Mumbai: Central Railway (CR) authorities have preserved six stones removed from the Carnac road over bridge (RoB) at the Heritage Gully, located at the east side entry to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on P D'mello Road. The bridge had basalt stones with inscriptions of its name and year of construction at either end.
“The inscriptions on the stones date back to 1858 – presumably the year construction of the bridge was started – and hence CR has preserved these 6 stones,” said a CR official.
One of the plaques kept on display has an anchor-shaped inscription, with writings in Hindi, Gujarati and English on four sides. Other attractions at the Heritage Gully include a crane built in 1929, a printing press from 1899 and a fire engine built in 1880, which was operated manually by a team of 8-12 men.
The key attraction, however, is the Sir Leslie Wilson-GIP Electric Loco – India's first electric train. The locomotive was built by the Swiss Loco Works Company. It had its inaugural run in 1925, between Bori Bunder station and Kurla. It is named after the then Governor of Bombay, who flagged off the train and was on board for its inaugural run. The locomotive was in operation till 1990 at the CSMT yard, after which it had been stationed at Kalyan Loco Shed.
The more than 150-year-old Carnac Bridge was located between CSMT and Masjid railway stations. It was made of steel and constructed in 1868, with a length of 50m and a width of 18.8m. The approximate weight of the bridge was 450 tonnes.
