It took engineers of Perambur Loco Works in Chennai suburbs almost six years to restore EIR-21 (East Indian Raillway-21), a coal-guzzling steam engine to its original form.  “The engine had retired from Railways in 1910 after 55 years of glorious service. She was resting in the Railway Museum at Jamalpur in Bihar. Since no one in the country had thought of  preserving  heritages like steam locomotives, the engine remained uncared and unnoticed.

It was only after the restoration and re-run of EIR-22, an old and dilapidated  loco engine, we came across the fact that another engine had been imported along with it. The search took us to the Railway Museum where we found EIR-21 in a pathetic situation. She had lost all her charms. The components were missing and was almost like a shell,” P R Satyapal, senior section engineer, PLW, told DNA.