Saturday, August 28, 2010
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway.Opened in 1881, its design applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty.
he Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways.
It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. The elevation level is from about 100 m (328 ft) at Siliguri to about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. It is still powered by steam locomotives. Modern diesel engines are used for Darjeeling’s mail train.
Since 1999 the train has been a World Heritage Site as listed by UNESCO. In 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the original designation
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