because inhabitants of Munghyr had been the mechanics by trade for centuries, famous for manufacturing of iron wares, guns, pistols, spears and other works. When the selection was made it was probably thought that Jamalpur would be on the proposed mainline of EIR which was subsequently changed and was directed to Delhi via Ranigunj, Gaya, Mughalsarai, Allahabad and Kanpur. Initially, Jamalpur was only an engine changing station and light repairs were done in the running shed there. The original headquarters of the locomotive department of EIR was located at Howrah had a great draw back because it was too confined for extensions as and when needed. At Howrah, the original workshop was supposed to handle building of locomotives, carriage and wagons. Vital statistics Achievements Jamalpur workshop is the only workshop in Indian Railways that has a 5 MVA captive power house The workshop has a number of FIRSTS in India to its credit, a few of which are: The First to manufacture a steam locomotive and a locomotive boiler – 216 of which were manufactured between 1899 and 1923. The First to have set up a rolling mill not only on the railways, but probably in the country in 1870. It had 3 mills, steam driven Power hammer, fish plate machine, billet shears, the mill was driven by steam from boilers placed on the top of the furnaces and heated by gas from the furnaces. It produced about 400 tons of rounds, channels, angles and fishplates per month. The First to establish a railway foundry in the year 1893. The First to manufacture a rail crane in the country with indigenous know-how in 1961. The First to manufacture high capacity electrical lifting jacks and ticket printing, ticket chopping, ticket slitting and ticket counting machines. The First and the only railway workshop to manufacture electrical arc furnaces of ½ tonne capacity in 1961 for production of steel castings. The First to establish a Signal Equipment shop, more popularly known as "Points and Crossing and Interlocking shop" which was started in 1894. It produced all the interlocking frames of different sizes for the EIR The First and only to manufacture 140 Tonne Diesel Break-down Cranes. Preserved JMP locomotives The following are some of the preserved locomotives built by Jamalpur locomotive workshop marked as JMP: IRIMEE The Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (also known as IRIMEE) at Jamalpur is the