September 2, 2016
THE BANKING ENGINE AND PILOT LOCO
OF THE CGR/SLR
The Past
Since Ceylon was a
British colony and the Railway designed and constructed by the British, the Kadugannawa
incline was referred to as the KGW Bank. In order to support trains up the
bank, some steam Engines & the C1 Garratt #241 were stabled in Running Shed
KGW, with a crew of 04 - 06 Drivers [Namely Mr. A. Hodgson & Mr
Rodrigo etc…] & firemen & shed staff. Whilst the Garratt was coupled in
the front, the other engines were coupled at the rear of the train from RBK to
KGW. Therefore, in Railway parlance,
the term bank Engine/s was derived simply for this particular reason. In
this operation, the tablet was shown to the train driver and given to the bank
engine driver at the rear. At times a steam engine banking from the rear was
pushing tender 1st. I have no idea as to why this method was
practiced and remain to be advised and corrected on this matter.
When we were in NVP
from 1972 - 1988, A W1 class diesel loco was the main loco used to pilot the
following trains from the rear on a
daily basis:
a)
# 75 up FOT/BAD NM, with W2 loco & 16
bogey’s to PDA & 12 bogey’s from PDA to BAD. W1 pilot from RBK to KGW &
again from GPL to PTP.
b)
# 85 up FOT/BAD NM2 with W2 loco & 08 bogeys
+ CGS/BCGS. Occasionally a W1 would pilot from RBK/KGW & from GPL to KTG.
c)
# 235 KOL/BAD Mixed oil Train with M2c. with
Pilot from RBK/KGW & GPL/PTP.
d)
But the above down train # 76, 86 & 656 were
never piloted from BAD to PTP.
Subsequently when
the M4’s arrived they hauled the Badulla Mail’s with 12 bogies single handed
from KGW to BAD, but during holiday season [14 bogey’s] a W1 or W2 was used to
pilot from the rear. With the arrival of the M5’s there was either a W1 or W2
pilot loco from the rear.
The Drivers booking
sheet prepared by LF’s office NVP, read; [for example], Drv L. W. Hodgson
75p or 85p or 235p or 35p Udarata Menike during the Sri Pada season] hauled by
W2, M4 or M5.
Never was the term
“Banking Loco” used during my tenure with the Railway. Never was there a pilot
loco for down trains from BAD to PTP.
In these Pilot
workings, the tablet was shown to the train driver and given to the Pilot
driver at the rear. Once the SM & HG gives the right to proceed signal, the
Pilot loco crew gives a long blast of the horn and starts notching up, the
train crew acknowledges sounding their horn and notches up. Both loco crews
were very conscious of having a uniform notching up in order for the train to
move smoothly, without jerking. There were some very exceptional drivers who
were well experienced in pilot train ops, [namely with due respect - M/s. S Balasundaram,
E.T. Kaule, D.G.H. Klyn, D.K.C. Fernando, M.S. Jaleel, Denzil Tissera, L.W.
Hodgson, J.A. Hodgson & Mr. Batuwantudawa – all who were veteran steam loco
drivers who joined the CGR as apprentices]
I should stress that the entire crew, consisting the loco drivers &
asst’s, Head Guard & Under Guard took it upon themselves as a serious line
of duty to operate the heavy trains up the incline beyond NVP in pilot
operations. For goods trains a break weight was hung onto carriages for balancing
purposes.
The above pilot
operations were in practice from times past, but I was personally aware of them
from 1973 to the time we left NVP in 1988.
With the above
operations, loco usage was optimized and well managed with adequate rest.
The present
The present pilot
banking operations on the Main Line Upper section is quite different to what is
described above. During my last train trip in April & May 2013, the Badulla
Night Mail was piloted from the rear with a M5 from KGW to RBK & the train
loco was an M6. It was an extremely slow climb, but clean sailing from KGW /
PDA /GPL where another M6 piloted the train from the rear right upto PTP and
believe me the loco ran ahead and operated as train loco from PTP to BAD. When
I inquired about these changes from my Serving & Rtd Railway buddies, I was
shocked to learn that due to a shortage of loco’s the M6 is stretched to the
max in the upper section ops. The reason the pilot M6 runs as train Loco from
PTP to BAD is to be used as the down BAD/COL Intercity loco. I was also
surprised to note that the down BAD/COL mail was also piloted from BAD to PTP
and then as train loco right upto NVP.
[Present day
operation of the Badulla Night Mail with double locos - Pic courtesy name
inscribed therein]
In this operation, I
am told that the tablet is given to the train loco and NOT to the Pilot loco.
This is very, very, strange and I don’t see any real sense to it.
I must say that the
train was slipping rapidly between KTG and NOA & moved at a very slow pace,
with poor co-ordination between the two drivers, much jerking. They use their
mobile phones to communicate with each other. I had the pleasure of having a
cab ride on the FOT/BAD ICE &
BAD/COL NM. I love the beat of the M6 on the incline and down with the Dynamic
brake in operation.
Long live the
HENSCHEL THYSSEN fleet of M6 Loco’s serving the nation with the support of the
CME’s Dept Ratmalana & spares from EMD.
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