History

Darjeeling got its name from the word Dorje-ling, which means the place of Dorje. The people of the region believe that the king of the gods, Indra had thrown down a thunder called Dorje at the place where Darjeeling stands today.
Starting from New Jalpaiguri the little train travels through the plains till Sukna, and then chugs uphill to reach the second highest railway station in the world, Ghoom (altitude : 7408 ft.) before descending nearly thousand feet to reach Darjeeling.

History:
Before the construction of the railway line, Darjeeling was a sanatorium for convalescent soldiers and was connected from Siliguri by the famous ‘Hill Cart Road’. It was as far back as 1878, when Franklin Prestage, the agent of the Eastern Bengal Railway submitted a detailed scheme to the Bengal Government to replace the bullock cart transport from Siliguri to Darjeeling by railway line. Prestage was motivated by the prospect of a railway line reducing the cost of transportation by as much as half the earlier cost and still earn profit. The construction of the

narrow gauge line began in 1879 and it was opened in four phases-up to Kurseong on 23rd August 1880, up to Sonada 1st February 1881, up to Goom on 4th April 1881 and up to Darjeeling on 4th July 1881.

Prestage formed the Darjeeling Steam Tramway Company, which later became the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. The DHR was bought outright by the government after India attained independence. The DHR was absorbed in the Northeastern Railway in 1952 and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway in 1958.

A nineteenth century engineering feat, this 88 km long narrow gauge steam railway was constructed between 1879 and 1881 and was responsible for the development of Darjeeling as a hill station. It remains the best way to see the flora and fauna of the Darjeeling hills. UNESCO has granted it World Heritage status.


		Siliguri Jn has great historical importance for DHR. The first rail line was nailed here in 1879 and the first DHR Train started from Siliguri Jn to Kurseong on 23rd August 1880. Lord Lytton, the first Viceroy to visit Darjeeling traveled up to Tindharia. Siliguri Jn was the terminus of the Eastern Bengal Railway and starting point of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway till NJP was created.

Class B Type Locomotives

Year of Manufacture	Name of builders	Loco Number / Name
1889	M/S. Sharp Stewarts & Co. Glasgow, Scotland	779 (Hill Bird)
1892	Do	788 (Mountaineer)
1899	Do	782
1900	Do	784
1903	M/S. N. B. Loco & Co. Glasgow, U.K.	785
1904	M/S. Sharp Stewarts & Co. Glasgow, Scotland	786
1913	Do	787 & 788
1914	Do	790 & 791
1917	M/S. Baldwin Loco Works, U.K.	792,793 & 794
1919	M/S. D. H. Railway Co. Ltd. Tindharia	795
1925	Do	797
1926	M/S. N. B. Loco & Co.	798,799 & 800
1927	Do	801, 802
1928	Do	803,804,805, 806 (Queen of Hills)

DHR – UNESCO World Heritage Site

India

Darjeeling District, State of West Bengal
26° 40' N, 88° 27' E -- 27° 02' N, 88° 15' E

Inscribed: 1999 Criteria: C (ii) (iv)

Justification for Inscription:
Criterion (ii): The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world.
Criterion (iv): The development of railways in the 19th century had a profound influence on social and economic developments in many parts of the world. This process is illustrated in an exceptional and seminal fashion by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Brief description:
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is the first, and still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway. Opened in 1881, it applied bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty. It is still fully operational and retains most of its original features intact.
http://www.unesco.org/whc/sites/944.htm
Update: 17 April 2000

Special features:

The construction of this line is considered a unique engineering feat because of the steep gradient, sharp curves, Z-crossings, and loops incorporated in the line. There is an interesting story on how the construction engineer of the project suffered a major hitch once the line reached Tindharia as the erosion in the hills made it nearly impossible to employ a gradient within the limits of rail transport. The engineer was almost on the verge of abandoning the project when his wife reportedly said, "if you cannot go ahead lets go back". Back was the catch behind the idea of a ‘Z’-crossing where the train is first pushed backward through an up gradient to reach a considerable height before proceeding ahead and the line takes the shape of the letter ‘Z’. There are 6 such Z-reverses along the 87.48 km journey from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The line is laid more or less on the same alignment as the Hill Cart Road, which cries-crosses the line at 177 points. There are three loops in the line, most famous being the Batasia Loop between Ghoom and Darjeeling. Apart from these, the section has five major and 498 minor bridges. Ghoom is the highest railway station in the world to be reached by steam locomotive. The project cost at that time was Rs.52,000.

The Darjeeling-Himalayan section has its own workshop at Tindharia where the major overhauling of locomotives, carriages and wagons is undertaken, besides manufacturing of spares. The workshop also deals with casting of ferrous and non-ferrous materials in its own foundry shop and manufacturing of spring of different types in the blacksmith Shop to meet the requirement of the section. One of the oldest locomotives of this section has been sent to the National Rail Museum, New Delhi.