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Celebrating World Heritage Day !

Although, World Heritage Day is mostly meant for historical monuments & sites, here is one of those many examples which has bagged the heritage tag from the perspective of Indian Railways.

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the Guinness World Record holder of the World's Oldest Running Steam Locomotive, EIR 22 (East Indian Railway-22) christened as the "FAIRY QUEEN". The locomotive was built by Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson, England in the year 1855 with a wheel arrangement of 2-2-2T. It served the Howrah- Raniganj stretch for a long time after it was pressed into service. Later, it was shifted to Bihar and was in service till 1909. In 1998, it was restored by Perambur Loco Works & subsequently, in the same year it earned the Guinness World record of oldest steam locomotive in service. However, as of today EIR-21 , the elder sibling of the Fairy Queen happens to be the oldest running steam loco in the world. Both EIR-21 & EIR-22 were built in the year 1855 & withdrawn in 1909. EIR-22 was restored in 1998 & became the Guinness World Record holder but back then EIR-21 was still out of service until its restoration much later in 2011 by Perambur Loco Works.

The heritage tag in IR has had other contenders too which includes few smaller gauge (MG/NG) rail roads, locomotives, station buildings, etc. Some have bagged the heritage tag, some still live to tell their stories patiently waiting for their inclusion under the tag & some have unfortunately found their permanent place in history.