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| Wednesday, 21 July 2004 |
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The Rampala era in local railway history by B. B. Perera (Retired railway engineer)
July 21st marks the 10th death anniversary of Bamunuarachchige Don Rampala, the eminent engineer in Sri Lanka's engineering history. Born in Rukmale, his father was a teacher and his uncle was Semenaris Appuhami the bus magnate at Homagama, who was the owner of the High Level Bus Company. He had his secondary education at Nalanda and Ananda Colleges. Probably, travelling to school by train on the narrow gauge he would have got a liking to join the Railway. He joined the Railway as a Probationary Engineer and underwent training at the Ratmalana Railway workshops. The Senior Supervisors used to relate, how donning the overalls' he crept under the locomotives (they were steam locomotives with dust and grime) with hammer in hand, tapping at the bolts, nuts and rivets. From the very start in life he wanted to be an engineer with practice and not only theory. It is this learning that made him the cleverest engineer, East of Suez and was dubbed "Mr. Railway" by British locomotive engineers. Mr. Rampala was the first Ceylonese Chief Mechanical Engineer appointed in 1949. Since the British engineers laid rail tracks and the first train ran with Duke of Brabant from Colombo to Ambepussa and back on December 27th in 1864, rail tracks were laid linking cities in the provinces, but it was Mr. Rampala who took the initiative to go in for diesel traction and other revolutionary changes and development in local railway. Though in 1947, the Railway got a consignment of 23 railcars it was in 1953 the M-1 locomotives came from the Brush Electric Company of Loborough. In service these locomotives developed many troubles, but Mr. Rampala was able to study in detail these defects and put them right. He made modifications and put them in service. The Institute of Locomotive Engineers in London invited him to prepare a paper on Diesel Electric Traction.
Mr. Rampala who was appointed General Manager had to bring about some revolutionary changes, as steam locomotives has passed the life span and the signalling system was outdated. Express trains: Having access to the train charts he plotted a graph line maintaining the speeds in force to run to Kankesanthurai from Colombo in seven hours and the same train to come back. The track was fit enough to run at 50 MPH except the Polgahawela-Pothuhera section with a number of curves with restricted speed. He arranged a trial train with heads of sub-departments in the train personally handling the locomotive controls. I remember there was a letter from a citizen of Jaffna to the press inquiring whether it would be safe to run on the reduced timing. Mr. Rampala's reply was that tracks were fit enough to enable trains to run at that speed. The advantage was taken by train crews, coming before time and taking rest. The working timetable in 1956 was something different to the earlier timetables, with fast express trains to Kankasanthurai, Badulla and Matara christened, 'Yaldevi', 'Udaratamenike' and "Ruhunukumari'. A passenger from Matara travelling by 'Ruhunukumari' starting in the morning could get to Badulla by evening. Every railwayman who had something to do with the running of these trains had to be on his toes to ensure the running was on schedule. The timing of these fast express trains had to be on Mr. Rampala's table every morning and any delays had to be probed and punishment meted out if there was a repeat. The other notable change was the introduction of power sets for the suburban service in 1959. The power sets geared for quicker acceleration and retardation took less time between stations. Unlike the steam locomotives which took time at terminal stations for running round and watering, the time allowed for a power set was only for the crew to change over. There was considerable improvement in the suburban service. Three power sets coupled (12 coaches), running to Aluthgama for the office crowd, was a very popular train. Colour lights The most revolutionary change in the Railways came with the introduction of colour light signalling. I think this was Mr. Rampala's pet scheme. The lock and block system which was partly electrical and partly mechanical, was outdated by this time and could not cope with operational changes that were introduced. The lock and block system could only allow one train between two stations in the double line territory, whereas the colour lights signalling provided more blocks and every three minutes a train could move. The most significant advantage in the colour lights system was the feasibility for an express train to overtake a slow train by being directed to the other line. The introduction of the colour lights system between Maradana-Panadura and Maradana-Weyangoda, with major alternations to station yards, may get recorded as a project completed in record time. It was not only fixing the colour lights but station yards had to be remodelled to suit the new signalling. It is with these alternations that provision was made for a train to cross over from one line to another without reducing speed by providing narrower crossing angles. Manipulation of all points and signals were from the panel at Maradana control room. Station Masters at Colombo Fort, Maradana, Ragama who were responsible for locally controlling signals were relieved of these responsibilities. Personal touch I remember Mr. Rampala walking into Maradana station, the day Maradana was brought under colour lights signalling telling the Station Master that Maradana could be made a ticket agency. Mr. Rampala was personally overseeing this work and he never missed visiting the work sites almost daily. I had the opportunity of working on this project from Bambalapitiya to Panadura and we had to keep to target dates fixed by him. The change over to the new system was in stages and he was really happy on the day one section was handed over. After watching the trails and checking the system he would fix the target date for the next section. Under his directions the Chief Civil Engineer, N. A. Vaithalingam and Signal Engineer, Upali Seneviratne, both very capable and enthusiastic engineers and a team of technical officers and workmen, worked with devotion and the progress was on schedule. Commuter comfort It was during this period that new station buildings, more spacious and with better facilities for passengers came up in Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Nawalapitiya, Galle and Trincomalee. These stations buildings were designed to keep up with local architecture. A large number of cottage - type workman dwellings and quarters for officers were constructed during this period all over the railway network. Railway trackmen who had to rough out on station platforms or in a 'dharmasalawa' when they had to go out for work were provided rest rooms at important stations with camp beds and mosquito nets. Rail tracks with sharp curves over which speeds were restricted were straightened out and shaped into flatter curves with deviations resulting in reduced running times. The most notable change was the replacement of light rails with heavy rails, 80 Ibs. Section, on the Batticaloa- Trincomalee track which enabled the running of diesel locomotives. With the light rails, only locomotives with low axle loads and reduced hauling power were allowed. The relaying of the rail track from Bangadeniya to Puttalam (this length of track was dismantled during the war years and the material was used to maintain other lines) and the extension to Periyanagavillu were other notable achievements. These achievements were possible because of the high standard of discipline Mr. Rampala maintained among all sections of railwaymen. There was recognition for the worker and punishment for the shirker. Recruitment, promotion transfers and disciplinary inquiries were within laid down rules. Recognized trade unions were given their due place. Grievances were looked into and rectified where necessary but no interference was tolerated from any source. He was a man of principles. He maintained the traditional upbringing in a Sinhala-Buddhist home, though he moved with the highest in society. He was a teetotaller but never interfered in another's freedom. I remember an incident at the opening of the Polwathumodara train holt, just prior to the general elections of 1956, presided over by Montague Jayawickreme, then Minister of Transport. A Buddhist priest in his Anusasana requested Mr. Rampala to stop the sale of liquor at station restaurants and mobile restaurants in trains. In his speech he said he was a non-drinker and a non-smoker but he will not interfere in another's freedom and he could not accede to the priest's request. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Though he prepared the paper he could not personally read this paper as
he was appointed General Manager Railways and the Prime Minister did not
want him to leave the country because it was the general election of 1956.
This paper was read by C. E. James, an associated member of the
institution. At the discussion that ensued on the paper, members were full
of praise for the valuable paper and a request was made that the paper be
read at five other centers in England.
