Named Locomotives

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June 20, 2019, 12:43 PM

In the 19th century and early this century, named locomotives were quite common. Many were named after administrators (“Lord Clive”) or nobility (“Prince Albert”), or mythical figures (“Hercules“). Indian names were also included (“Tungabhadra”, “Shakuntala”), and some whimsical ones as well (“Moth”, “Ant”, “Jimpeebuttee”, “Perleewerlee”).

Some notable names of older locomotives are given below:

Thomason The first locomotive ever to be used in India (1851).
Falkland The second locomotive to be used in India (1852).
Sahib, Sultan, Sindh The three locos used to haul the first passenger train in India (1853).
Fairy Queen A steam locomotive from 1855 which is still working (!!), hauling a tourist train in Rajasthan now. Supposed to be one of the oldest working locomotives in the world. (A loco in the USA and another in Austria are in working order and older than the Fairy Queen; after the Fairy Queen come a couple of locos in the UK which amed after an an Indian, Ramgotty Mukherjee, the then railway manager of the Naihati Area. The loco, dating to 1862, is from Anjubault (France) (rare in India), a 4′ loco regauged to 5’6″ (possibly the only loco so regauged). It had many interesting features including wooden brakes.
Sir Roger Lumley Last GIPR passenger electric loco (EA-1, later WCP-1).
Sir Leslie Wilson First GIPR goods electric loco (EF-1, later WCG-1), built in 1928.
Lord Irwin First of the XB class.
Comparatively few locomotives in post-independence India had or have names, except for WP’s, which were often given names and had a name-board with the name in Hindi or English just above the buffers at the front (Mayur, Sanjay, Pavanputra, Raah-e-Watan, Vivekananda, etc. These names were sometimes rather temporary and were withdrawn or replaced at the whim of railway staff. Even so, the vast majority of locos were nameless, and today the same situation continues, with names being few and far between.

Some notable names of more recent locos are given below.

Steam Locos

New India A WL loco of the BNR that was given streamlined aluminium sheathing and used to haul the Silver Arrow, the “Train of the Future”, a concept train, in 1947 during a government exhibition on the railways. This concept train was to have had 11’8″ wide stock.
Deshbandhu First indigenously-built WG #8401 (1950); also a WDM-2, see below.
Vivekananda First indigenously-built WP #7060 (1963).
Sher-e-Punjab WL #15005, used for the the last regularly scheduled BG steam run.
Chittaranjan First WT designed and built by CLW (1959).
Pavandoot KC class No. 520 of the Kalka-Shimla Railway, restored and renamed (Aug. 2001).
Antim Sitara (‘The Last Star’) The last WG, #10560, built in India (1970).
Himrathi First oil-fired loco for DHR built by Golden Rock Workshops
Himanand Second oil-fired loco for DHR built by Golden Rock Workshops
Rupalim YP #2073 (NFR)
Bahnishikha YP #2078 (NFR)
Chitralekha YP #2086 (NFR)
Lakhimi YP #2087 (NFR)
Rudrasingha YP #2091 (NFR)
Sandhya YP #2107 (NFR)
Shaktishel YP #2112 (NFR)
Sulikfa YP #2116 (NFR)
Arundhrati YP #2120 (NFR)
Indira YP #2123 (NFR)
Anuradha YP #2124 (NFR)
Urmila YP #2127 (NFR)
Lachit YP #2128 (NFR)
Prabahini YP #2129 (NFR)
Sakha YP #2137 (NFR)
Sharali YP #2139 (NFR)
Jaya YP #2140 (NFR)
Sukafa YP #2152 (NFR)
Pushparath YP #2161 (NFR)
Jahnavi YP #2169 (NFR)
Mausumi YP #2170 (NFR)
Menaka YP #2175 (NFR)
Eagle YP #2374 (NFR)
Soitali YP #2389 (NFR)
Pratidhvani YP #2428 (NFR)
Indradhanu YP #2531 (NFR)
Bihanga YP #2615 (NFR)
Mriganka YP #2618 (NFR)
Bohagi YP #2619 (NFR)
Bardoichila YP #2620 (NFR)
Sonpahi YP #2624 (NFR)
Papari YP #2639 (NFR)
Gadapani YP #2648 (NFR)
Aparajita YP #2651 (NFR)
Devajani YP #2652 (NFR)
Mayurpakhi YP #2653 (NFR)
Aniruddha YP #2666 (NFR)
Diganta YP #2670 (NFR)
Papari YP #2679 (NFR)
Pawan-Nandan YP #2651 (NFR)
Asomi YP #2752 (NFR)
Chandrajyoti YP #2763 (NFR)
Chandika YP #2777 (NFR)
Manihaar YP, number not known (NFR)
Kabira YP, number not known (NFR)
DC and AC-DC Locos

