Rail museum in TPJ
The rich heritage of the erstwhile South Indian Railway
(SIR), the landmark railway construction work executed in the colonial
era, rare photographs and documents providing insights into the
developments taken place in different periods of railway history, will
all be showcased in the rail museum coming up near Tiruchi junction.
Coming
up on five acres near Rail Kalyana Mandapam, the museum project is
being set up as part of the 150 year celebrations of the SIR which had
Tiruchi as its headquarters then.
Southern Railway was created by merging Madras and Southern Maratha Railway, South Indian Railway and Mysore State Railway.
The
construction of museum building on an area of 9,500 square feet has
been completed with interior works, landscaping, construction of
compound wall, and laying of a toy train track will be taken up shortly,
according to railway officials.
Having spent Rs.1
crore for establishing the museum, divisional railway authorities have
been provided with additional funds amounting to Rs.50 lakh by the
Railway Board for the project.
The pending works are expected to be completed by June, say railway officials.
The
museum will also house old lamps used at stations, clocks and other
articles made use of by the erstwhile South Indian Railway Company
besides old gazettes, railway manuals and books used during the British
Raj.
To capture the attention of the public, outdoor
exhibits such as steam loco, steam crane and other railway mechanical
and electrical equipment are proposed to be exhibited outside the
museum.
The museum will provide interesting trivia
about the origin of the SIR and the developments that took place
subsequently as well as showcase the superior character of the railways,
officials said.
The whole idea of setting up the
museum is to preserve the rare documents, old photographs and equipment
for posterity, says Divisional Railway Manager Manjula Rangarajan.
The
old manuals and articles presently housed in the heritage hall in the
office of the divisional railway manager would be moved to the new
facility in order to preserve them in a better fashion.
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