Mountain Railways of India^a
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	India
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Identification	#944bis
Regionb	Asia-Pacific
Inscription History UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 536 pixel Image in higher resolution (1840 × 1232 pixel, file size: 931 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) DHR Locomotive 780, with an excursion train (actually empty carriages returning to Siliguri) on the upper part of Batasia Loop. ... As of 2006, there are a total of 830 World Heritage Sites located in 138 State Parties. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia, Australia and the Pacific (Australasia). ...
Formal Inscription:	1999 23rd Session
Extension/s	2005
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways. Comparison of standard gauge (blue) and one common narrow gauge (red) width. ... Siliguri   (Bengali: শিলিগুড়ি) is a rapidly developing metropolis in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... Darjeeling (Nepali: , Bangla: দার্জিলিং) is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... India is subdivided into twenty-eight states and seven union territories; the states and territories are themselves further subdivided. ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ... Indian Railways (Hindi: भारतीय रेल), abbreviated as IR, is the state-owned railway company of India. ...

It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 km long. The elevation level is from about 100 m at Siliguri to about 2,200 m at Darjeeling. It is still powered by a steam engine. A modern diesel engine is used for Darjeeling’s mail.

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 inscription. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A typical Nilgiri train on the rack section The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) connects the town of Mettupalayam with the hill station of Ooty (correctly Udhagamandalam), in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India. ...

History

Main article: History of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

A standard gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878.^[1] Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available.^[2] Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling.^[2] The proposal was accepted in 1879 following the positive report of a committee formed by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.^[2] Construction started the same year. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, now The Toy Train approaching Darjeeling. ... As railways developed and expanded one of the key issues to be decided was that of the rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) which should be used. ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... Sir Ashley Eden (13 November 1831-8 July 1887) was an Anglo-Indian official and diplomatist, third son of Robert John Eden, 3rd Lord Auckland and bishop of Bath and Wells. ... Bengal, known as Bôngo (Bengali: বঙ্গ), Bangla (বাংলা), Bôngodesh (বঙ্গদেশ), or Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ) in the Bengali language, is a region in the northeast of South Asia. ...

Gillander Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch from Siliguri to Kurseong was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881.^[1] Several engineering adjustments were made later in order to ease the gradient of the rails.^[2][3] Despite natural calamities such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899^[3] the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines, and the passenger as well as goods carrying were increasing.^[3] DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating in the Hill Cart Road, and took less time than the railway to reach Darjeeling. During World War 2, DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.^[3] Kurseong is a hill station (and sub-divisional town) situated in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day (United States). ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

After the independence of India, DHR was absorbed in the Indian Railway, and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958.^[3] In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 4 miles (6 km) to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there. DHR remained closed for 18 months during the hostile period of Gorkhaland Movement in 1988–1989.^[3] DHR was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, only the second railway to have this honour bestowed upon it,^[4] the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998. Indian Railways (IRY) is the state-owned railway company of India. ... During the reorganisation of the Indian Railways system in 1952 was born the North Eastern Railway, NER, by amalgamating the Assam Railway and Avadh-Tirhut Railway. ... A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ... km redirects here. ... New Jalpaiguri is a sister city of the city of Siliguri in Indias state of West Bengal. ... Gorkaland is the name given to the area around Darjeeling and the Duars in north West Bengal in India. ... UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... Semmering Railway with surrounding mountain scenery Semmering Railway at Mürzzuschlag, around 1900 Semmering Railway viaduct, around 1900 The Semmering Railway, Austria, which starts at Gloggnitz and leads over the Semmering to Mürzzuschlag is commonly referred to as the worlds first mountain railway, especially given the very difficult...

The Route

A tight loop (Agony Point) on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Toy Train approaching Darjeeling, taking water.

• New Jalpaiguri - the railway was extended to the south in 1964 to meet the new Broad gauge to Assam. Where the two met, New Jalpaiguri was created.

• Siliguri Town - original southern terminus of the line.

• Siliguri Junction - became a major station only when a new metre-gauge line was built to Assam in the early 1950s

• Sukna - this station marks the change in the landscape from the flat plains to the wooded lower slopes of the mountains. The gradient of the railway changes dramatically.

Loop No.1 was in the woods above Sukna. It was removed after flood damage in 1991. The site is now lost in the forest. Image File history File links A point on the w:Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. ... Image File history File links A point on the w:Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 1214 KB) Description: Toy Train, Darjeeling, India Source: I have taken this photo myself in mid 2004 with my own Sony DSC-707. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 1214 KB) Description: Toy Train, Darjeeling, India Source: I have taken this photo myself in mid 2004 with my own Sony DSC-707. ... Great Western Railway broad gauge steam locomotives awaiting scrapping in 1892 after the conversion to standard gauge. ... Assam   (Assamese: অসম Ôxôm) is a north eastern state of India with its capital at Dispur, a part of Guwahati. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Rangtong

A short distance above Rangtong there is a water tank. This was a better position for the tank than in the station, both in terms of water supply and distance between other water tanks.

