Madras Beach Station & General Post Office, 1928 PC

Old 1928 photo postcard of the Beach Railway Station & General Post Office in Madras (Chennai). The Beach Station was opened in 1928. It is a part of the Southern Railway circuit in Parry’s Corner. The photo shows the Madras Beach Station situated in its old location ie just behind the General Post Office (GPO).

The location of the Madras Beach Station does not seem to be the same today. The station at present lies diagonally opposite the General Post Office. And there is a road running in between the station and the GPO. The road is North Beach Road. It appears there was reclamation and redevelopment of the beach railway area sometime back. In the process, the station may have been relocated accordingly.

The other landmarks close by are Parry’s Corner, High Court, harbour, etc. Completed in 1884, the GPO building was designed by Robert Chisolm. The twin towers caps were of the Kerala style. Influenced by Chisholm’s assignment on the Napier Museum’s design in Trivandrum completed in 1880. Unfortunately, both the caps flew off from the twin towers around the 1940s after a cyclonic storm. It has never been replaced since then. There is an interesting annotation on the back of the postcard see image. Click on the photo for better view.

Did you know – the Beach to Tambaram line was electrified in 1931, steam locomotive was discontinued.

From the collection – M F Hussain Painting – Air India Advertising 1960., Bombay University Convocation Hall – Old Photo 1890., Great Eastern Hotel Kolkata, Old Postcard 1905.