SOLAN : Even as UNESCO is considering Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge rail line for heritage status a vintage wall clock of 1903 made is lying unattended at Dharampur railway station since long. The railway staff at station unmindful of clock importance had dumped the clock in store room after it developed snag.
Now after media queries the clock has got attention of staff that now plan to display it at station in some deserving manner. No exact date was confirmed about when the clock had stopped working. However in early nineties the clock was used to hang at a wall of station master room at that time. However it did not function at that time also.
Further inquires showed that the on few occasions in past 15 years the station staff had tried to repair the clock locally but with no result. Finally the watch was dumped in station store room. As per an official of Dharampur railway station the clocks’ pendulum had got faulty.
The clock manufactured by J W Benson, London was believed to be put up at Dharampur railway station in 1903 the year when track was thrown opened for general public. Till it stopped permanently the clock never halted except when station staff forgot to twist its key on twice occasions.
In fact the clock was a mute witness to growth of track that once carried three bogies with a steam engine to deluxe trains like Shivalik carrying honeymooners. During British period, the Dharampur railway station was a crucial junction point for railway as well as for practical purposes. In the absence of road network the goods from Britain were used be ferried through railways till Dharampur and then through the small trucks to nearby Subathu, Kasauli and Dagshai cantonments.
Being a very strategic link station, the army personnels from these three cantonments alight and board the train from Dharampur. The station had also housed a rotator device to change the direction of the engine manually. The clock might have had very handy to staff to perform its duties as per schedules.
It surely deserves an attention of authorities to preserve it as a treasured vintage item.
