Steam Locomotives of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

These distinctive locomotives are operated by a multi-person crew. The sandboxes are ahead of the smokebox door; on steep grades, two crew members take sand from either side and spread it on the railhead by hand. Coal is carried in blocks in the bunker ahead of the cab, crushed on the move with a hammer on top of the bunker, then fed into the cab. The driver sits on the left and the line works left-hand running, like in Japan. Some engines (e.g., no. 803) have side wind-deflectors on the cab, and some carry a roll-up canvas windscreen apparently used for bunker-first running. Note that our information on service status is only confirmed up to 2006 and may have changed by 2025.

Built 1899 at Sharp, Stewart’s Atlas Works. The builder’s plate could not be confirmed. As of 2006 the frame alone was reportedly stored at the Tindharia Works; current status unknown.

Built 1903 at Sharp, Stewart’s Atlas Works. Today it is preserved outside Dehradun station, capital of Uttarakhand in northern India ( Google Maps).

Built 1913 by the North British Locomotive Company (NBL). Formed in 1903 in Glasgow by the merger of Sharp, Stewart; Neilson, Reid; and Dübs, NBL operated the Atlas, Hyde Park, and Queen’s Park works. No. 788 lacks a builder’s plate, so the exact works of origin is unknown. Believed to remain operational.

Built 1914 by NBL. Sighted at New Jalpaiguri in 2000; now withdrawn.

Built 1914 at NBL’s Atlas Works. There are number plates on both sides: the right shows Devanagari “बी (bī)” representing Latin “B”, and the left shows the Latin “B”. The builder’s plates are the same on both sides; an additional plate records a 1963 frame renewal at the Tindharia Works. Believed to remain operational.

Built 1925 by NBL. After withdrawal it was displayed at Rail Bhawan (Indian Railways headquarters) in New Delhi, and in 2021 it was moved to the National Rail Museum, also in New Delhi (Google Maps).

Built 1927 at NBL’s Queen’s Park Works. Believed to remain operational.

Built 1925 at NBL’s Queen’s Park Works. Now withdrawn and preserved on display at the Northern Railway DRM (Divisional Railway Manager) Office in Moradabad (Google Maps).