Friday Night Steam

Let's take a steam train from Kandy to Colombo, Sri Lanka

FarRail special on the scenic mainline from Kandy to Colombo, hauled by steam locomotive 213 (class B2b, Vulcan Foundry, 1922)

Sri Lanka is a large island in the Indian Ocean. The lowland near the capital, Colombo, is served by double tracked main lines. These lines are mainly modernised with colour light signals. But, a major part of the island is mountainous. The railway in the mountains is often still looking as it did in colonial days. Some stations have a forest of semaphores, traditional gantries, signal cabins, platform shelters and so on. It’s all very British looking. The scenery is also breathtaking with rock tunnels, sharp climbs, tight curves and tea plantations. Sometimes the countryside opens up and you can have outstanding views far away over several mountain ranges. There are stone arched viaducts, s-curves and palm trees.

Between 1948 and 1972, Ceylon was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations that shared a monarch with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and certain other sovereign states. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka. It was an island country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres off the southern coast of India.

:o)