Kochi: Giant heritage clock ticks back to life, thanks to rail staff
Kochi: Despite not catering to passenger train traffic for nearly two decades, the Cochin Harbour Terminus (CHTS), one of the oldest stations, always figured prominently in the scheme of things for rail growth in the region. The Railways had even thought of running a ‘heritage train' on the Ernakulam-Harbour Terminus lane while initiating renovation of the station and replacement of old rail track in the eight-km section.
A giant old weight driven clock, with the dial alone over four metres in diameter, was a major attraction of the station set up way back in 1943. However, when renovation works got off, the authorities planned to remove the old station clock and provide a new electronic one. A few staff of the Ernakulam telecommunication and signalling department wanted to preserve the heritage clock and took it as a challenge to give it a new lease of life after obtaining nod of the divisional authorities.
“We decided to replace it as the clock was not functional for decades. Further, manual labour is needed as the clock works with the downward movement of a 25-kg ‘weight’ from its top. Once a week, the ‘weight’ had to be cranked to the top. However, the staff wanted it to be there,” said a senior official. A team of telecom staff, namely, V. M. Jubair, Vinod N. and Nanag Ram Meena, started working hard on it from March 2017.
“They spent most of the Sundays reviving the clock. But their initial efforts failed, and on a detailed study, it was found the measurement of the main pinion of the clock mechanism was not proper due to wear and tear,” he said. The pinion assembly could not be found in any shops in Ernakulam, and so the trio decided to manufacture one by themselves and inserted it within three weeks.
The ‘grandfather’ clock started ticking but died down soon. They decided to manufacture one more pinion wheel, with more precision and it succeeded.The metal frame structure of the clock dial was rusted, front glass broken at two places. To give a good look, they decided to restore all these features, to make the clock visually similar to the original.Metal frame painted in black and white acrylic sheet used for the background. A transparent acrylic sheet was used as the front glass. And finally, the heritage clock of CHTS station was brought back to life.
