Private company

Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops

Railway workshop in southern India

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.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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The story

This central workshop was set up in 1897 by South Indian Railways at Nagapattinam to maintain steam locomotives. South Indian Railways decided to move the workshop to Trichinopoly (present-day Tiruchirappalli) because of its better location. The foundation stone of the Tiruchchirappalli workshop was laid by Mrs. R.P. Munro on 20 December 1926, and work was completed in 1928.

The workshop had state-of-the-art facilities, including a powerhouse which generated electricity for the workshop and the colony. Golden Rock's railway colony was one of Tiruchirappalli's first locations with electric lighting. The workshop repaired Royal Air Force planes during World War II.

The workshop covers about 200 acres (81 ha), of which 26 acres (11 ha) is under cover. It has a 600-metre-long (660 yd), 80-foot-wide (24 m) transfer table.

In 2018, Golden Rock had 6,091 employees. The workshop primarily maintains coaches and diesel and heritage steam locomotives and manufactures wagons.

From Wikipedia’s article on Golden Rock Locomotive Workshops, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.³

Products and brands

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

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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. The workshop produces container wagons for 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.