Pallava King First YAM-1.
Bluebird Unofficial name for the WCM-2 loco (#20188) which for long hauled the Deccan Queen (with matching livery). This loco was involved in a collision between the Udyan Exp. and a freight train, and did not carry its name plate after being rebuilt.
Lokmanya First indigenously designed and built electric loco (a WCM-5, #20083) (1961).
Karamvir The first WCM-6 (Sep. 14, 1996)
Vallabh First dual-power electric from CLW (a WCAM-1, #21800) (1975).
Balwant First dual-power electric from BHEL (a WCAM-2, #21861) (1994); also the generic name for WCAM-2 locos.
AC Locos – WAM and WAG classes

Jagjivan Ram First WAM-1 (1959)
Satyajit A WAM-1 (number unknown) at Sealdah
Anant Last WAM-4 #21399
Bidhan First indigenously-built AC electric loco, a WAG-1, #20710 (1963).
Basanti WAG-5 #23122 (Bhilai)
Kirtiman WAG-5 #23456 (note consecutive digits!)
Nouvion Dual-braked WAG-5A #23141 (1986), after Fernand Nouvion, pioneer of 25kV AC traction (SNCF).
Janmashati WAG-5B #23356 (Asansol), the 100th from CLW in 1989 (Mar. 31).
Kirtiman A WAG-5B, the 105th from CLW in 1990 (Mar. 31).
Krishnaveni WAG-5E #23989
Gajraj Appears to be a generic name applied to many WAG-7 locos. Confusingly, also used for WDM-2C locos.
Swarnabha (Swarna Abbha?) IR’s 2500th electric loco (a WAG-7, #27371) (April 29, 1998).
Shantidan First WAG-7, #27001 (March 29, 1992) (christened by Mother Teresa).
Ekta A WAG-7, the 125th from CLW in 1993 (Apr. 6).
Samarpan A WAG-7 (#??) (1998)
Samrat A WAG-7 (#27455) (2004?) New design WAG-7.
Prayas WAG-7 #27512 of NCR, modified by Kanpur shed, with a silver livery
Agrasar First WAG-7H, upgraded version of WAG-7 (1995).
Navyug First indigenously-built WAG-9, #31022 (Nov. 1998).
Navjyoti Second indigenously-built WAG-9, #31023 (1999).
Navdisha WAG-9 #31024 (1999).
Navshakti First (and only) WAG-9H, #31030 (June 30, 2000)
Navasha WAG-9 (number?), 2001.
Navoday WAG-9 #31033
Nav Ghan Shakti A WAG-9 loco (number?) (2003)
Navashatak WAG-9 #31100
Nav Pragati (Navapragati) WAG-9 #31123
AC Locos – WAP classes

