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Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
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It was a crisp winter night in the year 1878. A glorious fire crackled on one side of the hall. The polished parquet floor of the planters club at Tindharia resonated with choreographed footsteps. The Sahibs (Gentlemen) and Memsahibs (Ladies) were attired in their best tails, frills and feather hats. The gaiety of the dancers was infectious. It was party-time.
But Franklin Prestage was not exactly having a ball. He seemed preoccupied although he let his wife lead him through the motions on the dance floor. His feverish mind was trying to figure out how to conquer that impossible gradient where his pet Darjeeling Tramway Project had got stuck. His wife gently led the distracted Prestage to the edge of the dance floor and when they were right at the brink, she swerved deftly and led him back centre – stage. “If you can’t go forward, why don’t you go back darling,” she is believed to have whispered in his ears.
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And that is precisely what Prestage did when he built the delightfully innovative Darjeeling Himalayan railway
(DHR). Franklin Prestage was an official of the Darjeeling Tramway Company. His dream was to build a narrow gauge rail track along the hill cart road alignment. But he could not proceed beyond the 14th mile due to the Steepness of the gradient. Until his wife inspired him with an ingenious solution, perhaps inadvertently. Every time, the gradient got too steep, Franklin brought the tracks back a few yards and let it climb again at a slightly different point, sketching a z-shaped zigzag-not once, but six times in the 51-mile stretch from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The inspiration he drew from his wife’s wisdom is now part of the Darjeeling folklore.
Journey :
New Jalpaiguri-Tindharia-Sukna-Rangtong-Chunbati-Ghum-Darjeeling
A ride on the DHR is not for the hurried and hassled traveller who is impatient to reach his destination. It’s for those who believe the journey is the destination. Much like a toy train strung together from match-boxes, the DHR balances on two-feet tracks moving at a maximum speed of 15-km an hour. It takes all of nine hours to reach Darjeeling from Siliguri and at quite a reasonable sum.
Imaginatively named coaches such as Shivalik, Kanchenjunga, etc with wide windows offer picture postcard views of Rhododendron slopes. Kanchenjunga in all her snowy glory, beckons you tantalisingly from every turn the train takes. In fact, there are so many turns and twists in the track that it seems as though the train is turning its head to check up on its rear from time to time. The train passes through bazaars so close that tourists can virtually lean out and help themselves to the merchandise in the shops.
It hugs the hillsides, giving one a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of the hill people. It seems to be a constant wonder for the locals who stop in their tracks to watch it go by just as their parents and grandparents must have done it in their time. Even as traffic on the narrow hill roads get snarled from time to time, the DHR gets right of way as it passes regally through the townships.
The officials hope that the World Heritage status will attract fun seekers and adventure lovers to Darjeeling. DHR might soon replace tea as the mascot of this lovely hill station. In fact, a trip to Darjeeling would be worth the effort just for the train ride. The DHR is a celebration, no less.
Before the DHR was built, travellers used ponies, which used to take several days through the meandering hill cart road. Now quaint little stations with even quainter names dot the route- Tindharia, Sukna, Rangtong, Chunbati and Ghum. The journey is as leisurely, but not at all strenuous unlike a pony ride. Each stretch offers a unique panorama.
The Sukna Tindharia stretch of the foothills traverses through the Singalela range where the train takes its first loop. The Terai forest unfolds near Rangtong. Here a visitor can experience his first reversing zigzag. Then it takes its next loop at Chunbati gaining height and voila! One can have a magnificent view of the Mahanandi valley on the right. At Tindharia, the train halts long enough get your legs streached, stroll and tuck into a snack with a steaming cup of tea before resuming the journey towards agony point- the aptly named loop just after Tindharia, which churns the contents of your stomach.
Soon the train heads for another reverse, the last one at 3,400 feet just after Gayabari station where monkeys seem to be absorbed in their conference. All it takes is a cone of peanuts to distract their concentration and abruptly terminate the solemn congregation. As the train winds its way, a massive scar on the hillside comes into view. Tourists will learn that it is Pagla Jhora or mad torrent, which in its fury washes away road and track, houses and shops every few years cutting off Darjeeling for days during the monsoons. The Mahanandi station gives one a glimpse of the source of the river. After Eagles Crag, tourists are treated to a spectacular vista of the West Bengal plains – if one is lucky that is.
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A World Heritage Site
The wake up call came and recently UNESCO declared DHR as a World Heritage Site. The world heritage site status puts DHR in the same exalted league as the hermitage in St. Petersburg, our very own Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, Hampi in South India and other such man-made marvels. A heritage site is one that is worthy of preservation and a legacy that is worth bequeathing to posterity. After simmering in the Austrian Alps, DHR is the second railway system in the world to be accorded the World Heritage status.
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