When Loop 2 was removed in 1942, again following flood damage, a new reverse, No.1, was added, creating the longest reverse run.

Loop No.3 is at Chunbatti. This is now the lowest loop.

Reverses No.2 & 3 are between Chunbatti and Tindharia.

• Tindharia - this is a major station on the line as below the station is the workshops. There is also an office for the engineers and a large locomotive shed, all on a separate site.

Immediately above the station are three sidings; these were used to inspect the carriage while the locomotive was changed, before the train continued towards Darjeeling.

Agony Point is the name given to loop No.4. It comes from the shape of the loop which comes to an apex which is the tightest curve on the line.

• Gayabari

Reverse No.6 is the last reverse on the climb.

• Mahanadi

• Kurseong - There is a shed here and a few sidings adjacent to the main line, but the station proper is a dead end. Up trains must reverse out of the station (across a busy road junction) before they can continue on their climb. It is said that the station was built this way so that the train could enter a secure yard and stay there while the passengers left the train for refreshments.

Above Kurseong station, the railway runs through the bazaar. Trains skirt the front of shops and market stalls on this busy stretch of road.

• Tung

• Dilaram

• Sonada

• Rangbul

• Jor Bungalow

• Ghum - Summit of the line and highest station in India. Now includes a museum on the first floor of the station building with larger exhibits in the old goods yard.

Batasia Loop

• Darjeeling

The furthest reach of the line was to Darjeeling Bazaar, a goods-only line and now lost under the road surface and small buildings.

Locomotives

No.787 after conversion to oil firing.

No.778 hauling a train on the Ffestiniog Railway.

All the steam locomotives currently in use on the railway are of the 'B' Class, a design built between 1889 and 1925. A total of 34 were built but by 2005 only 12 remained on the railway and in use (or under repair). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 676 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1000 × 887 pixel, file size: 759 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) DHR Locomotive 787 out of use at Siliguri Shed. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 676 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1000 × 887 pixel, file size: 759 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) DHR Locomotive 787 out of use at Siliguri Shed. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 415 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) DHR No. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 415 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) DHR No. ... Union Pacific Big Boy #4012 at work on a cold November 29, 1941 A steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. ...

No.787 has been rebuilt with oil firing. This was originally installed to work on the same principle as that used on Nilgiri Mountain Railway No.37395. To operate the oil burner and an electrically driven feed pump, a diesel-powered generator was fitted and to power the braking system, a diesel-powered compressor was fitted. Additionally the locomotive was fitted with a feed water heater. The overall result was a dramatic change in the appearance of the locomotive. An oil burner engine is a machine that uses oil as its fuel. ...

In March 2001, No.794 was transferred to the Matheran Hill Railway to allow a 'Joy Train' (Steam-hauled tourist train) to be operated on that railway. It did not, however, enter service there until May 2002. 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Matheran Railway No. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Only one DHR steam locomotive has been taken out of India, No.778 (originally No.19). After many years out of use in an American museum, it was sold to an enthusiast in the UK and restored to working order. It is now based on a private railway in Oxfordshire but has run on the Ffestiniog Railway Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... The Ffestiniog Railway (in Welsh Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway, located in North West Wales. ...

Two diesel locomotives are in use, Nos.604 & 605. They are both members of the NDM6 class. Both were originally intended for use on the Matheran Hill Railway and are identical to the four locomotives actually delivered there.

In 1910 the railway purchaced the third Garratt locomotive built, a D class 0-4-0+0-4-0. Garratt on the Welsh Higland Railway South African Garratt Diagram of a Garratt locomotive A Garratt is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated, normally in three parts. ...

In popular culture

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has long been viewed with affection and enthusiasm by travellers to the region, and the Earl of Ronaldshay gave the following description of a journey in the early 1920s: Laurence John Lumley Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland (1876-1971)was a British politician who served as Secretary of State for India in the late 1930s. ...

Inside of the toy train

"Siliguri is palpably a place of meeting.[.....] The discovery that here the metre gauge system ends and the two foot gauge of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway begins, confirms what all these things hint at.[....]One steps into a railway carriage which might easily be mistaken for a toy, and the whimsical idea seizes hold of one that one has accidentally stumbled into Lilliput. With a noisy fuss out of all proportion to its size the engine gives a jerk - and starts.[....] No special mechanical device such as a rack is employed - unless, indeed, one can so describe the squat and stolid hill-man who sits perched over the forward buffers of the engine and scatters sand on the rails when the wheels of the engine lose their grip of the metals and race, with the noise of a giant spring running down when the control has been removed. Sometimes we cross our own track after completing the circuit of a cone, at others we zigzag backwards and forwards; but always we climb at a steady gradient - so steady that if one embarks in a trolley at Ghum, the highest point on the line, the initial push supplies all the energy necessary to carry one to the bottom."^[5] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1632 × 1224 pixel, file size: 495 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1632 × 1224 pixel, file size: 495 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... Ghum is another spelling for the city Qom in Iran. ...

