RailEnquiry

KOLKATA: The Kanchrapara Railway Workshop of Eastern Railway is preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2013. The sesquicentenary celebrations of the workshop, one of the oldest in the country, will start from November, 2012 and continue for a year, an ER official said.

"In this connection, the workshop will be publishing a memorabilia. We would request all members of the general public who have documents, photographs or other items related to the workshop in their possession to come forward and share them with us. Those items with heritage value will be displayed in a befitting manner during the celebrations and due credit will be given to the owners. The workshop is one of the oldest establishments in the railways but continues to provide yeoman service till now," said Samir Goswami, CPRO, ER.

The workshop was set up by the British in 1863 to take care of its railway assets. It was also used for other purposes from time to time. According to sources, the workshop was also used to repair fighter aircraft of the Royal Air Force during World War II. In recent times, the workshop underwent some modernisation to handle the present demands of the railways. In fact, the township of Kanchrapara came up around this workshop.