The Ramgotty story goes back to 1863, when a private firm called the Indian Branch Railway Company, opened the 27 km line from Nalhati to Azimganj, both places in present-day West Bengal. The track was four feet wide but later widened to five and a half feet (broad gauge). It was actually laid on the public road between the two places. This was one of the many feeder lines being laid to connect with major railway stations as the British, after the 1857 uprising, decided to connect India with railway and telegraph lines. The railways would serve both to extract and transport natural resources as well as move troops to keep the land subjugated, while the telegraph would hasten communication, again easing administration and control. The 20-tonne steam locomotive was built by Anjubault in Paris France in 1862.
