Page 36 - NMRA Roundhouse September October 2020

Pakistan Railways in the 1980s
Dave Griffiths
0-6-0 branch loco taking on water at Malakwal - photos by Dave Griffiths
HISTORICAL ARTICLE
W hatever the disad- During the long night hours of the flight,
vantages, the recent Lockdown has given me time to consider
things that would normally be pushed
to the background. One thing I was pondering, was why I find Railways, and everything connected with them, so fascinating. I’ve not found the answer yet, so don’t look for inspiration here! But it is true. I had a career as an Airline Pilot, and one trip I recall proves the point.
In 1989 we were flying from Manchester to Islamabad, where we expected two or three days off. We would stay at a 5 star hotel, with a very fine pool, there was lots to buy in the shops, and we had on open invitation to the UK and US Embassy Clubs to play snooker or pool, eat and drink. But no!
it became apparent the the co-pilot was a rail buff, only a real one; I believe he was apart of a group attempting to im- port a loco from South Africa, and he’d discovered that there was still steam
to be found at a junction station called Malakwal, about 100 miles south of Islamabad. Furthermore, not for him the pool, shopping and socialising at the Em- bassy; he was going trainspotting! Sorry, railfanning.Without thought, I said that if he wanted company, I’d go with him.
So, having landed at Islamabad at spar- row-scratch, we had the rest of the day to plan how to get to Malakwal, and, more important, how to get back; aer- oplanes don’t fly themselves.Well, they do, but require at least a token presence on the flight deck. And the next morn-
ing, at sparrow-scratch minus 1 hour,
we boarded a cab to take us down to Rawalpindi station. My recollections of the journey are now somewhat hazy, but I do remember that acquiring tickets was a bun-fight, and we probably paid over the odds.We boarded the train, to find our reserved seats were already occu- pied, but our fellow passengers were very helpful, and soon we were comfort- able.We had only brought water with us, and by the time we arrived at Lala Musa, where I think we changed trains, our stomachs were rumbling. All we could find that would suit our delicate Western digestions were biscuits and Coke. So, having bought a sackful, we set off for Malakwal.
Malakwal itself had station, yard, loco shed and the junction taking the branch up to Khusab - and, STEAM! All the locos were 0-6-0s of Beyer Peacock ancestry, during a previous trip to Manchester I’d visited the Museum of Science and Technology where there was a similar, if not identical example on display, although I think I recall a derelict
Light duty maintenance of way crane outside Rawalpindii Station
ROUNDHOUSE - September/October 2020 - 75th Anniversary Issue
36