ये भी पढ़े – क्यों दी जाती है तांबे के बर्तन में रखा पानी पीने की सलाह

Pragatisheel A high-speed variant of the WAP-1 with Hitachi traction motors (August 23, 1996).
Baba Saheb (Babasaheb) WAP-1 #22021 (Ghaziabad), the 110th from CLW in 1991 (Mar. 31).
Sukanya WAP-1 #22017. 1991, International Year of the Girl Child.
Shaktiman A WAP-1, the 115th loco of 1992 from CLW, March 28. At times it has been said that this is also the generic model name for WDG-2 locos, but this appears to be a confusion with Shakti (see below under diesels).
Aastha The 135th loco of 1996 from CLW (and the last WAP-1), a WAP-1E, #22076 (Apr. 11). GZB.
Abhinav The 136th loco of 1996 from CLW (Apr. 11).
Rajhans WAP-1 #22006 (Ghaziabad); also a WAP-4 (see below).
Vidyasagar WAP-1 #22058. GZB.
Jawahar First WAP-3, #22005 (1987).
Loha Purush WAP-4 #22333 of WR (Vadodara).
Swarnanjali WAP-4 #22242 (Howrah).
Sahayatri WAP-4 #22286 (Mughalsarai, later at Howrah).
Chetak WAP-4 #22382 (Vadodara).
Rajhans WAP-4 #22540 (Vadodara); also a WAP-1, see above.
Yugantar WAP-4 #22591 of NCR (Kanpur)
Navodit First indigenously-built WAP-5 (#30011) (2000).
Navakriti Second indigenously-built WAP-5 (#30013) (2000).
Navajagaran Third indigenously-built WAP-5 (#30012) (2001). (Numbers are out of sequence? The second one was 30013!)
Ashok The first WAP-4, #22061 (Jhansi) (August 27, 1994)
Swarnanjali A WAP-4, 165th of the year (#22242) (March 30, 1998). MGS, later at HWH.
Gaurav First WAP-6 loco (1997). (?? Some uncertainty – is this instead a WAP-5 from 1995?)
Navkiran WAP-7 #30201 (first of class)
Navbharati WAP-7 #30202 (second of class)
Nav Chetak A WAP-7 loco (number?) (2003)
Navagati WAP-7 #30215 (2004) at Ghaziabad
Diesel Locos

Indraprastha First diesel (a WDS-4, #19057) from CLW (1968).
Lal Bahadur Shastri First locomotive assembled by DLW (1964).
Hubli First MG diesel-electric from DLW (1962?).
Chinkara First NDM-5 (1987).
Maverick NDM-6 #604 at DHR.
Buccaneer NDM-6 #605 at DHR.
Viram The last (?) BG diesel shunter from CLW (1993).
Eti The last (?) NG diesel shunter from CLW (1993).
Gajraj WDM-2C #14001 (first of its class) and also the generic model name for the WDM-2C locos, also for many WAG-7 units.
Concorde A WDM-2C (number unknown) of Andal shed (2001)
Sunayani A WDM-2 (number unknown) of Andal shed (2001)
Protap A WDM-2 (number unknown) of Andal shed (2001)
Sexy Eyes A WDM-2 (number unknown) of Andal shed (2001)
Deshbandhu WDM-2 #17279 of Andal shed; also a steam loco, the first WG — see above.
Prabal A WDM-2 (#16782) of Lucknow shed, modified by DCW to 3300hp (2004); used as a generic name for many diesels at Lucknow, and perhaps elsewhere, e.g., a WDM-2 in blue livery with white stripes spotted at Jaipur..
Veer WDM-3A, #18745R of Jhansi shed.
Shakti WDG-2 #14501, but also generic name for WDG-3A (ex-WDG-2) locos.
Cheetah WDG-3C (first of class?)
Chetak WDP-1 #15001 (first of its class), also generic name for the class on NR. (A WAP-4E from Tughlakabad also has this name, unofficially.)
Pushpak Name for WDP-2 #15007 (the first one at the TKD loco shed) and also the generic model name for WDP-2 locos there.
Baaz WDP-4 #20011 (India-built loco of this class, also used generically for the class)
Hugh Hughes’ books provide the names of many dozens of earlier locomotives.