Identify this steam loco?

[John Ashworth]

A colleague sent this picture with the following comment:

From a private album.... Named THE MARTIN ..... Any suggestions.. Suspect its Indian...

[Ian Roberts]

I think you are correct on it being Indian.
Most likely candidate is one of the Indian State Railways metre gauge standard class A 2-4-0Ts
These were built by Neilson in three batches between 1872 and 1880 for a total of 36 locos.
It looks like one of the earlier batch as there is a photo of one of the 1880 batch with a different cabside in the Continental Railway Circle Publication Indian Locomotives Part 2 Page 62.
The loco in the photo you posted shows a basically similar loco with what may be one of the earlier batch modified locally.
The name seemed to indicate a Martin & Co loco, however they appeared to operate only 2' 6" narrow gauge lines.

[Ian Roberts]

Looking at the photo a little closer, the locals would seem to be African rather than Indian.
I wonder if this is a construction loco shipped from India to East Africa.

[John Ashworth]

Thanks, Ian. My first thought was also that it might be an ex-Indian loco in East Africa. However the bloke who sent it to me is quite an expert on East African railways and I would have thought he would have recognised it if it were from East Africa. Interesting puzzle!

[John Ashworth]

Ah, I've just contacted him and this is his reply:

You are right its an A Class on the UR in 1912.. Just been updated on it...

Full marks to me and Ian!

[Ian Roberts]

A little more information from the same book.

Bombay, Baroda and Central India had a total of 6 Class A 2-4-0Ts, of these two were sent to the Uganda Railway in 1897.

This would appear to be the closest we can get to the Indian origins of this loco.

As an interesting aside the loco in the photo has a non-standard version of the coupler.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Interesting little loco!