New Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling

The toy train on the Darjeeling Himalayan section is not merely a source of delight for the young and old, it also represents the engineering skills of the highest order. This 83 km. long section connecting Darjeeling with the railhead at Siliguri is of great importance and has been bestowed World Heritage Site status.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is one of the engineering feats of the world. Although the steepness of the gradients on this narrow-gauge line is eclipsed in other parts of the world, and the 7,407 ft. altitude of the summit at Ghoom station is less than half the height of some of the summits in the Andes, the achievement of the engineers who built the line more than half a century ago is a noteworthy one in the history of railways. This little railway has a gauge of 2 ft. and a length of fifty-one miles, with steep gradients and amazing loops. It climbs from the plains, which are most oppressive in the hot weather to the coolness of the "hills," as the British residents in India called the lower slopes of the Himalayas on which are situated the towns, or "stations," to which they would go periodically to preserve their health. It is at Siliguri that the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway begins its remarkable journey to Darjeeling.