Q - The Toy Train

The Toy Train

The month of November, we decided to travel from the plains to the
hills, to be away from the monotony of the daily busy scheduled life. I
dreamt of the days we would spend, up there on the hill station, where
we would be among the clouds.

Frankly, going for a holiday to a hill station is suitable for the
summer months. But my case was a bit different. A sudden plan, a rush
to be there surrounded by nature and tales of the beautiful place lured
me and the option said --- "go there and enjoy the beauty, think not of
the season but simply do what your mind tells you."

The place was Darjeeling, known as the Queen of Hill Stations, in
eastern India, on the lap of the Himalayas.

The four of us, I, my husband and the two kids started the first lap of
our journey by bus. After a four hour bus journey we reached Calcutta
and checked into a hotel room. Still there was a long distance to
travel to reach my dream destination. After lunch we went for shopping
and picked up a few items. November was very cold and pleasant and did
not tire us a bit.

We checked out of the hotel, late in the evening and the taxi took us
to Sealdah station, from where we boarded the night train. We had
brought our food packets and the food was very tasty. The train moved
out of the station and soon all the passengers were getting ready to go
to sleep. The train's movement by the rolling of the wheels on the
rail-track soon made us fall into sleep. Early morning we found
ourselves at the New Jalpaiguri Station.

***

The Toy Train journey begins here. -----

The journey from the plains to the hills was a memorable one. The Toy
Train, as it is known, was there at this station, to take us up the
hills to Darjeeling.

The Toy Train runs on the narrow gauge. The people who had availed the
opportunity to travel by this train had spoken so much about it; we
felt it would be a wonderful experience for us to grab this chance.
Most of the people preferred to travel from here to Darjeeling by bus
or hired taxi as it took much less time than going by train.

After getting the tickets at the counter, we moved from one platform to
the other, and the porter carried our luggage. Toy Train was the
appropriate name for this train. Small coaches, a small steam engine to
pull the few bogies attached to it, a narrow railway track, a rare one,
and at a first glimpse will make one feel it to be something
different.

We had preferred a place in the general compartment. There were a few
tourists like us in this compartment and the rest were the people of
that area. Of course inquisitiveness to know about the land is always
there on a travel. We were able to know about the place from the
co-passengers who were the men of the hills. Travelling by the AC coach
would have meant to be among the foreign tourists visiting India and to
learn something about Darjeeling would have been a bit difficult.

There were about five compartments; I cannot recollect the exact
numbers, as I was in a hurry. We managed to get our place and made
ourselves comfortable. I occupied a window seat so that I could get a
clear picture of the natural beauty of the area. Soon the little steam
engine puffed, blew its whistle and with the clanking of the wheels, it
moved along. The movement was very slow, and this train was going to
climb uphill, more than eight thousand meters above sea level. The
engine was a small one, darting itself along the climb, no grunts no
sign of pain but puffing along with a rhythmic sound.

The track was a winding one. The view from the window was breath
catching. As it moved at a snails pace, this train passed through
hamlets and even stopped at small stations that came by. The local
people bothered little in hopping in and out of this train as it was
very slow.

As the train moved uphill, the eyes captured the wild colourful flowers
and the greenery that covered the hillside. At many places there were
tall trees, so tall that they seemed to touch the sky. As the train
mounted up we could see the tea plantations. Vast areas covered with
the shrubs and the ladies working there with the baskets slung on their
backs, plucking the green tea leaves and filling their baskets to carry
them to the factories for processing. At certain places, the villagers
had cleared the slopes and the eyes saw paddy fields, lush green,
growing there, a proof of the labour put behind it by those hardy hilly
people.

The hilly water springs, running down the hill slopes in their own
tireless way, gurgling and collecting anything that came along its
path. No one to stop them with their work of flowing and singing their
own tune all the time.

To reach Darjeeling it would take about seven hours provided no land
slides were there along the track. It was difficult getting food on the
train. I was lucky that I had taken some boiled eggs, bread, buns and
cakes, otherwise we would have gone hungry. Of course tea, hot tea
poured in small disposable earthen containers, the steam going up gave
us the heat and energy the body needed. We were informed that we had to
be very careful with the drinking water as contaminated water could be
the reason for hill diarrhea.

Soon we moved up into the world of the clouds. The passing clouds
entered the compartment from an open window and passed out through the
other side. The grandeur of natures work was so mesmerizing.

The train stopped at places to collect water and the coal to run that
cute little steam engine. The engine puffed out smoke and the black
soot flew with the wind and came and settled on the face and the
hair.

By now we could get a glimpse of the snow capped mountains of the
Himalayan range. It was getting cold and we felt the cold air piercing
- because it was the month of November. At many places the rail track
ran parallel with the road that also ran up the hilly way. The motor
engines just flashed past this Toy Train for a speedy finish.

No doubt it was a journey which took hours to complete but the pleasure
of enjoying the hilly ride has remained with me. The Toy Train took a
long time but I did enjoy the trip.

Now the Toy Train does not run regularly. In a few years time this Toy
Train may find its place in the railway museum, only for the people of
the future generations to see it as - 'it did exist once.'