As the hammer falls on the Elphinstone Road station, a rare iron bell from the steam engine era placed under the bridge will be saved and preserved by the Western Railway team. The bridge also has stone plaques and metal plates on the pillars and girders dating back a century, tracing their manufacturing to England. As highlighted by mid-day earlier, these plaques will also be saved.
While the stone plaque reads GIPR, Parel Bridge, 1913, Contractor Bomanji Rustomji, the small metal seals on the girders state — P&W Maclellan Limited Clutha Works GIPR Glasgow 1911, where GIPR stands for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, now called the Central Railway.
The bell was earlier saved from scrap following a report in mid-day in 2017 titled ‘Will Railway bell found at Elphinstone Road station make it to heritage gallery?’. The heritage relic belonging to the 1880s of the older Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI), now called Western Railway, is placed between platforms 1 and 2, under the bridge, and is a popular selfie point. “We will definitely save the bell and see where we can relocate and restore it. We also have an extensive heritage gallery at Churchgate, and it could always be brought there,” a WR chief spokesperson Vineet Abhishek said.
A decade ago, the bell had been placed on the signal cabin at the northern end of the station, but as the platforms were extended and the cabin demolished, the bell was saved and placed under the bridge. Railway authorities have preserved most of the BB&CI bells, which were earlier used at stations across the Western Railway. Most of the vintage clocks and bells recovered to date have made their way to different railway heritage galleries and museums. Many of those have BB&CI and the manufacturer’s name written on them.
BB&CI bells refer to the antique brass bells displayed at the Western Railway Heritage Gallery in Mumbai, which houses artefacts from the former Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.
