The author, with long service in the railways and retiring as a member of the Board, was actively involved in the proposals that resulted in both the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT) and the Kalka-Shimla Railway line being declared UNESCO World Heritage sites.
“We had a ball room in the railway bungalow,” said grandmother.
I must have been seven and she was telling me about the time her husband was one of the bosses of the South Indian Railway (SIR) Company.
“Did you dance there?” I asked, having visions of grandmother in her diamonds and nine yards doing the waltz.
“No, stupid. That was meant for the European officers. We used the room for Navaratri Kolu.”
I grew up on stories like that. With both grandfathers in the railways (rather one in SIR and the other M&SM, which together became the Southern Railway), I came to love the railway stations, the platforms, the echoing stairways and the magnificent office buildings. The railways were full of heritage.
If you were of a generation before India got a plethora of airlines, chances are that your holidays involved long train journeys. And these were punctuated by railway stations — large and small, but each with an architectural stamp of its own. Calcutta’s Howrah, visible from the eponymous bridge, Bombay’s VT, Madras’s Central and Egmore, Lucknow’s Charbagh — they were all unique.
Jamalpur Station, on the East Indian Railway, in the early days. It is one of the few stations where the two platforms had separate covered sheds. The station was severely damaged in the Bihar earthquake of 1934. | Photo Credit: Postcard: Author’s collection
The British raj, whatever its many faults, and no matter for what self-serving purpose it developed a railway network, gave us many railway stations to be in awe of and delight in. And if you add the numerous railway institutes, hospitals, workshops, yards, and of course bungalows, there is a huge architectural heritage out there; one that deserves documentation.
Malerkotla Station, built in 1905. The Nawabs of Malerkotla were rulers respected by people of all communities. The pointed arches, slender paired columns supporting the arch, the turrets and crenellations make it a charming small station. | Photo Credit: National Railway Museum, New Delhi
It is in answer to this need that we now have an excellently written, designed, and printed book, Indian Railway Buildings, Heritage, History and Beyond, by Vinoo N. Mathur. The author, with long service in the railways and retiring as a member of the Board, was actively involved in the proposals that resulted in both the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT) and the Kalka-Shimla Railway line being declared UNESCO World Heritage sites. He clearly had a keen interest in the architectural and engineering heritage of the railways and that probably resulted in this book.
A view of the platform at Dehradun with a horse being loaded in a horse box while spectators look on. | Photo Credit: National Rail Museum, New Delhi
Journey from Royapuram
The narrative begins with the Royapuram Railway Station, now India’s oldest, and from there progresses via the early railway companies, tracing their development and the construction of their principal railway stations. It then goes on to deal with the railway lines and stations of the various princely states. The headquarter buildings of the various private railway companies of India that eventually merged post-Independence to form the Indian Railways, are dealt with in detail. The book has a separate section on the mountain railways in the country. It concludes with a rapid survey of the other kinds of buildings that comprise the railway heritage — residences, health facilities, training and recreation centres.
The large domes and long handsome porte-cochère are distinctive features of this magnificent building. | Photo Credit: Postcard: Author’s collection
The author is clearly familiar with architectural terms and the book deals with each station and its features in that language. This is of great interest to a like-minded reader but may seem forbidding to those not similarly oriented. But to facilitate their understanding, there is an extensive glossary of terms. The book also has a detailed section on various roofing styles used in railway buildings. There are plenty of interesting nuggets in the narrative that help break the architectural focus as well.
Asansol was located in the heart of the colliery area of the East Indian Railway, which provided a major source of its revenue. It was, therefore, appropriate that the Railway built a large impressive station building here. | Photo Credit: National Rail Museum, New Delhi
Apart from the excellent narrative, the book scores greatly in the quality of its visuals. The author seems to have spent a lifetime collecting picture postcards of the various railway stations of India. These black and white images, all of late 19th and early 20th century vintage, supplemented with those from the railway’s collection give a very clear idea of how the stations were in their prime and how the urban landscape has changed over the years.
This famous photograph by Raja Deen Dayal, taken in 1892, brings out the understated grandeur of the Hyderabad Station building. | Photo Credit: Ministry of Railways and South Central Railway, Secunderabad
Some quibbles
The lack of commentary on what the railways have done with their built heritage in more modern times is jarring. For instance, there is no mention of how though the Royapuram station is pointed out as being the oldest with some pride, the railways were keen to demolish the building just a decade back and were prevented from doing so by court action. The building of extensions not in harmony with the main structure and the covering of facades with modern and incompatible material have been a continued menace as far as railway buildings are concerned. While it is true that the VT station has been successfully awarded UNESCO status, the upkeep in many other equally historic railway structures is poor and to be fair to the authorities, not easy either given the passenger load they face on a daily basis. None of these get a mention. The author could have also given some additional space to railway bungalows, which are mentioned almost in passing. Today, with pressure on housing, many of these face an uncertain future or have already been demolished for high rises.
Notwithstanding the above, the book is a collector’s item for the railway, history, and architecture enthusiast.
All along the watch tower
Indian Railway Buildings — Heritage, History and Beyond; Vinoo N. Mathur, Niyogi Books, ₹2,500.
The reviewer is a writer and columnist.
