Barsi Light Railway

Calthrop worked as a locomotive inspector for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), and in 1886 requested leave to investigate proposals for independent branch lines.

Working as a consultant, he then supervised construction of the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge horse-powered Nasik Tramway using his previous survey.

[3] In 1895 the negotiations that began in 1887 were finally successful and Calthrop formed a new company to build the Barsi Light Railway, employing himself as consulting engineer.

The goods rolling stock was constructed on common 25 by 7 ft (7.62 by 2.13 m) pressed-steel underframes, reducing tare weight and maximising wagon loads.

Calthrop recognised the importance of railways in warfare, and designed the rolling stock to facilitate the movement of troops and equipment.

[7] The BLR finally opened in 1897, and was extended on a number of occasions until it reached a total length of 202 mi (325 km) in 1927.

Pandharpur was a significant pilgrimage town and the line was an extension of the BLR from Kurduvadi (Barsi Road) where there was a connection with the GIPR mainline.

The ‘Statistics of Working’ show the year-by-year financial results from 1913-14 through to 1936-37 and the BLR System rising from 116 miles (186 km) reaching 203 miles (326 km) from 1928-29 onwards [12] In 1954, it was discussed in Parliament, to wit:[12] "That, the Bill to impose upon the Barsi Light Railway Company, Limited, an obligation to make certain payments to the Central Government, be taken into consideration."

The engineer Everard Richard Calthrop applied a systematic and logical approach to narrow gauge design with an insistence on a rigidly imposed axle weight limit of five tons allowing lightweight construction of track work and engineering features while simultaneously building the rolling stock to the largest possible size to ensure maximum capacity.

Nefarious politics was behind laying broad gauge line via Osmanabad ignoring the historical place of Ramling on the route).

Finally the remaining Osmanabad–Kurduwadi section of broad-gauge track became operational in October 2008 after construction of 1,936 metres (6,352 ft) long Jahagirdarwadi Nagbodhi Tunnel completed .