Vadodara: For viewers, warehouse trains or saloon might just run another down structure that people usually see the train station close.
But in reality, this train warehouse is a testimony of Vadodara’s journey from the era of former Gaekwad Baroda State Railway (GBSR) to Indian Railways today (IR).
The train has more than 150 years of history with Vadodara after Maharaja Khanderao Gaekwad, the ruler of the former Baroda country, conceived a line when there is no narrow gauge line.
Dabhoi-Miyagam the line that began during the term of office of Khanderao Gaekwad was the first narrow measuring line which was originally surveyed to transport opium.
Then it was connected to Dabhoi, which was the leading cotton trade center in Gujarat with Miyagam-Karjan – from where he could reach a large gauges line placed by Bombay’s British, Baroda and Central India Railway (BBCI) to connect to Mumbai.
When the train began operating in 1862 under the GBSR umbrella, the coach was withdrawn by oxen, the steam engine was deployed a year later.
This network was improvised and expanded during the tenor of Malharrao Gaekwad and Ijoo Gaekwad III, who used the warehouse train to travel to Bombay.