Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock
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Location | |
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Location | Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India |
Coordinates | 10°47′36″N 78°42′39″E / 10.7932°N 78.7107°ECoordinates: 10°47′36″N 78°42′39″E / 10.7932°N 78.7107°E |
Characteristics | |
Owner(s) | Indian Railways |
Operator(s) | Southern Railway zone |
Depot code(s) | GOC |
Type | Engine shed |
Rolling stock | YDM–4, WDM-2, WDP–3A, WDG–3A, WDS–6, WDP–4B, WDP–4D and DEMU (700 Hp and 1400 Hp) |
History | |
Opened | 1975 |
Diesel Loco Shed, Golden Rock is a engine shed located in Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu in India. It is located north of Ponmalai (Golden Rock) railway station, falling under Tiruchirappalli railway division. Of the four loco sheds in the Southern Railway zone, this is the largest among them.
It was on 25 December 1971, the then railway minister K. Hanumanthaiya laid foundation stone for the loco shed and was finally opened in 1975 at an total area of 169,000 square metres (170,000 m2) and covered area of 19,600 square metres (20,000 m2). It initially homed YDM–4 class MG locomotives, and was once expanded in 1993 to hold BG locomotives and again in 2000 to home more than 100 BG locos.
Initially the shed had facilities to serve MG locos only. Upon expansion, the bays and catwalks were converted from meter gauge to broad gauge standards to home BG locos. Later, the shed went for a major expansion of its bays at a cost of ₹14 crore (US$2.2 million) to undertake maintenance activity for the unconventionally longer high-speed 4,000–Hp and 4,500–Hp EMD locos, which were homed since July 2011, thus becoming the first-of-its-kind shed in India to maintain such high powered locos, which were extensively utilised for both passenger and freight services. The shed also houses a Diesel Traction and Training Centre (DTTC), opened on 7 April 1988, to impart theoretical and practical training for the newly recruited Assistant Loco Pilots, Engineers and other technical staffs. The centre only one of its kind in the zone also conducts periodical refresher courses for the in-service staffs of Indian Railways, and also too railway personnels from other countries. The DTTC along with Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI), Trichy made a mark by imparting training to women, by which Narayana Vadivu and Jhansi Rani, became the first all women loco crew in the history of Southern Railway zone piloting a goods train on the chord line.