/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/INDIA: UNESCO Recognition Raises Hopes For Himalayan ‘Toy Train’

By Sujoy Dhar Reprint | | Print |

Sujoy Dhar

DARJEELING, India, Mar 13 2001 (IPS) - Visitors to this popular hill resort in the eastern Indian Himalayas come for the bracing mountain air and the spectacular view of the snow-covered Kanchenjunga – the third highest mountain in the world.

For over a century, they have also been drawn by the thrilling ride on the small train that brings them to Darjeeling, about 2,000 metres above sea level.

Known as the ‘toy train’ because of its small coaches and engine, the train travels some 80 km up the Himalayan foothills, starting from New Jalpaiguri in India’s eastern border West Bengal state. It stops at the world’s second highest altitude railway station at Ghoom, more than 2,200 metres above sea level.

It is still pulled – though only for a short distance – by a steam engine. On some days this is a century-old engine made in Britain and known as the ‘Hill Bird’.

The toy train, also known as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), reduced immensely the time of travel between the colonial British hill station of Darjeeling and Calcutta – the former capital of India’s colonial rulers.

According to official estimates, some 20,000 Indian tourists ride to Darjeeling on the toy train every year. Some 500 foreign tourists travelled on it last year.

Late last year, when the Hill Bird chugged out of New Jalpaiguri with three freshly-painted, blue coaches, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in Indian heritage tourism. On board were 70 Western tourists, led by Adrian Cadbury, the 71-year-old head of the global chocolate company.

“It’s a lifetime experience,” said Cadbury.

Nearly a century ago, famed US humorist Mark Twain had described his ride on the Darjeeling train as the happiest day of his life.

“We are here to see what we can do for the railway so that the toy train can run for ever,” said Cadbury.

The special run was organised as part of government efforts to revive the former days of glory of the toy train.

Since the late 1980s, the toy train service has been troubled, first by an insurgency in this part of India, which led to the service being closed down for tourists for several years. Then shortage of funds led to neglect. Things began looking up for the DHR when it was granted ‘world heritage’ status by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the year 1999.

Realising the immense tourism potential, the Indian government, with some help from foreign steam train enthusiasts, is again paying attention to the toy train.

Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who belongs to West Bengal, is taking a keen interest in the toy train. “We on our part will try our best to bring back the pristine glory of the toy train ride,” she says.

Banerjee’s ministry has decided to buy new coaches for the toy train and find another steam locomotive. The ministry will spend 63 million rupees (nearly 1.4 million U.S. dollars) on repairing and improving the railway track.

A century-old railway workshop, which was set up to service the train, is also to be modernised.

Steam train enthusiasts are hoping the modernisation will not affect the type of engine used to pull the cars. They believe the train would lose its charm if authorities start reducing the use of the steam engines. Once pulled by a steam engine all along its route, the train now does a large part of the journey with a diesel engine. It is usually, the final six-kilometre run from Ghoom to Darjeeling, which is done with a steam engine.

The DHR has a total of 14 steam engines, including the Hill Bird. The train is also used for local transport. Five pairs of passenger trains, pulled by diesel engines, carry locals every day.

“Steam remains a compelling attraction for the thousands of tourists who visit the place every year to enjoy the spectacular ride,” says R.K. Baid, a New Jalpaiguri-based businessman, who heads the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway India Support Group.

“UNESCO too granted it world heritage status considering these components. So any move to replace steam with diesel will be to pluck the diamonds from its crown and replace them with glass,” he points out.

Baid says that diesel engines can be used on some sections, but the tourist train should continue to be steam-powered.

On the first leg of its journey, the toy train runs past dense jungles. It begins its ascent at the ninth milestone when the first sharp curve is encountered.

The toy train is considered a remarkable engineering feat because of the steep gradient, sharp curves, Z-crossings and loops that it travels on, during its journey across dense jungles, tea gardens and pine forests. Construction work on the railway started in the year 1879 and service began in four phases between the years 1880 and 1881.

The survey of the route was a difficult task, but even more difficult was laying down the tracks on mountain terrain, says Baid.

To climb the steep gradient, engineers laid the tracks along a loop. At some points, the train gains height by travelling forward-backward- forward along Z-shaped tracks.