The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) on Monday restored a turntable at the Kurseong railway station after a gap of 81 years.

Sources have said a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device used to turn the railway rolling stock (engine and coaches).

Kurseong, which is around 40km from here, is also the headquarters of the DHR, the heritage mountain railway that draws thousands of tourists to Darjeeling.

“We have successfully restored a heritage infrastructure of the DHR, a long-disused turntable in Kurseong. It was made operational on Monday. The turntable had been out of use since 1943. It will help in improving locomotive operations on the mountain railway,” DHR director Rishabh Choudhury said.

The turntable is generally used to turn locomotives in the opposite direction, especially in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weigh against the construction of a turnaround wye (a stretch of rail tracks to
reverse a loco).

Currently, the Darjeeling railway station has a turntable.

“Turntables were an essential feature of steam-era railways, allowing locomotives to be turned around efficiently. The revival of the facility will enable better handling of locomotives, reduce the need for complex reversing manoeuvres and ensure smooth operations along the New Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling route via Kurseong. This turntable will be used to reverse diesel locos and coaches,” said a DHR official.

The restored turntable, sources said, will also draw train enthusiasts to the hills. “Soon after the DHR celebrated the silver jubilee of the world heritage status that was conferred by the Unesco in 1999, this is a major development in the revival of a heritage infrastructure,” said a source.