Hill Trains in India
The Darjeeling Railway
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.
The Kangra Valley Railway
No one could have thought of making a finer selection of territory for
building a new mountain railway in India than the Kangra valley. Few
places can match this scenic region in the sub-Himalayas. One will stumble
across a land that has cast its magic spell upon those who planned the
railway and those who built the line. The result is there for all to see-
an achievement that in every way makes one proud of the fine record that
the history of Indian railways has always had.
Kalka-Shimla Railway
The idea of a railway line to Shimla dates back to the introduction of
railways in India. In the Delhi gazette, a correspondent in November 1847
sketched the route of a railway to Shimla with estimates of the traffic
returns etc. in appropriate style. He wrote: “We might then see these
cooler regions become the permanent seat of a government daily invigorated
by a temperature adapted to refresh an European constitution and keep the
mental powers in a state of health alike beneficial both to the rulers and
the ruled.”
Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Coonoor is situated 6,000 feet above sea level at the southeast corner of
the Nilgiri plateau and at the head of the principal pass from the plains.
Up this Ghat runs a road 21 miles long and a rack railway 16 ¾ miles
from Mettupalaiyam in Coimbatore district. The place was constituted a
municipality in 1866. Coonoor remained a terminus for the Nilgiri line for
eight years. The extension from Coonoor to Ootacamund was constructed by
the Government of India and the line was opened up to Fernhill on
September 15, 1908, and up to Ootacamund, a month later. Rack system was
discarded for this extension though the ruling gradient is as severe as 1
in 23. The Ooty terminus was named Udagamandalam, the Tamil word for
Ootacamund.
Matheran Light Railway
Abdul Hussain, son of the business tycoon, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy of
Mumbai, was a regular visitor to Matheran at the turn of the century.
After having obtained a reluctant consent from his father, young Abdul
Hussain camped at Neral in 1900 AD to plan for a narrow gauge railway line
to Matheran. The construction started in 1904 and the two feet gauge line
finally opened to traffic in 1907.
