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Railway Board Building, Shimla, HP. shimlaonline.in
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| Shimla, India, location map. traveldealsfinder.com |
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| bldg. Shimla, HP, road-side view. victorianweb.org
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There are many heritage and colonial structures, and a few old church buildings in Shimla, the capital of Himachal state of India. As mentioned in my earlier posts, the reason is the hill station is known for its pleasant climate. So, it was the summer capital of the British government (since 1864) during the East India company rule and later under the Raj. In the summer season, the entire bureaucratic machinery would move up hill temporarily and then after the summer season they would get back to the official capital. British imperialists at Shimla chalked out various bureaucratic decisions to get the administration going, during this short period, though their activities were limited to their capital either at Calcutta or later at Delhi. To cater to their administrative needs, etc many buildings came up with fine European architecture to provide space for the officials.
The 95.68 km (59.45 mi) narrow gauge line opened for traffic on 9 November 1903 was dedicated by Viceroy Lord Curzon who loved this town and the surrounding places. This line was quite beneficial to the community living on the hill because the train moved the passengers as well as goods from the plains to the hills. After the introduction of the railways, the growth of Shimla town was fast.
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Low angle view of the Railway Board Building, Shimla, HP India123rf.com/photo
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Originally built to house offices of the Public Works Department of the Government of India, this building housed the PWD's Secretary and Accountant-General. In the later years, the Railway Board was the main occupant in 1923. Since then, it has been known as Railway Board Building. The structure was further strengthened on the steep hillside with three basements. This among the many impressive numerous European-style buildings, the Victorian-style Railway Board Building with imposing front stands apart because it was built with better technology as the structure contains technologically-advanced cast-iron and steel. This type of design was unusual. The upper floors in the building are connected through a beautiful and decorated iron stairs,. This four-story structure has two separate entrances - one from the road side (quite visible) and the other on the slope side that has 3 basements (visible on the hill side).
Many buildings in Shimla and the near-by places were mostly made of wood because of easy availability of lumber and cold climatic condition. Normally, wooden structures are preferred in cold and chilly places. The crux of the problem is they were not fire proof and in case of fire mishaps, such structures could be easily damaged in a jiff. The distinctive architectural aspect of the Railway Board building is, it was built to be fire-resistant. This is confirmed by the 2001 (Feb. 10) fire accident on the top floor, its sturdy internal features were found to be unaffected. It is yet another proof that Iron-framed structures were fire proof and much cheaper than wooden structures. Ellerslie, yet another structure in Shimla uses similar technique. The building now houses various government offices, including the Central Govt., such as Passport Office.
The building that is close to The Mall, camp up in 1896 to 1897. Prior to that, there were two residences on this land which were known as the Low Ville and Herbert House. The Richardson and Cruddas of Bombay was the contractor who had built this building and the cost of construction was Rs.4,08,476/-, a huge sum in those days. The English engineer associated with this structure was one W. MacDonald who was an expert in iron-framed buildings not prone to fire mishaps.
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/india/11b.html
http://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2017/08/railway-board-building-simla-colonial.html
https://www.shimlaonline.in/city-guide/railway-board-building-shimla
