Viceroy Special

Viceroy Special
Overview
Locale	Sri Lanka
Transit type	inter-city rail charter
Operation
Began operation	1986^[1]
Operator(s)	Sri Lanka Railways (owner) & J.F. Tours & Travels (Ceylon) Ltd (operator).^[2]
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (Indian gauge)

The Viceroy Special is a special passenger train service operated by J.F. Tours & Travels (Ceylon) Ltd.^[2] Powered by the sole steam locomotive kept in operation in Sri Lanka, it is operated as a private train on all railway lines in the island. The 75-year-old luxury train has two air-conditioned observation saloons and a restaurant car.

History

The launch of the Viceroy Special was spearheaded by Hemasiri Fernando and Cliff Jones.^[3] The idea of re-introducing steam to Sri Lanka rails was inspired by a tourism promotional visit to Sri Lanka in 1984 by Cliff Jones who, returning from a day trip to Kandy, called at Dematagoda loco sheds and saw, what he later described a graveyard of 'veritable massive tourism potential' and put the proposition to the then Minister of State Ananda de Tissa de Alweis who was wildly enthusiastic and with the tremendous help of GMR Manager and Hemasiri Fernando it came to fruition 2 years later. During the Second World War, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and Supreme Commander of All Forces in the South East Asian Command (SEAC) used a special train called the SEAC Special to travel to and from his headquarters in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This train was the inspiration for the Viceroy Special.^[3]

The Viceroy Special has been running for over 25 years.^[4]

Features

The Viceroy Special acts as a heritage service. Passenger carriages on the train are fitted with nineteenth-century period fittings and include a restaurant car, an observation car and a bar. It is also given some modern features like air-conditioning.^[2]

It is run by the only steam locomotive still in operation in Sri Lanka.

Charters

Scenery seen from hill-country Badulla-Colombo railway line

	Route
Hill Country Odyssey	Colombo to Nanu Oya

	Route
Sense of Heritage	Colombo to Kandy, with an excursion to Pinnewela

	Route
Glimpse of the Ocean	Coast line to Galle

Rolling stock

Currently three steam locomotives run the Viceroy Special service.^[5]

Class B1a No. 251 "Sir Thomas Maitland"
Class B1d No. 340 "Frederick North"
Class B2b No. 213

References

↑ ""Viceroy Special"". 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
1 2 3 Viceroy Vintage Train Tours
1 2 Vinodh Wickremeratne and Kanishka D. Perera. "Railways of Sri Lanka". The Viceroy Special. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
↑ Weerasuriya, Sanath. "'Viceroy Special' rolls on the track for 25 years". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
↑ http://www.infolanka.com/org/mrail/locos1.html

Rail transport in Sri Lanka

By Province	Central Province Eastern Province North Central Province Northern Province North Western Province Sabaragamuwa Southern Province Uva Western Province

Railway lines	Batticaloa Line Coastal Line Kelani Valley Line Main Line Mannar Line Matale Line Mihintale Line Northern Line Puttalam Line Trincomalee Line Uda Pussellawa railway (closed)

Stations	List of railway stations Railway stations by province List of railway stations by line

Trains	Locomotives Named passenger trains Boat mail

Operators/service providers	Sri Lanka Railways ExpoRail Rajadhani Express Viceroy Special

History	Railway accidents Bandarawela Hotel National Railway Museum

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