The trip up to Darjeeling on railway has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travellers and rail enthusiasts, so much so that it has its own preservation and support group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.^[6]

Several Bollywood movies have portrayed the railway. Especially popular was the song Mere sapno ki rani from the film Aradhana where the protagonist Rajesh Khanna tries to woo heroine Sharmila Tagore who was riding in the train.^[7][8] Other notable films include Jhumroo, Parineeta and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. Director Wes Anderson has announced that he will once again be joining Owen Wilson to co-direct a movie entitled The Darjeeling Limited.^[9] The movie will follow three brothers, (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman), as they travel throughout India on the railway. Bollywood (Hindi: }}, Urdu: ) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindustani language film industry in India. ... Mere sapno ki rani is a popular Hindi song from the 1969 bollywood movie Aradhana. ... Spoiler warning: Aradhana (Worship) is a 1969 Bollywood film starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. ... Rajesh Khanna (Born Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942 in Amritsar) is an Indian Bollywood actor. ... Sharmila Tagore is a renowned Indian movie actress, who as of April 2005 heads the Indian Film Censor Board. ... Parineeta (1914), a novella written in the Bengali language, is a story by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay set in Calcutta, India during the early part of the twentieth century. ... Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman is a 1992 Bollywood movie directed by Aziz Mirza starring Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Amrita Singh and Nana Patekar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. ... The Darjeeling Limited is a new film by Wes Anderson. ... Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. ... Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor. ...

Notes

February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

External links

• Pictures of Darjeeling and the Toy Train
• See the panography at http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/in/darjeeling/ghumStation.html
• http://www.dhr.in/
• http://www.indianrail.gov.in/dm_hill.html
• A kit to build a 'B' Class Locomotive in 4mm scale can be obtained from http://www.backwoodsminiatures.com/
• Kits to build the coaches of the DHR can be obtained from Worsley Works Web Site http://worsleyworks.co.uk

World Heritage Sites in India

Agra Fort | Ajanta Caves | Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park | Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus | Churches and Convents of Goa | Elephanta Caves | Ellora Caves | Fatehpur Sikri | Great Living Chola Temples | Hampi | Humayun's Tomb | Kaziranga | Keoladeo | Khajuraho | Mahabalipuram | Mahabodhi Temple | Manas Wildlife Sanctuary | Mountain Railways of India | Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers | Pattadakal | Qutub Minar | Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka | Sanchi | Sun Temple, Konarak | Sundarbans | Taj Mahal An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Ajanta takes the name after the village AjinÅ£hā in Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra(N. lat. ... Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is located in India. ... Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (better referred to by its acronym CST) - is a historic railway station on Mumbai suburban railway. ... Founded in the 15th century, the city of Goa in south-western India was under Portuguese rule from 1510 until its incorporation in the Republic of India in 1961. ... Carvings line the walls inside the caves. ... Jain cave in Ellora Ellora is an ancient village 30 km (18. ... View across Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri (Hindi: ) was the political capital of Indias Mughal Empire under Akbars reign, from 1571 until 1585, when it was abandoned, ostensibly due to lack of water. ... The Great Living Chola Temples are temples built during the Chola rule in the south of India. ... Hampi (ಹ೦ಪೆ, Hampe in Kannada) is a village in northern Karnataka, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in India. ... Humayuns tomb is a complex of buildings of Mughal architecture located in Nizamuddin East, New Delhi. ... Kaziranga National Park (Assamese: কাজিৰাঙ্গা জাতীয় উদ্যান , Assamese IAST: kājirāṅgā jātiya udyāna, Assamese IPA: kÉ‘/ÉŸi/rÉ‘Å‹/gÉ‘, Indian English IPA: kÉ‘/zi/rÉ‘Å‹/gÉ‘) is an Indian national park located on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river in the state of Assam, India. ... The Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that sees thousands of rare and highly endangered birds such as the Siberian Crane come here during the winter season. ... Sculpture from a temple at Khajuraho Hermit monk performing auparashtika on a princely visitor. ... Shore Temple, rescued from the sea Mahabalipuram (Tamil:மகாபலிபுரம்) (also known as Mamallapuram) is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. ... The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment. ... Manas National Park is a National Park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage (in danger) site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve in Assam, India. ... The mountain railways of India are scattered from the North East of the country and the South of the Country. ... The Nanda Devi National Park is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7,800m) in Jammu and Kashmir in India. ... Valley of flowers is the name of the Himalayan area in Uttaranchal, India. ... Pattadakal is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka famous for its group of monuments that comprise of initial experiments in Hindu temple architecture. ... A map of the Qutb complex. ... Bhimbetka rock painting Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka is an archaeological site in Madhya Pradesh where the earliest traces of human life in India were found. ... Sanchi is a small village of India, located 46 km north east of Bhopal, in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Sundarbans National Park (Bengali: সুন্দরবন জাতীয় উদ্দ্যান) is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve located in the Sundarbans delta in Indian state of West Bengal. ... The Taj Mahal, viewed from the Northern bank of Yamuna river. ...