agreement was signed on 2 December 1918, for extending the line to Talband, 61.5 km away. This section was opened on 15 July 1920. The line was managed through managing agents, Hoare Miller & Co. of Calcutta and was operated by the BNR. MSR chose 20 ton 0-6-4T locomotives, designated as 'ML' class. The first two of these (No-691, 692) were built by

Kerr, Stuart and Company Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as "James Kerr & Company", and became "Kerr, Stuart & Company" from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a pa ...

. Later in 1924, two more locomotives (No-693, 694) built by the same company were added. These locos were later transferred to

Naupada Naupada is a village located in Santha Bommali mandal of Srikakulam district near to major town palasa, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is famous for salt fields and called the "Salt Bowl of Andhra Pradesh". It is better known for its railway junction ...

shed of

Parlakimedi Light Railway Parlakimedi Light Railway (PLR) was the first narrow gauge railway line between Naupada to Paralakhemundi end extended to Gunupur in states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Established by Maharajah of Paralakhemundi in 1899. The line was initially ...

, renamed PL class and heavier 'CC' class

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

locos of

Satpura Railway The Satpura Railway was a narrow-gauge railway in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in central India. History After the Great Famine of 1876–78 in central India, the Bengal Nagpur Railway began planning to open a low-cost rai ...

were introduced on MSR. These were built by

North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Later ZE class locomotives built by M/S

Corpet-Louvet Corpet-Louvet was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Paris, France. History Founded in 1855 as Anjubault, based in the Avenue Phillippe-Auguste in Paris, the firm was taken over by Lucien Corpet in 1868. Corpet's daughter Marguerite married ...

, M/S Krauss Maffei and M/S Kawasaki were introduced. All locos were homed at

loco shed. After Independence, when the railways were regrouped, MSR was merged with BNR along with eastern divisions of the

East Indian Railway The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

to create the Eastern Railway on 14 April 1952.

Conversion to broad gauge

The MSR was converted to

in 2004.[]https://infrastructureindia.gov.in/view-project?p_p_id=viewproject_WAR_Projectportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=1&_viewproject_WAR_Projectportlet_jspPage=%2Fhtml%2Fviewproject%2Fview.jsp&_viewproject_WAR_Projectportlet_ppp=Government+Infrastructure+Projects+(Traditional+Procurement)&_viewproject_WAR_Projectportlet_projectId=14494 Completed Railway Projects

References

External links

National Rail Museum
{{Railway lines in Eastern India 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Defunct railway companies of India Rail transport in Odisha 1952 disestablishments in India Railway companies disestablished in 1952 Railway companies established in 1905 Indian companies established in 1905