This video shows steam hauled passenger and freight trains along the whole line of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. That is to say from Siliguri to Darjeeling.
It's really amazing to see a freight train on the DHR route. Always wondered how would it be to see those tiny wagons, lying around station yards, to roll on the track. Never got to see that in person, but experienced it through this video today. Magnificent! Also, one train overtaking another one on this route is quite a rare view. This video is really an archive material. Loved it!
I have visited it with my family when I was in class 3 ☺️❤️ it amazing place with amazing people and it's my favorite place I have ever visited ❤️❤️❤️!!!
For those who don't know the guy on top of the boiler is breaking up large coal chunks so it's easier for the engine to "digest" the fuel, since larger chunks would probably take longer to burn and not making adequate heat to boil the water.
Enjoyed the memories. When I first visited Darjeeling (1999) I wanted to catch the train from Siliguri but looked as though it hadn't run from there for a long time. Sadly it was more easy to get a jeep up there than try get the train. Glad they still have the capability to get all the way from Siliguri to Darjeeling. It did look like they had abandoned the lower parts of the track when I saw it. Great video.
Great footage. And to think these old beauties have been doing what they were built to for more than a century. Visited Darjeeling a few years back just for this. The one that pulled our train was a 788 'Tusker'.
A steam locomotive being used for his or her original purpose in the 21st century is something very special, I'd go as far as saying it's more special than heritage railways.
Wow, what an amazing railway. Built in just two years between 1879 and 1881 yet it rises nearly 7000 feet. Probably couldn't be done today. Good job keeping it running. Here's a map of the route; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway#/media/File:DHR_Route_Map.jpg
Wonderful video! Impressive to see those little trains tackle the very steep grades. I wonder how many times the train got stuck uphill in autumn season...
The valve gear is in desperate need of adjustment; notice the very irregular exhaust beats, that shows the steam admission is different for every stroke.
I wish india would establish a railway university that teaches engineers on proper maintenance of these locomotiveslike in Japan, Germany, UK etc. It is really tragic that with the numbers of engineers that India produces, it seems like nobody has bothered to look into this
Cute Train, Nostalgia is number one priority to keep these trains operating.old lady is fun to watch Hope passengers pay their due at least to keep its up going and on her feet all through the year.and pay the wags for all her adoring crew.I wonder sometime passengers and crew have to disembark and push her up to climb up hill.Engine piston stroke noise is really enjoyable ,some times it resembles heart beats of dying man while listening through stethoscope.This noise,the sirens and the lovely black,coal dust smoke raising in to the horizon makes it all the more attractive.I wish I am there in the train.
Hiring engineers with skills require higher salary and running this train system cost more money than it generates. If fares can be slightly increased and all the riders start paying than maintenance wont be an issue.
Absolutely fantastic video. It is on my bucket list to travel on this railway one day. It might have been designated a 'freight' train but there are many people inside the cars. ;)
Wonderfull film about a wonderfull railway, and you had the honors of the first train over the landslide repairs (altough it was not aproved for passenger trains yet, the train did carry some (illegal?) passengers). Waiting for my B class kit in scale O to drop on my doormat soon, this film gave a lot of inspiration for a layout!
Thank you for your nice comment. Indeed our freight train was the first one to pass the repaired section, but it was not carrying any passengers. On the one hand, that would have been against the rule and more importantly, on the other hand we were too keen on taking pictures and videos to ride the train in this particular moment.
Darjeeling is a place in West Bengal state of India which produces world's finest tea. It is very beautiful place and as per me little focus on cleaning and infrastructure to provide to boost the tourism.
I was afraid they had stopped using steam on the Darjeeling railway. Those little "teakettle" engines are a part of history that make the great Himalayan Railway what it is for the world to see!
