[ssambyal1980]

Visiting a museum is basically a journey into the bygone era from wherein the future evolved. Apart from satiating the appetite for knowledge a visit to the museum becomes full of fun and joy when it’s related to something of your liking. This is what exactly happened with me when I visited the ‘Heritage Transport Museum’. The museum is one of a kind which explores the evolution of transportation in India. Spread over more than 3 acres, the exhibits at the museum focus on the transport history of India. The museum has attracted many avid motoring enthusiasts since its opening. The urge to visit the museum became prominent after I read a newspaper article about it last year. So after chalking out a brief plan finally visited it in February this year. This pictorial tour of the museum is a small effort from my end to share the joy which I experienced.

Preview





















Location: The museum is situated at distance of around 40 kms from Gurgaon on Bilaspur-Taoru road. While coming from Delhi/Gurgaon side on NH-48 (Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer Expressway) the road to the museum is a left turn from Bilaspur Chowk. From Bilaspur Chowk the museum is at a distance of 7 km.

Courtesy Google Maps



Tour Itinerary: It was decided to make the visit a day trip as such started off at 0715 Hrs. Stopped at Oasis, Karnal for the breakfast. From Panipat took a detour towards Rohtak to avoid the morning Delhi rush hour. Another reason was to explore the Panipat-Rohtak Highway (NH-709). After crossing Rohtak and Jhajjar took another detour towards Pataudi to be on the Pataudi-Bilaspur road. Intersected the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-48) at Bilaspur Chowk to be on the Bilaspur-Taoru road. The museum is about 7 km from Bilaspur Chowk situated on Delhi-Jaipur Highway NH-48.

Route Taken: Courtesy Google Maps



After covering a distance of 343 km, reached museum by 1300 Hrs. After parking the car went inside and bought tickets. Ticket Cost: INR 400/- per person.

First look...The artistic traffic signal design in the museum lawn.



The Ambience

Eyecatchers!!! Tata truck bonnet.




And the older one.




Lets enter...Bike handles have been used as door handles!!!






The unique front desk made from car body.




And the chair made from Vespa Scooter frame.






The first exhibit...Maruti 800 the car that changed the Indian automotive scene.






Amby's dicky converted into a sofa. Notice the side tables made from wheel rims!!!




Omni's frontend as LED TV mount.




Nissan One Tonner's Bonnet adds to the ambience in the canteen.



Suspended Beauty...The one adorned with RVM's






Bus ORVM's as vanity mirrors in the washroom add to the ambience.




Had a quick bite in the canteen before proceeding further.

[ssambyal1980]

The museum has been divided into different sections, each displaying different category of exhibits.

The prominent sections covered are:
1. Pre-Mechanized Transportation
2. Railways
3. Heavy Mechanized Transportation
4. Automobile Gallery
5. Aviation
6. Maritime
7. Two Wheelers

History: To begin with there are exhibits showing the evolution of transportation starting with the invention of wheel and gradually moving on to pre-mechanized transport era of animal driven carriages and carts.


Artistic 'Clock Work'. Notice the different unusual clock shapes depicting Artificial Horizon Indicator, Disc Brake, Compass, Wheels and Gear.




The most interesting exhibit is an old toy bird cart dating back to Indus Valley Civilization. This toy bird cart symbolizes the importance of wheel in the history of mankind.

Miniature Toy Bird Cart (1000-800 BC) Indus Valley Civilization




Evolution of Wheel...Wheels used in carts and chariots.




Gradually moving to bicycle wheel and automobile wheel.








Pre Mechanized Transportation: The pre mechanized section displays two categories of transport:
1. Animal Driven Carriages & Carts
2. Human Bearer Carriers
Both these categories of transport were widely used in pre independent India.


Animal Driven Carriages & Carts: In animal driven carriages a diverse range was employed in different parts of country varying in the choice of animal, number of animals employed and the nature of seating. The carriages on display are from the bygone era and are no longer used. These include Tamjham, Rath, Tanga, Baili, Dhumney & Kajawa.


Carriages were drawn by horses and were mostly used by the royals and the elite.








A Royal Carriage.




Lamp frames used as light source on carriages.




Carts were mostly drawn by bullocks and were a common mean of transport for the masses.












