The World’s Oldest Locomotive at Cochin Harbour Terminus

The EIR 21 Express steam locomotive arrives at the Cochin Harbour Terminus as part of a heritage run. Along with her better known sister EIR 22 “Fairy Queen”, it is claimed to be the world’s oldest working (steam) locomotive. It was built in 1855 by Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson in Leeds, England and shipped to India. It worked hauling all kinds of trains on India’s earliest railway networks. Discontinued from service around 1901, it was revived and restored by the Perambur Loco Works, Chennai in 2011. This was taken during its first-ever scheduled heritage run in Kerala.