You can feel the life,the vibrancy from these people ,the surroundings,they are alive, its completely different from the crushed broken brainwashed west,these wonderful videos capture everything, absolutely brilliant,
It’s supposed to mean these people live by hard work and use some common sense. None of the nanny state health and safety culture. Study the loco; there are two blokes hanging off the front dropping sand by hand to prevent wheelslip. One slip and the bloke is under the wheels or falls down a rock cliff. Try writing a risk assessment for that? Basically this is a way of life hardly anybody in the U.K. could hack. Now I’m quite sure I’d not want such a risky way to earn a few rupees. But those guys did their job. This is as primitive way a way to make a railway run as I’ve ever seen; incredible. Victorian way. Those unguarded, unmanned, unsignalled level crossings. Hazardous much? This seems astonishingly risky to me. So how does this work? Clearly the staff are full of skill, they can think through risky jobs and perform them. They aren’t thinking of suing their employer for putting them at risk, or not providing proper PPE, or for making them write down everything they do to defend their actions in case of a problem occurring. So fear of the threat of disciplinary action for not writing everything down isn’t happening here. The absolute need to follow procedure as it is written isn’t happening. Now there is merit to some of our way of doing it. But it carries a FEAR the whole damn time. These people take pride in the job instead. This is how it should be. That’s why they aren’t broken and we are. Understand yet?
great quality of filming! 👍 well done💯😎🤩✔️this train should be preserved and be well maintained, because it is a good tourism attraction althou its existence will be outshine by automobiles. the local government should keep this running and someway it can be replaced by diesel locos. it is a heritage of human kind. but really need a good attention. there were/ are also some of like those here in my country but it is only for sugar cane transport. most of them now are replaced by trucks😫 from another similar video about DHR, it is said that the local.government will close this operation. CMIIW.
I rode the train from Siliguri to Darjeerling and back in 2000. I thought I was riding on one of the worlds last steam trains. Now in 2016 they're running steam hauled freight trains on the line? I thought the days of steam had finished? What's happened to dieselisation of the line - didn't work?
This railway is now a UNESCO protected site, so they cannot change much. They have quite a number of serviceable steam locomotives and a bit less of diesels (also serviceable). My video is about a very special train. Do not expect to see this every day.
We also have many steam trains such delhi-Farukhnagar steam special,Nilgiri Mountain railway also uses steam locos,and the Fairy Queen worlds oldest working steam train.
Where time seems to stand still, - excellent video if I may say so. I always thought this was a 'rack & pinion' railway or am getting it mixed up with the one in the Nilgiri Hills. I don't quite see the point of hauling freight when the 'boxcars' appeared empty, - was this a 'trial' run, or put on specially for you. I thought the 'B' class had been disposed of, as a certain coal mine has 4 of them, albeit only 1 is in 'running condition'
The Darjeeling has never used rack and pinions. Instead they have several switch-backs and loops that help keep reasonable gradients. As for the B class, there is still a sizable amount of them on the railway and they are used on service trains every day.
I'm confused here by the name freight train when the meaning is a train carrying goods that was travelling from Siliguri to Darjeeling. whereas the previous one showed a two bogies passenger train that was referred to as freight .
That poor little steamer needs some TLC...it's stuttering... Awesome video though. We need more steam mainline power in the US. *Edit:* Well...it's stuttering at low speed, anyways.
It could use a good washing. That way, we'll see this machine in all its intended splendor. Also, in spite of the risks, it's nice seeing the locomotive and pedestrians coexist like this.
this line was built primarily to bring down tea to the main line of NJP station and it also provided the British officials a pass time out of the hot plains to the cool hills of Darjeeling
@Isochest -- You're definitely guessing in the right direction. But I doubt if this is used for tea anymore - that's what the British originally built this for. I believe the freight cars are used by the railways to transport their own goods. Road seems to be the preferred medium of transportation of goods these days in these hilly areas. This train is used more by local daily commuters and tourists rather than for freight.
DHR Toy Train, it is the integral part of our Gorkha culture of Darjeeling but alas not a single Gorkha passenger is seen traveling by this train....Is it due the expensive fares ?
is that steam loco still running? other footage looks it replaced to diesel loco or operating both in parallel. btw, really attractive and wanna be there in the future.