Human Bearer-Carriers: Palanquin, a human bearer-carrier mode of transport was widely used by both Europeans and Indians throughout pre independent India. It had many variations like Miayana, Palki, Doli etc. It was popularly used for both city and extended travel. Most Europeans and Indians kept their own team of palanquin bearers. The number of carriers varied according to the type of palanquin used. The bearer team was selected on the basis of uniform height. Hired palanquins were also available on short notice. Palanquins were a very common sight on the streets of Calcutta. Steuart & Co. was a leading manufacturer of coaches and palanquins in Calcutta City.

The Palanquins.

[ssambyal1980]

Railways: In the railways the main exhibit is a look alike of a railway station with a track and platform. Added attraction is a actual coach which lies parked on the track. The name of the coach is 'Jodhpur Saloon'.

Jodhpur Saloon: The Indian royalty had great interest in the development of the steam engines and many erstwhile Maharajas commissioned their own saloons and railways by the 1880s. The Maharaja of Jodhpur HE Jaswant Singh also built his own little railway. The saloon on display in the museum is a railway carriage built during the British era and it originally belonged to Bombay Baroda & Central India (BB & CI) Railway. It was manufactured in Ajmer in 1930 for the use of the agents of BB & CI Railway.

Many such carriages were built during the British era for the travel of the Royals Heads and Viceroys as well as important dignitaries. After the independence the Indian Railways discontinued the use of these luxury carriages owing to high maintenance costs. It was in 1982 when Rajasthan Government took keen interest to start a heritage train for the tourists which was christened as ‘Palace on Wheels’. The carriage on display in the museum was one of the first to be used in the train. Since then it has been renamed as ‘Jodhpur Saloon’. It remained in operation till 1991 when modern carriages were introduced.


The 'Jodhpur Saloon'.








Interiors of the Saloon.




Absolute Royal Splendor.




Railway station ambience created within the museum.




Notice the old advertisements on the wall.




Two old steam engines on display in the museum lawn.

[ssambyal1980]

Heavy Mechanized Transportation: This section exhibits medium and heavy passenger transport vehicles of the by gone era. It includes old restored buses and vans. The colourful truck art adds to the ambience of the place.

Hindustan Bedford Bus (Model: 1969)




Hindustan Bedford Van (Model: 1960)




International Bus (Model: 1952)






Dodge Bus (Model: 1965)








Jeep Pick Up (Model: 1958)




Volkswagen Kombi Van (Model: 1968)




Tata School Bus (Model: 1968)






Passenger Bus (1950s)




The ever colourful 'Truck Art'.

[ssambyal1980]

Automobile Gallery: This section exhibits different types of cars that once ran on Indian roads. An exact look alike of an old refueling station has also been created to give a feel of the bygone times. An old shopping street look alike with model shops has been created behind the exhibits to add to ambience of good old times.

To begin with, the smallest car among the exhibits is India’s first three wheeler car ‘Badal’. The Badal first appeared in India in 1975 and was manufactured by Sunrise Auto Industries Ltd, Bangalore. The vehicle was powered by an Italian made rear mounted 198 cc single cylinder 2-stroke engine with a 4 speed constant-mesh gearbox. Braking was fitted to the real wheels only and the fiber glass body featured just 3 doors and housed a 4-seater cabin.

Badal (Wheelbase: 67 Inches, Engine: Single Cylinder 2 Stroke, Displacement: 198 cc)




Badged in the Indian market as the Standard Herald, the Herald was originally heavily dependent on British parts, but these were gradually replaced by indigenous items specifications as local content increased. By 1965 engines, gearboxes, and axles were all made in India.

Standard Herald (Model: 1962) (Wheelbase: 91 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 948 cc)



A separate space has been accorded to exhibits from India’s very own Hindustan Motors (HM). The company was founded by renowned industrialist Mr. B M Birla in 1942. Hindustan Motors was market leader in car sales in India until 1980s when the markets opened up to foreign automobile manufacturers. Hindustan Motors was the producer of the popular Ambassador motorcar, which was once a mainstream car in India, based on 1956 Morris Oxford series III and was in production from 1957 until 2014.




