Engines from our Collection Compiled by Gareth Jones
Kerr Stuart PL Class 0-6-4T No.695 (4408/1928) The PL Class locos were built by Kerr Stuart as a batch of three locos to the gauge of 2ft 6. They were 20 ton 0-6-4T locomotives with small (27 inch diameter) coupled wheels and an axle load of only 4.75 tons. The railway they were built to run on opened in 1900 as the Parlakimedi Light Railway, however the PLR was taken over by the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) in 1902. In1928 a batch of these engines was ordered and they were to become the standard class for the line with a total of 8 engines of the type working on the line up to dieselisation in April 1992. Amzingly for such a small loco class six of the locomotives from this railway have been preserved; PL 691 has been plinthed outside Southern railway headquarters, Chennai, PL 692 has been plinthed outside BNR hotel, Puri, PL 693 has been plinthed on the Ramakrishna beach, Vishakhapatnam, PL 694 has been plinthed outside the Vishakhapatnam station, PL 697 has been plinthed outside DRM office,Vishakhapatnam, and finally our engine No.695 is stored as part of our collection until the day it goes on public display in our new museum. Whilst a number of photos exist of these engines, during the research for this article I could not find a single image of our engine No.695, most photos feature No.696 as the one above.
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