“Those who refuse or fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.”

Though a local statesman once asked, “Is history edible?’’; it has been found that history repeats itself. “History is the story about the past that is significant and true– and the significance is determined by the evidence present, and the word true means and perspective well supported by facts.”

CEYLON RAILWAY was a creation as part of the buildup of the British Empire. It was not a symbol of industrial modernity, but a monster for colonial expansion, timely tailored to suit the whims and fancies of the British Investors in London and the British Planters in Ceylon. With the introduction of the railway the colonial administrators made capital use of trading their “Steam engines and carriages for the train”, “The Iron rails and paraphernalia for the track”, “ Steel stanchions’ and platform roof covers”, for coffee, tea, spices, etc., by train from the areas of production to the port.

construction stage, the book vividly describes the “British Engineering Feats” achieved; earthworks, tunnels, bridges, and other structures, and furnishes a comparison of systems, methods and specifications followed in both countries, England and Ceylon, being note worthily critical of the issues and provides an opportunity to laugh out of count.