HM Ambassador Mark 1 (Model: 1969) (Wheelbase: 97 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1500 cc)




HM Ambassador Mark 2 (Model: 1964) (Wheelbase: 97 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1500 cc)




Hindustan Land Master (Model: 1954) (Wheelbase: 97 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1500 cc)




Hindustan Fourteen (Model: 1950) (Wheelbase: 97 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1500 cc)




An old poster depicting Ambassador performance and economy figures.




Another immensely popular Indian car the Premier Padmini.

Fiat Deluxe Padmini (Model: 1985) (Wheelbase: 95.3 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1089 cc)




One from the Tata’s Stable has also found a place in the museum.

Tata Estate (Model: 1995) (Wheelbase: 111.2 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1948 cc)




There is one from DC’s Creation as well. This car was driven by Shahrukh Khan in the movie ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’.








Moving on further the other exhibits in the automobile gallery are foreign manufactured cars of the by gone era with most of them being vintage classics. The latest and the oldest among them are both from the Mercedes stable.

The latest one from the Mercedes is a S Class 280 once owned by Airtel CEO Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Mercedes S Class 280




The oldest car on display is the Benz 8/20 PS Runabout Tourer which is a 1914 model. This classic was first introduced in 1912 and was mass produced. It started the era of what was known as ‘Brass Era’ cars. The very car in the exhibit was acquired by Rao Bahadur P.C Muthu Chettiar, a prominent land lord from Madras Presidency. The car remained with the family for over a century. The dignitaries who once travelled in the car were Lady & Lord Willingdon, Governor of Madras who later became the Viceroy and Governor General of India. This car is apparently oldest recorded Mercedes Benz car in India and is one of only four in existence worldwide!!!

Benz 8/20 PS Runabout Tourer (Model: 1914) (Wheelbase: 112.2 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1950 cc)




Renault (Model: 1961) (Wheelbase: 92.5 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 747 cc)

[ssambyal1980]

Ford Super Deluxe Station Wagon (Model: 1946) (Wheelbase: 114 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder V8, Displacement: 3900 cc)




Mercury Sedan (Model: 1946) (Wheelbase: 118 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder V8, Displacement: 3900 cc)




Ford Phaeton (Model: 1938) (Wheelbase: 112 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder V8, Displacement: 3622 cc)




Hudson Commodore Sedan (Model: 1948) (Wheelbase: 124 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 4300 cc)




Buick Series Limousine (Model: 1935) (Wheelbase: 135 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder Inline, Displacement: 5650 cc)






Nash 600 Series Slipstream Sedan Delux (Model: 1946) (Wheelbase: 118 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 2800 cc)




Studebaker Champion (Model: 1949) (Wheelbase: 112 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 2800 cc)




Desoto Diplomat Convertible (Model: 1954) (Wheelbase: 114 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 3600 cc)






Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Convertible (Model: 1957) (Wheelbase: 118 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder V8, Displacement: 4800 cc)






Chevrolet Phaeton (Model: 1932) (Wheelbase: 109 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 3179 cc)






Classics

[ssambyal1980]

Buick Eight (Model: 1946) (Wheelbase: 124 inches, Engine: 8 Cylinder, Displacement: 4100 cc)




Plymouth Savoy (Model: 1956) (Wheelbase: 114 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 3600 cc)




Plymouth (Model: 1959)




Chevrolet








Chevrolet Master Deluxe 2 Door Coupe (Model: 1941) (Wheelbase: 116 inches, Engine: 6 Cylinder, Displacement: 3600 cc)




Land Rover Series 1 (Short Wheelbase) (Wheelbase: 88 inches, Engine: 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 1997 cc)




Motor Spirit filling station of 1950s-60s.

[ssambyal1980]

Aviation: This section deals with the evolution and growth of Indian aviation sector right from the pre independence period. Noticeably visible is a restored 1940s Piper J3C Cub aircraft, in its signature chrome yellow suspended mid air.

Piper J3C Cub 1940










Maritime Gallery: A small section has been dedicated to Maritime History of India. This gallery depicts the history of India's inland waterways, their evolution and decline, and the story of the Ganges alongside models of boats, navigational maps, etchings, and aquatints.




Automobile Art: In this section are the vehicles which have been aesthetically decorated by various artists in various art forms.

