Inaugurated on Jan. 26, 1950, CLW produced its first locomotive by Nov. 1, 1950 (a WG loco, #8401, named 'Deshbandhu' for Deshbandhu
Chittaranjan Das, an Indian freedom-fighter; incidentally it was his widow, Basanti Devi, who inaugurated the works). CLW, originally named
just the Locomotive Manufacturing Works, was located near a village called Mihijam, which was shortly afterwards renamed Chittaranjan. It is
said that originally the locomotive works, which were under planning even in the mid-1940s, were to be set up at Kalyani near Howrah, but a
concern about losing such a strategic asset in the foreseen partition of British India resulted in the shift to Chittaranjan, on the border of
West Bengal and Bihar (Chittaranjan railway station is in Bihar).
CLW became a major producer of steam locomotives, producing a large number of BG and MG steam locomotives through 1972 (total count – 2351).
The last BG steam loco made in India, a WG (#10560, 'Antim Sitara' ('The Last Star') was delivered by CLW on June 30, 1970, and the last steam
loco made in India was the MG YG classloco (#3573), delivered on Feb. 5, 1972.
CLW started early on the manufacture of electric locos, building the WCM-5 series DC locos starting in 1961. The first one was named
'Lokamanya', and delivered on Oct. 14, 1961. A few years later it began production of AC electric locos, starting with 'Bidhan', a WAG-1 class
loco delivered on Nov. 16, 1963, which was also notable as the first fully Indian-built electric locomotive. Since then CLW has manufactured
ever more sophisticated generations of electric locomotives, most recently delivering the advanced WAP-5 and WAP-7 3-phase AC locomotives. It
has a capacity of around 200 or so electric locomotives a year.
CLW has also manufactured many diesel locos, mainly diesel-hydraulic shunters such as the WDS-4 class (begun in 1967-1968, although large
numbers were produced only in 1969). In the '70s and '80s it built some diesels in the ZDM series and some YDM-2 units (diesel-electrics).
Total diesel loco count – over 660 BG diesel shunters, over 140 NG diesels, and over 40 BG mainline diesels.
Chittaranjan Das, an Indian freedom-fighter; incidentally it was his widow, Basanti Devi, who inaugurated the works). CLW, originally named
just the Locomotive Manufacturing Works, was located near a village called Mihijam, which was shortly afterwards renamed Chittaranjan. It is
said that originally the locomotive works, which were under planning even in the mid-1940s, were to be set up at Kalyani near Howrah, but a
concern about losing such a strategic asset in the foreseen partition of British India resulted in the shift to Chittaranjan, on the border of
West Bengal and Bihar (Chittaranjan railway station is in Bihar).
CLW became a major producer of steam locomotives, producing a large number of BG and MG steam locomotives through 1972 (total count – 2351).
The last BG steam loco made in India, a WG (#10560, 'Antim Sitara' ('The Last Star') was delivered by CLW on June 30, 1970, and the last steam
loco made in India was the MG YG classloco (#3573), delivered on Feb. 5, 1972.
CLW started early on the manufacture of electric locos, building the WCM-5 series DC locos starting in 1961. The first one was named
'Lokamanya', and delivered on Oct. 14, 1961. A few years later it began production of AC electric locos, starting with 'Bidhan', a WAG-1 class
loco delivered on Nov. 16, 1963, which was also notable as the first fully Indian-built electric locomotive. Since then CLW has manufactured
ever more sophisticated generations of electric locomotives, most recently delivering the advanced WAP-5 and WAP-7 3-phase AC locomotives. It
has a capacity of around 200 or so electric locomotives a year.
CLW has also manufactured many diesel locos, mainly diesel-hydraulic shunters such as the WDS-4 class (begun in 1967-1968, although large
numbers were produced only in 1969). In the '70s and '80s it built some diesels in the ZDM series and some YDM-2 units (diesel-electrics).
Total diesel loco count – over 660 BG diesel shunters, over 140 NG diesels, and over 40 BG mainline diesels.
No comments:
Post a Comment