Halt Station India

Rajendra B. Aklekars research-and his scholarship which enables him to interpret his findings-throws new light on the way railways were built. - Sir Mark Tully, author of Non - Stop India Fascinating stuff. An enormous amount of really rigorous work. - Naresh Fernandes, author of City Adrift - A Short Biography of Bombay Halt Station India chronicles the dramatic rise of Indias original rail network, the arrival of the first train and the subsequent emergence of a pioneering electric line-all in the port city of Bombay. Trains that once provoked awe and fear-they were viewed as fire chariots, smoke-spewing demons-have today become a nations lifeblood. Taking a walk along Indias first rail lines, the author stumbles upon fraGments of the past-a clock at Victoria Terminus that offers a rare view of a city, a cannon near Masjid Bunder Station that is worshipped as a god, a watchtower overlooking Sion Station, believed to have housed a witch. Each pit-stop comes with stories of desire and war, ambition and death-by Dockyard Road Station, for instance, author Laurence Sternes beloved, Eliza Draper, followed a sailor into the sea or close to Parel Station, the wife of Indias governor general, Lord Canning found a garden rich in tropical vegetation this, she replicated at Barrackpore. Drawing from journals, biographies, newspapers and railway archives-and with nostalgic, first-time accounts of those who travelled by Indias earliest trains-the book captures the economic and social revolutions spurred by the countrys first train line. In this, Halt Station India is not just about the railways-it is the story of the growth of Indias business capital and a rare study of a nation.