Auto Rickshaw Art






Humara Bajaj Pop Cult






Royal Enfield Crystal Encrusted




Contessa Classic Encrusted with 18,902 One Rupee Coins






Dodge Pick Up Van




HM Ambassador Mark 2






A surprise exhibit is a Formula One car!!!

[ssambyal1980]

Indigenous Transport: This section has various types of vehicles which were once a popular mode of transport.

The ‘Phat Phatiya‘ three wheeler which was once a popular mode of transport in Delhi.






The Gujarati 'Chakda'




‘Tempo Three Wheeler’ which was also a quite popular mode of public transport. The unique aspect about this vehicle was that it was the only front wheel drive three wheeler.




‘Jugaad’ a popular mode of transport in rural India.






Two Wheelers: This gallery showcases the evolution of early two wheelers in India including bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds.

'World Tour' Motorcycle: Anindya Chakravarty founder of indiabikes.com along with Ranjan Bharati went around the world on this 110 cc Suzuki Shogun Motorcycle in the year 1995 in an attempt to create new world record for circumnavigating the world on the minimum cc motorcycle with a pillion rider. In the beginning they covered 40000 kms in India before the start of world tour. Outside they covered 36000 kms in 19 countries in 240 days around the globe. The motorcycle required 5 pistons and 2 complete engines to achieve this feat. The museum received the bike as a donation.

Suzuki Shogun ‘World Tour Bike’




Vespa 150






An Old Bike




Lambretta Moped 1947




Atlas Spedomatic Moped




One for the ‘Harley Davidson’






BSA WM20 Motorcycle 1940




Lambretta Scooters






Concept Bike

[ssambyal1980]

Human powered transport

Bicycle




Cycle Rickshaw




Pulled Rickshaw




Calcutta Rickshaw 1910




Yet another pleasant surprise is the ‘Calcutta Tram Car’.

Calcutta Tram Car














An old Cadillac Limousine parked outside the museum.





And the parting shot.



After spending nearly 5 hours at the museum it was time to leave. To sum up, a visit to the Heritage Transport Museum is a must do for anyone who is interested in automobiles and transport. The visit not only makes one immensely aware about the evolution of transportation in India but also transfers the visitor in a nostalgic world and at the end one comes out thoroughly refreshed both mentally and physically after an immensely unique experience. Highly recommended!!!

On the return trip it was decided to take the normal but chaotic route through Gurgaon and Delhi. Started from the museum at 1755 Hrs. Crossed Delhi by 2030 Hrs to re-enter Haryana at Kundli . Stopped at Murthal for dinner. Finally after a drive of 318 km reached base by 0055 Hrs. A total distance of 661 km was covered during the day in 11 hours and 5 minutes. The long drive was like an icing on the cake apart from the visit to the museum.

Return Route Taken: Courtesy Google Maps



Thanks

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[GrammarNazi]

Very very tastefully done up! Really appreciable amount of raw detail has been put into the place! An absolute treat for all automotive enthusiasts!

Thank you for putting up this thread like a virtual tour & a BIG thanks for them to allow it!

I will be sure to visit on my next trip up north!

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Very very tastefully done up! Really appreciable amount of raw detail has been put into the place! An absolute treat for all automotive enthusiasts!

Thank you for putting up this thread like a virtual tour & a BIG thanks for them to allow it!

I will be sure to visit on my next trip up north!

Thanks alot for your kind words of appreciation. Indeed it was a joyful experience beyond words to visit the Heritage Transport Museum and sharing the same on Team BHP is like an icing on the cake.

[PapaBravo]

Super Coverage ssambyal1980. Thank you for taking us on a virtual tour of the Museum. Will plan a visit next time I am in the capital. Would also like to thank you for writing the names of vehicles in each picture. It makes the report very engaging.

Rating 5*

Cheers,

Pawan

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Super Coverage ssambyal1980. Thank you for taking us on a virtual tour of the Museum. Will plan a visit next time I am in the capital. Would also like to thank you for writing the names of vehicles in each picture. It makes the report very engaging.

Rating 5*

Cheers,

Pawan

Thanks a ton bro for your priceless motivation. It's all because of like minded enthusiasts like you that Team BHP has become a place to be. Please do visit the museum whenever to get time. You will definitely going to love it.

Best Regards
Cheers