World Heritage Sites - Darjeeling & Nilgiri Railway
Darjeeling Railway Tour Darjeeling Toy train It is hard to believe that the treacherous 83 kilometers between Siliguri and Darjeeling can be covered by riding piggyback on Tom Thumb carriages for about eight hours. The gauge is narrow, only 0.6096 m but the journey is something that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. 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.
Darjeeling Toy train It is hard to believe that the treacherous 83 kilometers between Siliguri and Darjeeling can be covered by riding piggyback on Tom Thumb carriages for about eight hours. The gauge is narrow, only 0.6096 m but the journey is something that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. 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.
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.
Rail Tracks The Darjeeling Himalayan railway is a marvel of sorts in what one would call non-engineering. It uses neither rack mechanism nor cable as other mountain railways do, but moves only on adhesion. It was the genius and vision of Franklin Prestage, which conceived of such a mechanism and executed it to perfection. During its 87.48-kms journey from Siliguri to Darjeeling, the toy train as it is aptly and affectionately referred to, loops gracefully around those recalcitrant humps, much like a spiral and chugs its way up to Ghum, its highest point at 7,407 feet. It seems to be gentle persuasion all the way. The only other mountain railway in the world that reaches a higher altitude is in the Andes where Cusco station is located at 14,000 feet, but the mechanism used there is different.
The Darjeeling Himalayan railway is a marvel of sorts in what one would call non-engineering. It uses neither rack mechanism nor cable as other mountain railways do, but moves only on adhesion. It was the genius and vision of Franklin Prestage, which conceived of such a mechanism and executed it to perfection. During its 87.48-kms journey from Siliguri to Darjeeling, the toy train as it is aptly and affectionately referred to, loops gracefully around those recalcitrant humps, much like a spiral and chugs its way up to Ghum, its highest point at 7,407 feet. It seems to be gentle persuasion all the way. The only other mountain railway in the world that reaches a higher altitude is in the Andes where Cusco station is located at 14,000 feet, but the mechanism used there is different.
Nilgiri Mountain Railway Tour The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 46 Km long and runs on 1000 mm gauge railway. It connects Mettupalayam to Ooty. The first section of the Nilgiri Railway up to Coonoor was completed in 1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was extended to Ooty in 1903. This Nilgiri rail system is unique as it is the steepest one in Asia. In combination with this gradient there are many curves. To overcome this incline the Nilgiri Railway uses a unique `rack and pinion' rail system. In this system, between the two conventional rails, there are two rack bars, out of step with each other, on which the pinions of the locos and coaches 'climb' in a similar manner as a person climbing a ladder using his feet alternately.
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 46 Km long and runs on 1000 mm gauge railway. It connects Mettupalayam to Ooty. The first section of the Nilgiri Railway up to Coonoor was completed in 1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was extended to Ooty in 1903. This Nilgiri rail system is unique as it is the steepest one in Asia. In combination with this gradient there are many curves. To overcome this incline the Nilgiri Railway uses a unique `rack and pinion' rail system. In this system, between the two conventional rails, there are two rack bars, out of step with each other, on which the pinions of the locos and coaches 'climb' in a similar manner as a person climbing a ladder using his feet alternately.
Nilgiri Mountail Railway is the steepest one in Asia (the steepest gradient is about 1in12). In combination with this gradient there are curves as sharp as 18 degrees! To overcome this incline it uses a unique ABT(Alternate Biting System) commonly known as `rack and pinion' rail system and curiously the name of the inventor is also Michael Abt! In this system, between the two conventional rails, there are two rack bars, out of step with each other, on which the pinions of the locos & coaches 'climb' in a similar manner as a person climbing a ladder using his feet alternately. The main incline between Mettupalayam to Coonoor is a continuous gradient where the rack system is used. After Coonoor until Ooty the gradient is relatively eased (this section is now worked by YDM4 diesel locos).
Features The main feature of this line is the unique rack system and the equally unique and complicated locomotives. The train journey from Chennai to Metupalaiyam then took just over 17 hours and cost Rs 20 first class and another 20 rupees to cover the remaining 33 miles up the steep mountain road to Coonoor and Ootacamund by the 'Nilgiri carrying Company's Mail and Express Tonga Service' while heavy baggage had to be sent bullock cart. The only alternative was to hire a pony and arrange for luggage to be taken up by individual baggage carriers using the shorter but even steeper old road to Coonoor.