The Darjeeling-Himalayan Mountain Railway
In
the most easterly part of the Himalayas the mountains rear up abruptly
towards Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. This has given rise to a unique
railway system; the Darjeeling-Himalayan Mountain Railway, It has
earned itself fame as one of the most spectacular railway journeys in
the world. When my son Scott and I decided to visit Kalimpong a few
years back it was never doubted that we would make the trip via
Darjeeling on the ‘Toy Train’. We were not disappointed.
The
journey was a delight as the scenery changed gradually: from the dense
green of the Terai Forest to the almost alpine landscape of the
Himalayan foothills. The Terai, which is the rapidly vanishing jungle
region at the base of the eastern Himalayas, surprised us with a road
sign warning of elephants crossing the road (one I’ve never seen in
Milton Keynes). For the first fifteen or twenty miles the incline was
hardly noticeable, however that soon changed. As the track became
steeper we entered a series of tight loops, one is known as the ‘Agony
Loop, for it is both very tight and very steep. The incline is at times
one in twenty-three which I am told is as steep as one can get in a
railway system. As well as extra water the trains carry sand to spread
on the track to stop slippage. As we ascended we were regularly treated
to glimpses of the River Teesta and as we made progress in our 51 mile
journey, the snowy peaks of the mighty Himalayas came closer and
eventually took over the northern skyline. Most of our readers are
familiar with the sight, but it had been almost sixty years since I had
left Kalimpong and my son Scott had never been. I have seen the Swiss
Alps and the Zagros range but the Himalayas are really serious
mountains. The range includes half a dozen mountains that are only
slightly smaller than Everest and dozens that are much higher than any
of the European peaks.
It is not only
the natural scenery that captivated us, we loved the villages and we
glimpsed one of the Tibetan monasteries that have sprung up on the
mountainside. An amusing feature of the ride was the small boys who
hitched a lift on the side of the train, the smiling faces that were to
become one of the lasting memories of the Himalayan foothills. We had
the chance of taking refreshments at Tindharia where the small diesel
that had brought us up from Siliguri was replaced by one of the
original steam locomotives. Several people were readying the train and
even though we are not railway enthusiasts we were fascinated by the
process of firing up the furnace and experiencing the smells, steam and
smoke and the tootings and ‘chuffings’ that are unique to a steam
railway.
A few times we
seemed to be passing through people’s back gardens. There were 176
level crossings so we competed for space with regular road users
especially in the villages. The trains whistle was rarely silent as a
consequence. We took First Class which was only Rs. 350 or around six
pounds or nine dollars at the time. It was definitely the better of the
two carriages; the journey took around eight hours, if we had taken the
jeep we could have arrived five hours earlier.
The
railway took three years to build and was completed in 1881. It was
originally described as a tramway. I believe the early passengers had
to 'rough it' in what was little more than a canvas covered trolley
with simple wooden benches for seats. When I first saw how narrow the
track was I was a bit worried, the rails are separated by only two feet
(60cms) which is less than half that of a conventional railway system.
The extremely narrow gauge is necessary to allow the train to get round
the tight bends and loops. In its heyday there were 50 or so trains, I
saw three or four so the number has dwindled. Over the years the little
trains must have carried millions of passengers and perhaps a million
tons of goods. In one of its best years over 50,000 tons and 250,000
passengers were transported. The prosperity and early development of
the Darjeeling district and the tea industry owes much to the little
railway.
The difficulty in
taking a railway up mountains is considerable and we were told that the
challenges encountered gave rise to an innovation in railway
engineering; the chief engineer was poring over his drawings on evening
and complained that it was just impossible to get up a particularly
difficult stretch, it just couldn’t be done without excavating a long
tunnel. His wife who was looking over his shoulder suggested that the
train could zigzag up the incline! At first he laughed at the idea, but
later on it was the method adopted and ’the reverse’, as it is known
was invented. A Loop is a means of gaining height by circling back on
itself then crossing a bridge.
The
engineering achievements in building the railway had to be matched by
the train itself, they were built in Scotland by Sharp Stewart of
Glasgow. A feature of the train is the saddle-like object sitting on
top of the boiler; this is an extra water tank. The extra weight of the
water als helps gain some the traction on steep inclines.
The
railway and locomotives have a much better chance of surviving now that
the UN is supplying funds and support, how long they can last is
anybody’s guess but I hope that future generations will be able to
experience the ride. I am quite optimistic as there are some skilled
people available locally; professional renovations have been carried
out on at least one of the locomotives in south India. One of the
locomotives was returned to the UK via a period in an American museum.
Now in a museum in Oxfordshire, for a short time it saw service on the
Ffestiniog mountain railway in Wales.
In
1999 the railway was designated a ‘World Heritage Site’ by the United
Nations. If any of our readers is keen on railways and would like to
find out more, they can get in touch with the Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway Heritage Foundation which is a non-profit organisation; details
can be found on the Internet.
We enjoyed our trip very much and would
urge everyone planning a visit to that part of the world to take the
toy train; the scenery and atmosphere are unrivalled, additionally I
know of no other steam train conservation project in India, so giving
them your business will help keep the very special and unique part of
India’s heritage alive
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Heritage Foundation
www.dhrs.org
The Internet is an excellent resource for information on the DHR, try Wikipedia first.
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