Note: This video has been replace by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society produced video 'Darjeeling in Steam and Snow' which is based on the same footage.
Notes on the locations shown in the video (with reference to running time).
The video shows a composite trip up the line with both train 1D (the daily through train) and train 9D (the local morning school train from Kurseong to Darjeeling).
00:00 train 1D departing New Jalpaiguri station
roadside to Sukna
roadside to Sukna
01:40 arriving at Sukna station
pacing train 1D with 804 in charge above Sukna. The manual sanders are already in position. firing must be difficult without a coach in tow!
03:56 in the Terai Forest above Sukna
in the Terai Forest above Sukna
the track repair gang replacing sleepers
05:00 restarting from the pw slack and dramatic wheel slip before the sanders do their bit
06:00 arrival at Rangtong station
roadside above Rangtong
pacing shot from above (notice the coal on the roof of the first coach)
08:40 the first reversal (this was once a loop and the old formation is still visible)
09:56 the first loop at Chunbati
11:46 Tindharia station
Agony Point, the second loop with the down train 2D
Agony Point, the second loop with the up train 1D
14:34 a bee eater
local kids and their mums (the loco on train 1D had dropped a plug at the
first reversal and I waited forever for a train that never came)
reversal below Gayabari (maybe I was slightly close to the train)
trains 1D and 2D crossing at Gayabari (this is a regular place to cross if
both are on time)
17:17 train 1D departs Gayabari
above Gayabari, train 1D going away
18:37 water stop above Gayabari (with a monkey in the audience) just above this stop is Pagla Jhora the regular spot where the railway and road get washed away during the monsoon
climbing through pine forests away from the water stop
21:40 Mahanadi station arrival (note the signs of previous freight traffic)
Mahanadi station departure
wood collectors (and dog being silly) above Mahanadi
roadside approaching Kurseong
roadside approaching Kurseong (Birla Cement ads and monkeys)
26:00 approaching Kurseong
27:30 Kurseong station 4864 ft (a terminus station)
train 2D departs Kurseong station (this down train had previously backed into the station .)
train 9D departs Kurseong (up trains back out of Kurseong and then head
uphill to Darjeeling through the main street)
30:00 train 9D in Kursoeng main street
chasing train 1D out of Kurseong
the view from the new bus station on the edge of Kuseong (our first sight of tea bushes)
33:50 train 9D above Kurseong
train 9D above Kurseong (early morning damp)
train 9D above Kurseong (early morning damp)
loco 788 with the afternoon train 1D above Kurseong in sunlight
train 9D above Kurseong
loco 779 halts briefly with train 9D
38:00 water stop at Tung for train 9D
Buddhist stupas above Tung
train 9D in the mist
40:48 Buddhist monastery with devotees walking clockwise around the religious buildings
42:00 near Margaret's Hope in the heart of the tea growing area.
43:00 taking water at Sonoda station (timetable in force from October 1998! The video was shot in January 1997!)
departing Sonoda with 788 on the school train
45:00 into the snow!
shots from the van in the snow
more firewood collectors (in the snow)
snowball fights at a water stop
the school train in the snow
47:11 snow and mist
approaching Ghum
47:54 Ghum station in the snow (including snow men replacing the manual sanders for the roll down to Darjeeling
48:30 the approach to Darjeeling (note that manual sanders are not need)
49:00 Darjeeling station
views from the station, looking back to Batasia loop
Final sequence:
near Sonoda (high and low views of train 9D)
near Sonoda (more firewood collectors)
above Gayabari (train going away)
52:37 End
If I could do it all over again, I would:
Shoot it all on digital video,
Always use a tripod,
Get the shots that got away (Sukna stationÖI have lots of stills but no video),
Take more shots of stations in general and loco sheds.
If I were God, I would:
Make sure the sun always shone above
Kurseong even on snowy days,
Make sure that the Himalayas were visible all the time,
Restore Batasia loop to its original setting before it became a Gurkha monument,
Get all the cars off the old Cart Road (apart from my chasing van),
Allow photography in Tindharia works,
Make sure that the DHR will run for ever and give them some new class B tanks
to do it with!
You can read a report of the trip I made to shoot this video at: darjeel.html
You can contact me on:
You may want to join the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society. Contact <membership@dhrs.org>