The Death of a Locomotive: Scenes from a scrap yard

There is a silent wiping out which happens in the backyards of the Indian Railways – the death of Diesel-Hydraulic locomotive, class WDS4 – quietly, without tears and unsung.

Above: WDS4 19455 and 19593 line up in the background as the remains of the two previous locomotives are being finished off.

Many of the locos have died, and their last rites were performed in a yard, cutting them to bare bones and selling them off as scrap.

The workers take the cab off of 19593 with the help of a road cane.

Despite dissembling, loco no. 19593 still had life in it in the form of a nest of wasps in its engine bay.

The last rites of a locomotive are quite mechanical – gas cut to pieces and loaded off to some scrap yard. But in some way this is, in fact, a perfect reincarnation, and that is why steel is so fundamental to the development of civilisation.

The locomotive is cut to pieces, the heavier sections are segregated and are sent for melting and recycling.

The lighter sheets are also recycled, but separately. Assemblies with copper and brass content are segregated for further processing and separate recycling.

The workers use gas torches, cranes and the sledge hammer as their tools of trade.

Engine being prepared for uprooting.

High-precision engineering of the gear box meets its destiny with low-tech gas cutting.

Workers fight the fire that was caused by accident.

At the end of it all, after getting shredded to pieces with gas fed flames, locomotives 19455 and 19593 finally get ready to get dissolved into 'Panch Tatva'.

Loaded and off for melting, these scraps are off to get a new life.

There is a culmination of life and rebirth that happens in some foundry, mill or steel plant, somewhere in country as another piece of steel becomes parts of a sleek car, a humble spanner, an ocean-going ship, a sturdy golf club or any of the myriads of steel items that we use today.

The cycle of life, even of steel, goes on.