View on the Railway – Columbo to Kandy, Ceylon.
Photographer: Bourne and Shepherd
Medium: Photographic print
Date: 1870
Photograph of a railway line in Sri Lanka, from an Album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken by Bourne and Shepherd in the 1870s. The Ceylon Railway was conceived by the British in the 1850’s as an instrument to develop and unify the country. Service began in 1864, with the construction of the Main Line from Colombo to Ambepussa, 54 kilometers to the east. The first train ran on 27 December 1864. The Main Line was extended in stages, with the first train from Colombo to Kandy in 1867. This shows a line passing through tunnel in rock face on the Colombo to Kandy line. courtesy: The British Library Board