Which were the earliest diesel locomotives in the Indian subcontinent?

In 1915, a 2'6" gauge diesel loco was supplied to the India Office by Avonside (Bristol). This is presumed to have worked on some tea plantation in Assam.

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1921, a 2'0" gauge 0-4-0 diesel loco built by Baugleys of Burton-on-Trent was delivered to Bengal.

In 1923, two diesel locos built by Ruton Proctor of Lincoln were used on the Barsi Light Railway.

In 1929, a 2'0" gauge 0-4-0 diesel loco was supplied by Maffei (Germany) to C K Andrew, London, for delivery to India. Their ultimate use and disposition in India is not known.

Two 420hp (or 350hp?) dual-cab BG diesel shunters from William Beardmore (with electrical components from GEC) were used by the North-Western Railway (now in Pakistan) in 1930.

In 1934, an Armstrong-Whitworth diesel-electric railcar was delivered to NWR for use on the 2'6" Kalka-Simla.

In 1935, two 1200hp BG diesel-electric locos with 8-cylinder Armstrong-Sulzer engines, built by Armstrong-Whitworth, were obtained by NWR for trials on the Karachi-Lahore line in preparation for a proposed new Karachi-Bombay route. They had a 1A-C-2 wheel arrangement. None of these experiments proved successful and the locos were in all cases withdrawn very soon.

Ceylon Government Railways obtained one diesel-electric shunter and two diesel-electric mixed traffic locos in 1934 from Armstrong Whitworth. The two mixed traffic locos were actually made for the Indian State Railways (as they were then known) but turned out to be of too low a power for their requirements and were sold to CGR. These proved unsuitable and were sent to Argentina in 1937, and ultimately scrapped soon thereafter.

Between 1930 and 1940, various Indian industrial concerns obtained 14 diesel locos. Bagnall in conjunction with Duetz supplied a 4-speed 22-25hp diesel loco (Duetz PM 2117 design) in 1934 to Bundla Beta Tea Co., Assam for the Pengarie-Digboi trolley line. It had a top speed of about 15km/h. In 1936, BBCI obtained one diesel-electric shunter from Armstrong-Whitworth which survived into the 1950's. In 1940, the Jamnagar and Dwarka Railway obtained one MG diesel from Brookville (USA).

In the mid-1930s, the Nizam's State Railways obtained a few diesel railcars from Ganz. These were in use until the 1950s or so. Ganz supplied NWR in 1939-40 with some diesel railcars as well. Some of these were allocated to India when NWR assets were split following the partition of British India.

In 1944-45, the USATC supplied 15 GE-built BG Bo-Bo diesel locos with Caterpillar engines to WR. These were mid-cab machines with short and narrow hoods on either side. Several of these were working until about 1990, when they were withdrawn and scrapped. One is preserved at the Diesel Loco Works, Varanasi.

In 1949, a few MG diesel-mechanical locos built by Fowler were imported by IR for use in the arid regions of Saurashtra. One of these is preserved at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi. In 1955, 20 'DY' diesels by North British were imported for use, also in Saurashtra (MG). The locos of the second batch were reclassified as YDM-1's.

Source: IRFCA