Railway Workshop opens infrastructure and Sculpture Park to the public

The Golden Rock Railway Workshop at Ponmalai on Saturday opened its gate for the general public to enable them to have a look at its infrastructure and take part in Ayudha puja celebrations.

The railway administration made arrangements for the visitors to have a safe and pleasant time at the premier workshop of the Indian Railways.

Established during the colonial era in 1928 at Golden Rock, the workshop is involved in a myriad of activities such as overhaul of diesel locomotives, maintenance of coaches, MEMU rakes and wagons besides carrying out maintenance of Vande Bharat express trains and steam locomotives operating in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

The main attraction for the visitors inside the sprawling premises was the Sculpture Park situated near the West Gate. The park contained fabricated models made from scrap generated in various shops functioning inside the workshop. The park now has 23 sculptures made of discarded engineering materials such as a vintage car, bike, jeep, aircraft, missile, rocket, landmarks such as Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa and sculptures with social messages such as ‘Save Earth’ and ‘Break the Shackle’.

The multi-view anamorphic sculpture of former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Mahatma Gandhi near the West Gate was also a special attraction for the visitors.

Exhibits of old photographs and models at the Workshop Training Centre were viewed with keen interest by the visitors.  The visitors of all ages saw the exhibits with great enthusiasm, a press release from the workshop said.