The Golden Rock Railway Workshop (officially the Central Workshop, Golden Rock, abbreviated GOC), in Ponmalai (Golden Rock), Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, is one of three railway workshops serving Indian Railways’ Southern Railway zone. The workshop is part of the railways’ Mechanical Department. The other two Southern Railway workshops (Carriage Works and Loco Works) are in Perambur, Chennai.
Business activities
Diesel locomotive maintenance
Diesel and electric locomotive POH began at Golden Rock in 1969 to accommodate SR and SCR, with a capacity of one locomotive every two months. Its capacity was increased to 10 locomotives per month in July 1990 to meet the needs of five railways: Southern, South Central, South Western, West Central and North Western Railways. The workshop’s present capacity is 12 locomotives per month. In addition to locomotive overhaul, the diesel shop has the following support shops:
- Engine-block reclamation shop
- Cylinder-liner plating shop
- Coil-manufacturing shop
- Heavy electrical repair shop
Carriage maintenance
GOC performs the following carriage maintenance:
- Overhauling Nilgiri Mountain Railway and BG coaches
- Refurbishing interior furnishings as part of midlife rehabilitation
- Furnishing inspection cars
- Retrofitting stainless-steel floors
- Refurbishing toilets
- 12–18 month POH
The workshop also manufactures and converts Nilgiri Mountain Railway coaches and exports old MG coaches after maintenance and remodeling by RITES.
Wagon manufacturing
GOC, which began manufacturing wagons in 1962, has produced 34,901 wagons in 53 designs.[2] The workshop produces container wagons for the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR).
Production wing
The workshop’s production wing focuses on manufacturing components required for locomotive and carriage maintenance and wagon manufacturing. It supplies wheels for rolling-stock maintenance and manufactures steam locomotives for the Nilgiri Mountain and Darjeeling Himalayan Railways. The wing includes a tool room and foundry, diesel component, machine, wheel, fabrication and smithy, erecting and mechanical millwright shops. The Mechanical Millwright Shop maintains machinery and equipment, including overhead cranes, material-handling equipment and other special-purpose machines. Over 1,200 pieces of machinery are installed at GOC.
In August 2021, an X-class coal-fired steam locomotive manufactured for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) was dispatched by road to Mettupalayam for trials prior to operational deployment.
