Fairy Queen, also known as the East Indian Railway No. 22, is a 2-2-2T tank engine which currently works for the East Indian Railway Company.
History[]
Built in 1855 by the Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson in Leeds, England it was originally used to haul post trains in West Bengal and was used on troop trains during the Indian Uprising of 1857. It was retired in 1909 after working in construction in Bihar and placed on static display in Howrah.
In 1943, the locomotive was moved to the Railway Zonal Training School at Chandausi, in Uttar Pradesh, where it served as a curiosity object for many of the students based there.
The Indian government gave the locomotive heritage status in 1972 and it was placed on display at the National Rail Museum in New Delhi until it was restored in 1997 for service working a luxury train between New Delhi and Alwar, Rajasthan.
As of today the locomotive is Operating from New Delhi, Delhi to Alwar, Rajasthan at the National Rail Museum.
Trivia[]
- It is the oldest operating steam locomotive in regular service in the world.
- Following a substantial rebuild, in which the workshops had to construct the missing parts themselves, the locomotive returned to service on 22 December 2012.
- This locomotive is the basis for Rajiv from "Thomas & Friends".
Gallery[]
