A fine turn of phrase - "Gasps of steam" Express India Gasps of steam Monday , July 07, 2008 at 03:44:57 Print Email To Editor Post Comments Darjeeling Himalayan Railway nicknamed Toy Train completed 127 years of service on July 4. City-based photographer Kumar Mangwanitakes us to the place where steam engine still thunders the undulating land Sitting at wooden bench befitting the Circa station in Darjeeling I waited for the locomotive which was about to transport me back in time to an era where trains sweetly whistled, slithering along the tracks, emanating white puffs of smoke from their vents. And as the little mass of the blue steam engine pulled into view maneuvering a bend I wasn't alone to gape at the antiquity of it. Hundreds of eyes accustomed to the look of modern day trains went round in surprise. Jaws dropped and eyes went wide as the tiny blue carriages rolled on the platform bringing to view a completely unusual site. While the archaic engine kept idling and sneezing out with a whoosh and bursts of white smoke dissipating between its iron wheels the train driver satiated it's hunger shovelling coal into it's furnace. A backgrounder on the history of this particular train equipped me with the knowledge that this was one of the newer engines built around 1920, the 804, ‘Queen of the Hills.' Compact but mighty enough to drag 35 tons along the tracks, whereas the original ones built in 1881 could just boast of 7 tons drag load. The outlived Colonial Raj left behind their impressions upon this soil not with the purpose of the country's progress but because of their affinity to tea. It made them line up this 83 km track from Siliguri to Darjeeling. Till the late 1800, horse drawn carts transported tea down the tortuous `Hill cart' road to Siliguri, which was the nearest railhead then. Franklin Prestage, of Eastern Bengal Railway Company and Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant-Governor proposed the alignment, and groundwork began in 1879. Completed in stages, the entire line to Darjeeling opened for traffic on July4 1881. The earliest locomotive came swanked with wooden benches and canvas canopies built in Manchester, England. Running between Siliguri to Darjeeling the line is a remarkable feat of engineering which includes switchbacks and loops. Batasia Loop, at a distance of five kilometer from Darjeeling is a popular spot for picnickers. The technique of constructing the track on hilly terrain was adopted from the ways of an Austrian specialist, Chega who avoided digging through tunnels and lengthened the tracks through loops, wherein the track curved across a bridge over its own line, thus giving the traveler unhindered view of the majestic Himalayas. Ghum, at 7407 ft, the second highest station in the world is about six kilometers uphill from Darjeeling. The exposed brick masonry and pretty eaves boards, give the station a complete ancient feel. A brief halt at Ghum and then the train progresses again. Inching at first, breathing out clouds of smoke, it picks up momentum as the carriages gradually roll by. From Ghum it takes at least thirty minutes before the journey gets concluded at Darjeeling. The steam locomotive being a notorious water guzzler takes brief halts for its thirst, 40 gallons to a mile, water dischargers along the line attend to its service. The ride on the Toy train is a romantic approach to the mysterious Himalayas, a fact summed up on silver screen, with many Bollywood and Hollywood stars endorsing it in an air of romance. Famous personalities have had their joy rides on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). Mark Twain described his ecstatic trip of 1895 as "the most enjoyable day I've spent on earth". ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.