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No one could have though of making a finer selection
of territory building a mountain railway in India than the Kangra
Valley. Few places can match the scenic beauty of this region in the
sub-Himalayas with its beautiful glens and streams.
The Kangra Valley is no
tone place in particular. It is the name given to the entire region
that lies between the Dhaula Dhar ranges of the Himalayas to the
north and he last straggling foothills to the south, so, roughly
speaking, we are talking about a slim rectangular belt running ninety
miles in length and thirty miles in breadth through the mountains. To
the north they rear skyward: first, a low chain of ridges followed by
an extensive line of peaks averaging between 7,000 and 9,000 feet
and, directly behind, those massifs rising from 13,000 to well over
16,000 feet. Then the snows.
The Kangra Valley
Railways is ample proof that the railways engineer can create a work
which will be in harmony with the beauty and mystical surroundings
where he has to work. This he has done here without destroying the
grandeur of the mountain. He reveals to the traveler an enchanted
fairyland. It is that kind of place.
Like the Russian émigré,
Roerich’s paintings, the line is where a poet or an artist would
have placed it. This symphony emphasizes the tremendous depth of the
gorges through which sparkling streams tear their impetuous way to
the great plains of India.
Anything else would have
ruined it. A different alignment, a different mode of taking the
railway through the maze of hills and valleys would have spoiled its
picture postcard perfectness.
This unique line has just
two tunnels, one of which is only 250 feet and the other 1,000 feet
in length. We must remember this is in a total distance of 103 miles.
Instead of boring his way through the mountains , the railway
engineer has skillfully avoided running head first into the hillside;
instead of following dizzy curves, he has cleverly chosen to avoid
the awkward corners and straighten his turnings. Never does the
traveler feel the giddiness staling upon him as it does sometimes on
other mountain routes.
Go easy on the curves!
Could well have been the motto of the builders here. For the Kangra
Valley railway presents to the traveler a chance to gaze as long as
he likes on the ever present panorama of snow-clad ranges, the
golden-green fields without being swung round every few minutes on a
narrow are before his eyes can greet the scenery.
Certainly the scenery
through which the trains passes is ample compensation for the extra
distance covered as compared to getting there by road. The most
picturesque parts of the valley are exposed to the view-the stretch
of 18 miles from Mangwal to Kangra, for example, lies through country
unsurpassed for majestic grandeur with the impressive Ban Ganga Gorge
and the deep Kangra chasma as two piece de resistance.
As you approach Palampur,
the ever-present background of the snowy chain of peaks 15,000 and
16,000 feet in height is barely ten miles away from you. From here
onwards the line runs parallel to the Dhaula Dhar Range. No other
railway in all of India ever comes as close to the eternal snows.
Just before Baijnath,
too, the line enters a stretch of country far superior to the journey
by road. Here the train threads its way among the pines of Bhir
Gorge.
Not many miles further up
the line is Bathu Khad which is spanned by a long viaduct constructed
on a graceful curve with the rails about 100 feet above the bed of
the nullah. Between this point and Kangra are the only two tunnels:
at mile 53 is the Dhaundni tunnel 250 feet long; four miles further
is the Daulatpur tunnel 1000 feet in length.
Through all this portion
of the journey the scenery is very rugged but extremely interesting,
especially along the last few miles to Kangra whose ancient Rajput
fort-now in ruins after the 1905 earthquake-is visible from beyond
the second tunnel. The line does not pass through Kangra town itself
but is separated from it by a gigantic cleft in the hills, at the
bottom of which runs the picturesque Ban-Ganga river.
As a holiday resort the
valley has irresistible attractions. A congenial climate with
alluring chances of spotting wildlife. Peaks to tempt mountaineers or
just rockfaces to scamper over. Should you not be of the athletic
variety, there are wonderful walks among the pines at Palampur and
elsewhere too. March and April are the best months for the valley is
covered with wild rambler-roses, oleanders, rhododendron and fruit
blossoms adorn the countryside.
INFORMATION
Northern Railway has
introduced a new train: the Kangra Queen, between Pathankot and
Palampur from 1.8.99. This luxury narrow gauge train covers a
distance of 128 km in 4 hours and 25 minutes with two
stoppages-Jwalamukhi and Kangra. There are 4 coache. Newspaper,
mineral water, tea snacks, food are provided on board.
FARES
Pathankot-Jwalamukhi: 1st
Class Rs.235/- Chair Car Rs.200/-, 2nd class Rs.145/-
Pathankot-Kangra:
Rs.260/-; Rs.245/-; and Rs.155/-
Pathankot-Palampur:
Rs.330/-; Rs.310/-; Rs.190/-
The train has been
provided linkage with connecting trains-with Jammu Mail at Pathankot
and with Superfast Express at Chakkibank for Delhi and Jaipur.
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