Darjeeling Himalyan RailwayI loved the journey on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway during my school days. The train passes through beautiful forested country, moving on from the plains in the early stages from Siliguri station to the very top to Ghum, the highest railway station in India, from where you can get views of Mt Khangchendzonga.Kalka-Shimla Railway The Kalka-Shimla Railway; (Photo: India Picture) After an overnight journey from Delhi on the Howrah-Kalka Express, one can connect with the Kalka-Shimla Railway. It was a train that carried the civil servants and the Viceroy and his entourage when the Raj moved from Calcutta to the summer capital of Shimla every year. The last stage of the journey was absolutely beautiful as the train moved through the foothills of the Himalayas to Shimla on a 2.6-ft track.Kangra Valley Railway The Kangra Valley Railway; (Photo: Shutterstock) The narrow-gauge Kangra Valley Railway runs from Pathankot. It used to be so crowded that once when I travelled on it with a friend of mine who was six feet tall, he couldn’t put up with it because he was feeling so squashed. He just wanted to get off. But what is wonderful is that you run alongside those beautiful views of the snow-capped mountains and possibly some of the best views from an Indian train.Patna to Bangalore The Patna to Bangalore Railway; (Photo: Shutterstock) This was a rather complicated but lovely rail journey I did, where we had to change at Mughal Sarai Junction, Varanasi, Itarsi, and on to Bangalore. In Mughal Sarai, we had a lovely conversation with an official. We asked him where the train to Varanasi (which is just a short distance away) was, but he regrettably said it was indefinitely delayed. So I said to the chap: “You mean it’s lost?” and he said: “Yes, you could say it’s lost!” So I got a bit excited and angry and replied: “I’ve come all the way from Patna to catch this train to Varanasi and I’m stuck, and I’m going there for a wedding.” And he said: “What can I do?” So, after a bit of an argument, he said to me: “What are we arguing about? There’s another train coming in about half an hour and it’s going to Varanasi and you’ll get there in time.” So we did get there in time. That was a very good journey..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Ratlam to IndoreAnother wonderful journey, which, I think, is unfortunately being broad gauged—Ratlam to Indore. I’ve been down one of the most beautiful bits of the railway line, a wonderful ghat line, which ran so steeply. Back then, if you were going up the line, you had to have two engines and you looked down on this gorgeous valley below. This was part of a wonderful railway which ran from Ajmer to Kacheguda near Secunderabad Hyderabad. When I caught it from Ratlam to the bottom of the ghat line to Indore, it was crowded with milkmen going home with their huge milk cans hanging on the side. The train would stop at some stations for rather a long time, because the milkmen got out to clean their milk churns, and got the driver to let off steam while they did so.Guwahati to ItanagarThere’s a lovely railway journey on the new line going from Guwahati in Assam to Naharlagun near Itanagar. Itanagar itself is rather an unprepossessing capital city, but I think it’s the railway journey itself, and the short climb in the last stages with its views of the Eastern Himalayas that are very rewarding.The Fairy Queen The Fairy Queen; (Photo: Flickr Vision) I have travelled from Delhi to Alwar on the Fairy Queen and stayed the night at Sariska game park. I was travelling with a friend of mine who was a great railway man in Britain. Travelling is wonderful on this historic train which takes you to Alwar, which is full of interesting stories. We travelled with the driver, and at one point, he was going so fast that the guard had to tell him to slow down. I’m a founding member of the Indian Steam Railway Society and we have also rescued steam engines that are now installed in the Rewari Railway Heritage Museum. It’s part of the last servicing steam loco shed in which is also housed the Fairy Queen, which is the world’s oldest still-functional 1855-built steam locomotive tourist train.Maharajas’ Express The Maharajahs' Express; (Photo: Getty Images) I travelled on this train from Agra to what was once the Ranthambhore ‘game reserve’. One of the beauties of this luxury train is you eat your meals in a very luxurious dining room. One of the sad things about railway travels now is the ever-declining standard of food.Bombay-Howrah Mail The Bombay-Howrah Mail; (Photo: India Picture) I love long train journeys and that feeling of being settled in a train. Once I was travelling from Bombay to Calcutta for an important programme I was doing for the BBC on the Bombay-Howrah Mail via Allahabad. It was a wonderful journey. We arrived in Calcutta sitting in the driver’s cabin of the electric train. I recall two stories from this journey. There was a lady who boarded the train in Allahabad and when we chatted with her, she said: “It’s a pity you couldn’t come earlier, as my husband who came to see me off is a comedian and one of his best acts is imitating different snores on express trains.” Another incident was when we were belting along on the train between Dhanbad and Howrah, the electricity got cut off and the train grew slower and slower. Before it came to a complete halt, the electricity came back on and the train picked up speed and we were only 11 minutes late arriving in Calcutta, which is quite an achievement.Jabalpur Main to Nainpur JunctionI remember another marvellous journey on a two-foot railway which was from Jabalpur Main to Nainpur Junction. It’s a narrow gauge, which no longer exists. Nainpur Junction used to be Asia’s largest narrow gauge railway junction. We went on the small gauge for the last time. From Nainpur, we went into the forest on those wonderful railway trollies; fortunately, this one had an engine on it. There are two sad things about all this. One, it no longer exists. Second, the Nainpur Junction’s station master was very sad, because, as he said to us, “I have 23 trains a day running through this junction and they say we don’t need this railway.” The other sad thing was actually seeing how popular the train was with passengers who told us that this is the way they had always done it, rather than going by bus or some such. And we could see in the valley below, as we were going in the trolly, the broad gauge being brought in. It was still under construction, but this one was much, much prettier, as it was following the contours of the hills.—with Ranee SahaneyPublished By: Aditya Mohan WigPublished On: Dec 26, 2022--- ENDS ---
