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The Darjeeling Himalayan Railways is a tribute to
man’s indomitable spirit. His skill pitted against the might of
the mountains. And man comes out a winner!
The first little railway
to be built in the country was the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. It
is a unique example of construction genius employed by railway
engineers in the 19th century. A proposal has been made
to include the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in the World Heritage
list.
Calcutta in Victorian
times was where it was natural for the sahibs to bridle path,
what was to become Hill Cart Road, today’s Tenzing Norgay
tedious. Something had to be done!
Those zealous engineers
of the Raj through taking a line up through the range. Under Frank
Presage work was underway by 1879 on the most endearing of hill
trains, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. From Siliguri the train
climbs like a contortionist going through a series of sharp curves,
loops, Z-crossings and steep gradients before climbing to 7,290 feet
at Ghoom, Asia’s highest railway station.
The Z-crossing was an
ingenious solution to take on the steepest gradients. According to
rail lore, the engineer spent many sleepless nights trying to resolve
the problem when the solution came to him in a dream. Make it like
the alphabet Z! let the train reverse up the line and then make a
move forward so that in a very short distance it has done much
climbing. Of the loops, the most popular one is the Batasia Loop past
Ghoom.
The redoubtable 14-ton
Saddle Tank proves equal to the task of taking on the might of the
mountains. Over a hundred years ago, the ride from the foothills in
Siliguri, a distance of some eighty kilometers over a two-foot wide
track must have been like a fairy-tale come true-just a mere handful
of three or four bogies chugging along, taking on the challenge of
spanning the mountains.
Even today, after a
course of 117 years the Toy Train (as it is fondly called) chugs its
way up and round the bends unfolding breathtaking views. En route are
a clump of pines through which the track takes you to the orchid-like
delights of tiny station like Kurseong, then with loops and bends,
where roused by the sun’s warmth, butterflies stir from their
bivouacs as you climb steeply to Ghoom at 7,407 feet above sea level,
reputedly the highest railway station in Asia. Soon the line drops a
few hundred feet to deposit you in Darjeeling.
The Ghoom rock in
Darjeeling, from where you get the best view of the famous peak, has
a very interesting legend about how it go there. It is believed that
Kanchenjunga means the five treasure houses of the great snows and it
is said that under those five peaks lay a hidden treasure of the
Himalayans guarded by five demons. The younger demons, three in
number, were not too happy with the other two elders. So they
conspired to carry away the most valuable treasure. But that was
easier said than done. For the secret of which peak held the treasure
was known only to the eldest demon.
In order of seniority,
from the eldest to the youngest, the demons were the tiger, the lion,
the elephant the horse and the roc bird. As the last three conspired,
the demon of Everest got a scent of the vile plan to rob the
mountains. A part of the peak held by the elephant broke off and
fell.
On a dark and stormy
night the three demons met. The elephant told his fellow conspirators
of how the peak he was guarding had broken off the previous night. He
surmised it had the treasure they were looking for. Why not cart it
off and start a new life?
The roc bird lifted the
peak, the elephant carried it on his back and the horse just pushed
it along. A squabble soon broke out over who was not doing his fair
share of work.
They dropped the rock at
where the Ghoom Rock stands in Darjeeling today. What happened to
the fabled treasure? You wonder. No one knows. They say the rock will
not move till the three demons get together again.
To come to Darjeeling and
look at the Abode of the Gods and not to pay remembrance to the
indomitable Sherpas is sacrilege. For without them mountaineers would
still be struggling with their cumbersome equipment. When these
mountains were opened, climbers risked their life and limb to get to
the summits. Then came the Sherpas, out of a backdrop of the eternal
snows, out of the Solo and Khumbu districts of Eastern Nepal, out of
a pastoral existence to another demanding world. True stoics who,
ever with a frolic welcome, took on whatever came their way.
It was here on this
little hill station that Dr. Kellas took a few lads under his wing
for a trip into Sikkim. Since then there has been no looking back on
paths lesser traveled by. The mountain folk had arrived.
Formost in mountain lore
was the Tiger, Sherpa Chettan, who in 1924 helped bring Norton down
from the North Col of Everest after being stuck snow blind. Six years
later, on a second expedition to Kanchenjunga, he perished in an
avalanche. We had lost not a porter but a valued friend, wrote
Smythe. We left him buried amid one of the grandest cirques in the
world. So dies a genuine lover of the mountains, a real adventurer at
heart and one whom members of several Himalayan expeditions will
mourn.
He was not alone. In
1934, Gayley made the ultimate choice of staying back on Nanga Parbat
with Willy Merkyl rather than abandoning his leader by fleeing to
safety. Years later their bodies were discovered and buried under a
great granite prominence.
Pasang Kikuli, a survivor
of disaster on Nanga Parbat with Willy Merkyl rather than abandoning
his leader by fleeing to safety. Years later their bodies were
discovered and buried under a great granite prominence.
Pasang Kikuli, a survivor
of disaster on Nanga Parbat in 1934, climbed back to K2 five years
later, involved with an attempt to rescue Wolfe who lay sick and
alone in Camp VII. Next day the annals of the brave. They did get to
Camp VII at 24,706 feet-never to be seen again. Tales of unbounded
heroism abound. They have no peers. Men like Wangdi on an expedition
to Cho-Oyu buried under an avalanche struggle for three hours before
freeing himself from snow and ice. Then there was Pasang Dawa Lama
who, in pique, climbed from Marklung at 13,000 feet near Namche
Bazaar to the summit of Cho-Oyu in three days! Without oxygen
to 26.867 feet in 1954!
INFORMATION
New Jalpaiguri is the
starting point of the hill train to Darjeeling (86 kms). Jalpaiguri
has direct connections to Calcutta, Delhi, Guwahati and other places
in India.
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