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| Foot of hill Journey(Toy Train) |
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is lovingly
called the "Toy Train". The Toy Train ride is a romantic approach to the
Himalayas, a mysterious region
This joy ride begins at New Jalpaiguri, a busy railway station in
the plains.
Leaving New Jalpaiguri station the train passes through the
outskirts of Siliguri town and reaches Siliguri station. After a short halt the train
leaves Siliguri station and crosses the Mahanadi bridge over the Mahanadi river which
flows from the Himalayan foothills.
After six miles train reaches Sukna station from where the real
ascent begins. Here the train normally stops for the engine to take water.
From here the blue mountain ranges of the foothills are visible and the train
quickly rises from the plain passing through tea gardens and forest of teak and sal.
The train now passes through Rangtang station (1404 ft/430 m) and a little
further away the train may stop for water again. From here the view of wooded mountains is
really beautiful. The train moves on with the view of tea gardens, tea factories and
forests. It then passes Chunbhati. Before the railway line was built, there was a bungalow
here where the travellers in palki (palanquin) used to rest for the day. The
train is now fairly among the mountains and a panoramic view of the deep valley and higher
range of mountains is visible. Then the train passes the Tindharia Railway workshop to
reach Tindharia station (2,822 feet/860m).
Tindharia, in the old times, was the spot where travellers used to
stop for tea. From here one can get an extensive view of the hills. Leaving Tindharia one
can see the jagged rock-faced mountains up ahead called Giddapahar (Eagle's Craig) which
the train later has to pass through. Using "zig-zag reverses" the train leaves
Gayabari station (3,400 feet/1040m).
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After this station the train stops for water near Pagla Jhora (Mad Torrent).
During the monsoon this small stream swells up and is big enough to wash away the road and
railway line. Shortly after this the train reaches Mahanadi Bazar station (4,000
ft/1,225m). Just near this town is the source of the Mahanadi river which the train had
earlier crossed shortly after leaving Siliguri. Leaving Mahanadi the train travels west
through Gidhapahar (Eagle's Craig) with an excellent view of the valley, the hills and tea
gardens and reaches Kurseong station (4,864 feet/1485m).
Kurseong is a thriving little hill station. Here one can get the first glimpse
of a hill town and the hill people. Leaving Kurseong the train passes through Kurseong
bazar and goes on in its journey. The sight of Tibetan prayer flags as the train passes
over Hussel (whistle) khola (stream) makes the traveller feel that he is now truly in the
mountains. The train passes through small forests of maple, chestnut, pear, cherry,
criptomeria (introduced from Japan), etc. and cardamom plants.
Now the train reaches Tung (5656 ft/1725m) which gives us an
excellent view of the Kurseong ridge. As the train passes along the road, one may notice
by now that through the journey from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling there are over 100 road
crossings and most of the time the train runs along parallel with the cars and other
vehicles.
The journey new leads through Sonada (6552 ft. /2000m). As the train passes
through Sonada bazar, one can get a glimpse of Tibetan chorten (stupa) on the way. Now the
train passes through Senchel Reserve forest with oaks, chestnuts, walnuts, magnolias,
rhododendrons, etc. During spring one can see the bright blooms of rhododendrons, cream
magnolias and orchids in this moss-laden forest. On top of this hill is a famous tourist
spot Tiger Hill with a unique view of the Himalayas and also of the sunrise. This forest
region is well known worldwide for bird-watching.
The train now passes through a small town called Jorebunglow. The road here is
very narrow and often there are traffic jams since all the traffic in and out of
Darjeeling pass this point. This must be the only place where the train may have to stop
for a while in case of a traffic jam or have to back up a bit to ease the traffic. The
train now reaches Ghoom (7407 ft/2260 m) the highest point of the journey.
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On the way
the train passes through Batasia Loop with its memorial to the Gorkha soldiers. From the
Batasia Loop you can get a spectacular view of Darjeeling town with the Kanchenjunga and
other snowy mountains in the back-drop. From now onwards up till Darjeeling, the snowy
peaks are in full view for the travellers' eyes. Finally the train enters the Darjeelins
Station, the destination of the journey.
| Darjeeling Gallery |
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