Built | 1928 |
---|---|
Location | Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli |
Industry | Railways |
Products | |
Employees | 6000 (Approx.) |
Architect | East India Company |
Area | 200 acres (81 ha) |
Address | Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli Tamil Nadu |
The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially Central Workshop, Golden Rock) is situated in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirapalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is one of the three mechanical railway workshops serving the southern zone of the Indian Railways.
This repair workshop is basically a "Mechanical Workshop" which comes under the control of the Mechanical Department of the Indian Railways. The other two mechanical workshops of Southern Railway are located in Perambur, Chennai. They are "Carriage Works, Perambur" and "Loco Works, Perambur".
This central workshop was set up in 1897 by South Indian Railways at Nagapattinam mainly to cater to the requirement of steam locomotive maintenance. South Indian Railways decided to shift the workshop to Trichinopoly, presently known as Tiruchchirappalli, owing to its locational advantage. Consequently, foundation stone was laid by Mrs. R.P. MUNRO on 20.10.1926. It was shifted to Tiruchchirappalli in 1928 because of its strategic location. The Central Workshop, Golden Rock is functioning at Tiruchchirappalli since then.
The total area of this workshop is around 200 acres (0.81 km2), out of which 26 acres (110,000 m2) is covered under roof. At present 6,091 employees are working in this workshop. This workshop is primarily engaged in the activities of DSL Loco POH, heritage steam locomotive POH, coaching stock maintenance and wagon manufacturing and other sundry activities.
This workshop does have a long traverser way around 600 metres long and 80 feet (24 m) wide. This workshop was involved in repairing of Royal Air Force's air planes during World War II.
This workshop when built had state-of-the-art facilities rarely seen in those days. It had its own powerhouse which generated electricity for the workshop and the colony. In fact, Railway colony, Golden Rock was one of the first places to be lit by electrical lights in Tiruchirappalli city those days.