What can be a more truly Indian
experience than a train journey from one part of the country to another ?
whether in the train or at stations, it is microcosmic of an Indian way of
life. In other parts of the world, travel is an interlude as you go from one
place to another, a suspension of time; for the time it takes you to reach
your destination you are suspended in motion. But in India life continues-
on the trains, on platforms, at stations. People cook, eat, wash their
clothes, bathe, quarrel, make friends, laugh, cry, pray, meditate, sleep -
the whole gamut of living and being
Let us now move away from the baroque splendours of Victorian architecture
to another especially charming aspect of rail
travel
in India - the little hill trains that haul passengers up from the steaming
plains to the cool and refreshing mountain air of the Himalayas and the
nilgiris. Four fascinatingly different little mountain railways were built
during the heyday of the Raj so that people could escape from the intense
sumer heat of the Indian plains. Engineers who spanned the vast rivers of
this country with great rail bridges, laid tracks through dense jungles and
desert sands also conquered the steep gradients of mountainous terrain,. By
the turn of the century, Simla, the summer capital of British India,
Ootacamund in the Niligiris Matheran, a hill resort near Bombay and
Darjeeling, the heart of the teagrowing area of the Eastern Himalayas were
all connected to the plains by their own unique train system. To each of
these hill stations the people of Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras - the
four major cities of India- travelled up the mountainside in a quaint and
leisurely fashion. Today these little trains are still plying. But how long
they remain is anyone' guess. Untill very recently, all four train systems
used steam locomotives - today we are, alas, down to two out of four the
Matheran and Simla trains havce moved on to diesel engines which are
undoubtedly more efficient but definitely less romantic.
The Darjeeling train, built along the old hill cart Road that was used by
horse-drawn traffic and bullock carts, uses the same alignment most of the
way. Where the gradient is too steep ingeniously built loops and spirals,
zig-zags and reverses are used to enable one to contine one's journey up the
mountain slopes. Surprisingly, there are no tunnels on this line and
passengers have an uninterrupted view of the most breathtaking scenery.
In contrast, the Kalka-Simla line weaves in and out of tunnels and over
multi-level arched bridges that look like Roman aqueducts. The mountains
were conquered headon with heavy engineering and one goes through 103
tunnels on the 94 km journey.
The Matheran train takes incredibly sharp curves and the Ooty train system
has a central toothed rail in the centre of the track that engages a toothed
wheel. This mechanism assists the engine in steep climbs and prevents it
from rolling backwards. The engine, which is probably the last of its kind
is placed at the rear of the train. So, in fact, the train is pushed up the
mountain side. It also has two sets of mechanisms - one to drive the normal
wheels and the second to handle the central rack and wheel system. For the
comfort of nervous passengers the engine also has four sets of brakes.
Fares are subjected to charge without prior Notice.
