Baby Sivok: The pride of Ghum Museum

The 0-4-0 tank locomotive ‘Baby Sivok’ on display outside Siliguri Junction station, where it was from 1957 to 1999.

Although it carries the plate 1881, this signifies the opening date of the DHR, not the year this locomotive was built. It started life, probably in 1913, as a standard design of contractor’s engine from Orenstein & Koppel, in Germany.

It is believed to have been used during the building of the DHR’s Teesta Valley and Kishenganj branches, gaining the name 'Sivok' from Sivoke station on the Teesta line. Its subsequent history is rather obscure, until it was rebuilt at Tindharia in 1945 and went in 1953 to New Delhi for the Indian Railways Centenary exhibition.

The saddle tank and bunker are thought to have been added for the exhibition to better resemble the 'B' Class engines.

In 1999, Baby Sivok was removed from its plinth at Siliguri Junction and taken to Tindharia works to be returned to service.

It steamed again in January 2000 and is seen in steam here st Tindharia Shed with its new plate ‘Rebuilt Tindharia Workshop 1999’. It was operated on a few occasions, but being a small contractor’s engine was not powerful enough to be capable of any useful work on the very steep DHR main line.

Baby Sivok, seen here in 2006, in company with a retired 1960s built coach. Though slightly faded, the blue is a lighter shade than that used for the most recent repaint.

Baby Sivok was finally retired to the new museum at Ghum, which opened in November 2000, where it has been on display until the present.

It is a standard design of contractor’s engine from Orenstein & Koppel from 1913, not as the Museum signage suggests, a "Sharp Stewart from 1881" – this is the year the DHR opened.

Baby Sivok has been repainted several times since 2000, but no other maintenance has been done. The same applies to the 1960s coach behind it – this is in such poor condition only the paint seems to be holding it together. Movement will practically be impossible.

Douglas on the Talyllyn is as Baby Sivok would look without the saddle tank and bunker.

The climate in Ghum is very damaging to the museum's outdoor artefacts.

The purpose of the visit on this particularly sunny day, in November 2016, was to look at the possibility of a new undercover museum with the UNESCO/CCMP team. The lady at the end of the footpath is an award-winning architect and a member of the team.