The Kalka-Shimla rail route, offers the charm of old-world travel amidst lofty
pines and lush green, misty mountains. This is one of the four narrow gauge
rail routes on hill terrain in the country, the other three being the
Darjeeling, Ooty and Pathankot-Jogindernagar routes. In fact, the Darjeeling
route was used as a model for the Kalka-Shimla route, which was proposed in
1891.
Started during the reign of Lord Curzon in November
1903, mainly to ferry the Bada Sahibs and their families to the then summer
capital of Shimla, this rail route features in the Guinness Book of World
Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96
kilometers. More than two-thirds of the track is curved, sometimes at angles as
sharp as 48 degrees.
The rail
journey
Flanked by hills on both sides, the rail line, like
twin threads of silver, clings to the steep cliffs and ventures boldly over
bridges, built over tiny streams that show off their radiance in the sunlight.
The cool breeze sweeps across your face as the train makes an arduous climb of
almost 4800 feet from Kalka to Shimla in almost five hours.
The rail line begins its climb almost immediately
after its departure from the Kalka railway station. The toy train chugs along
the line, whistling through the deodar, pine, ficus, oak and maple woods at a
speed of 22 km an hour. As the journey begins, one is taken in with the change
in vegetation, and the majestic glory of the railway stations and Gothic-style
bridges en route. The most refreshing part of the journey is the
experience of sitting by the window, breathing in the cool breeze and taking in
the greenery, smell of fresh dew on the vegetation, the chirping of birds and
the sight of cattle grazing around the track, especially if you are travelling
in either of the two early morning toy trains.
Most of these railway stations on the route are
will also mark 100 years of their existence. Painted in white and blue, these
railway stations built in the Gothic style take you back in time. Their
picturesque location, names of most of the 18 stations and their history —
Taksal (where most of the kings of the era had their mint), Koti, Barog — keeps
you busy en route. The awed traveller is also forced to think about the
splendid engineering and architecture of these railway stations, built in the
early days of the mechanical period. The Barog railway station has, for
instance, been constructed in such a way that a kuhl is running beneath
the building.
The memorabilia of the Raj can be found at most of
these stations. Wall clocks, which have to be wound with a key, of SW Benson
1903 make, still adorn the walls of Station Masters of the Summer Hill and
Barog railway stations. Though these clocks are now defunct, they still find a
place of pride because of their nostalgic value. Similarly, semi-porcelain
hand-painted crockery, also made in England, and some furniture (dressing
table, chairs) have also been well preserved at the Barog Railway Station. This
crockery — an incomplete tea set, rice plates, jugs etc. — have been kept under
lock and key as exhibits and are seldom used.
Even as the world has moved into the computer age,
ancient systems still work here. Ancient communication and track control
system, called Neals Token Instrument System, is still in use on this rail
section. Block phones are also used to establish links between two stations.
Lanterns, like the ones used in the last century, are still being used to
signal the trains to stop or move.
The first main station is at Dharampur, at a height
of 4,900 feet and at a distance of 20 miles from Kalka. The gradient here is
very steep, and in order to achieve the flatter gradients required by the
Railways, the line develops into three loops at Taksal, Gumman and Dharampur.
After leaving Dharampur, the rail line gains on the road route by taking short
cuts and tunnels so that up to Tara Devi, the distance by rail from Kalka is
almost one-fourth mile less than the distance by road.
Twenty four miles from Kalka, the railway line is
5,200 feet above sea, where it falls to 4,900 feet at Solan, and further to
4,667 feet at Kandaghat (36-and-a half miles from Kalka), where the final
ascent to Shimla starts. From Tara Devi, the rail line goes round the Prospect
Hill to Jatogh, winding in a series of curves round Summer Hill and burrows
under the Inverarm Hill to emerge below the road on the south side of Inverarm,
and thus reaches Shimla.
Interestingly, all the 18 stations on this route
are located next to bridges. These railway stations were built here for the
benefit of the labour employed for constructing the bridges, which could take
rest here. Some of these stations have now been abandoned because they were
financially unviable. Though many of the small stations have a sale of less
than Rs 500 a month, only a few, like Jabli, have been abandoned. Others like
Koti, which have a sale of less than Rs 100 a month, cannot be closed because
of their operational importance, inform railway officials
One of the most interesting features of the
Kalka-Shimla route is the absence of girder bridges. There is only one 60-foot
plate girder span in a pinewood near Dharampur and a steel trestle viaduct,
which replaced a stone gallery in 1935. The remaining 866 bridges, representing
three per cent of the line, carry the rail track over the ravines and between
the hill spurs.
Multi-arched galleries like ancient Roman aqueducts
have been used to take the tracks over the difficult terrain, which would
otherwise have been difficult to cover. These stone masonary arched bridges,
which use lime stone, have as many as four storeys, each storey having an arch
and each arch having a different configuration. In fact, the Railway
authorities are now making efforts to get the UNESCO to declare three of these
bridges — Bridge No 541 (between Kandaghat and Kanoh), Bridge No 226 (between
Sanwara and Dharampur), and Bridge No 493 (near Kanoh) — as World Heritage
sites.
Most of the 102 tunnels (the 1930’s renumbering,
with numbers going up to 103, has not been changed till date though tunnel
number 46 does not exist any more) too have a history of their own. An
interesting feature about these tunnels is that till today, whenever these
tunnels have to be illuminated for maintenance, plain mirrors are used to catch
the sunlight and reflect this light inside the tunnel.
Gone are the days of travelling in the rickety
coaches with wooden berths. In their place stand freshly painted coaches which
provide the comfort of chair cars. Another coach, Shivalik Queen, provides
privacy in the form of coupes. For those looking for royal luxury, the Railways
provides Shivalik Palace, a separate luxurious compartment with beautiful
interiors, provision of sleepers and comfortable sofas for relaxing. This also
has a well-equipped kitchen and an attendant to serve foods and drinks, along
with an attached bathroom. The other option for tourists is to take the rail
car which takes lesser time than regular trains to reach Shimla.
