Darjeeling Himalayan Train
One of the most enjoyable of India's toy trains is the one linking the
town of New Jalpaiguri in the plains to the lovely hill station of
Darjeeling in West Bengal and is the narrowest of the regular narrow
gauges. The 88 Km long journey up the mountains in roughly 8 hours,
offer stunning and breathtaking view of the Himalayas.
This joy ride begins at New Jalpaiguri, a busy railway station in the
plains. The plains are much more warmer than the hills and as the train
climbs up the mountains the climate gets much colder. Therefore it is
advisable to keep warm clothes handy as one needs them. Leaving New
Jalpaiguri station the train passes through the outskirts of Siliguri
town and reaches Siliguri station. After a short halt the train leaves
Siliguri station and crosses the Mahanadi bridge over the Mahanadi river
which flows from the Himalayan foothills.
The Unique technology:
The construction of this line is considered a unique engineering feat
because of the steep gradient, sharp curves, Z - crossings, and loops
incorporated in the line. There is an interesting story on how the
construction engineer of the project suffered a major hitch once the
line reached Tindharia as the erosion in the hills made it nearly
impossible to employ a gradient within the limits of rail transport. The
engineer was almost on the verge of abandoning the project when his wife
reportedly said, "if you cannot go ahead lets go back". Back
was the catch behind the idea of a 'Z' - crossing where the train is
first pushed backward through an up gradient to reach a considerable
height before preceeding ahead and the line takes the shape of the
letter 'Z'. There are 6 such 'Z' - reverses along the 87.48 km journey
from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The line is laid more or less on the
same alignment as the Hill Cart Road, which cries-crosses the line at
177 points. There are three loops in the line, most famous being the
Batasia Loop between Ghoom and Darjeeling. Apart from these, the section
has five major and 498 minor bridges. Ghoom is the highest railway
station in the world to be reached by steam locomotive. The project cost
at that time was Rs. 52,000.
The Darjeeling Himalayan section has it's own workshop at Tindharia
where the major overhauling of locomotives, carriages and wagons is
undertaken, besides manufacturing of spares. The workshop also deals
with casting of ferrous and non-ferrous materials in its own foundry
shop and manufacturing of spring of different types in the blacksmith
Shop to meet the requirement of the sectionl. One of the oldest
locomotives of this section has been sent to the National Rail Museum,
New Delhi.
