Turntable made first for locomotives and coaches

LALMONIRHAT, July 01: A band of officials and mechanics of the carriage department of the Bangladesh Railway (BR) Lalmonirhat Division have made a turntable for turning the railway locomotives and coaches.

During the British regime, turntables were built in Lalmonirhat, Chattogram, Dhaka and some other places in East Pakistan for railway.

Since after the country's independence, Bangladesh Railway had been using these turntables.

Mainly the turntable is used for turning wheeled vehicles such as locomotives and coaches after a certain period.

The turntable in Lalmonoirhat railway was built on the northern side of the district railway station during the British regime; but it was declared abandoned in 1993.

After 30 years of the abandonment of the old one, Lalmonirhat carriage department of the BR has built the new turntable near the sick line area of the railway station.

According to the railway sources, the new turntable has been made using old machineries at a low cost.

Divisional Mechanical Engineer Tasruzzaman of (carriage and wagon) the Lalmonirhat Railway Division deigned the turntable. It was later made within three months under supervision of the Lalmonirhat carriage department spending Tk 2.5 million only.

This is the railway turntable which has been made first in the country.

Engineer Tasruzzaman said, "After a certain period, locomotives and coaches need to be turned, which was not possible here. We had to send locomotives and coaches to Dhaka for turning, which was costly and time consuming. Due to turning, wheels of coaches and locomotives remain in good shape and last for a long time because the wheels are equally subject to damage. The capacity of the new turntable is nearly 350 tonnes."

According to sources at the Bangladesh Railway, there were 12 turntables in the east and west zones of the BR. These were built by the then British government in Chattogram, Akhaura, Shylet, Laksam, Dhaka, Parbutipur, Bonerpara, Rajbari, Serajganj and Lalmonirhat.

But four turntables have remained inoperative for a long time out of the 12. The turntable in Parbutipur under BR west zone was active only.

Abdul Malek, an employee running a locomotive, said most of the time they have to drive from opposite direction. As a result they cannot watch the turn signal and position of the rail truck properly which may cause accidents.

Abdus Salam, divisional railway manager (DRM) of the Lalmonirhat railway, said, "Earlier we had to send our locomotives and coaches to Dhaka for turning after a few months but from now on we could do it here. We could save time and money also."

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