Location: Shahbad Mohammadpur[SMDP], New Delhi, Delhi NCR
Date and Time: 26 October 2013, 10:20hrs
The Legendary WP Class Of Locomotive " The Emperor AKBAR(WP 7161) " Is Back Running On The Tracks Of Indian Railways as Can be Seen in the video as it takes the STEAM EXPRESS To ALWAR On a Heritage Run..........
With Nitin Bharadwaj, Aditya Kaushal and Bhanu Prakash Choudhary
The Indian locomotive class WP was a class of 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive used in India. It was introduced after World War II for passenger duties, marking the change from 'X' to 'W' as the classification code for broad gauge locomotives. The class was designed specifically for low-calorie, high-ash Indian coal, by Railway Board designers in India. WP class locomotives were capable of doing up to 110 km/h (68 mph) and were easily recognized by their cone-shaped bulging nose, usually with a silver star device painted on it.
The WP was Indian railways' crack locomotive in 1960s and 1970s. Before the widespread introduction of diesel and electric locomotives several prestigious trains, such as the Taj Express, the Grand Trunk Express, Howrah-Madras Mail, Frontier Mail and the AirConditioned Express were once hauled by WP class locomotives.
A total of 755 WPs were built between 1947 and 1967, bearing fleet numbers 7000 to 7754. The first batch of sixteen, numbers 7200--7215, came from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, USA in 1947, and these were classed WP/P. (P for Prototype). A main production batch of 300 locomotives followed in 1949, with production split between Baldwin (100), Montreal Locomotive Works (120), and Canadian Locomotive Company (80). The locomotives in this group were numbered 7216--7515, but the running numbers were issued in blocks as the locomotives were issued to the pre-nationalisation companies, and so bore no relation to the manufacturers' serial numbers, or even the manufacturer. A further 180 locomotives were built between 1955 and 1959, with production split between Canadian Locomotive Company (120), Fabryka Lokomotyw, of Chrzanów, Poland (30), and Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf of Vienna, Austria (30). Between 1963 and 1966, 259 more were built, but these were ordered from Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), and were manufactured in India, and classified WP/I.
The entire WP class remained intact into the 1980s. Some WPs remained in service until the 1990s, and seven have been preserved. A few reconditioned WPs have been exported to countries in the middle East !!
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