Daily Archives: 09/03/2019

Saturday 9th March 2019 Today we are fulfilling an ambition which Robert has held since he first saw pictures of the trains on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway [DHR] over 40 years ago. When the 08:30 service from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling pulled into the station it was already just over an hour late. By the time the diesel had been refuelled; the engine moved to what would now be the front of the train; the passengers had videoed this and taken multiple photos of themselves with the train, it did not depart until 10:19. It then stopped again at a red signal at 10:23. The journey is timetabled to take seven hours and five minutes. We were off again at 10:26 but this did not bode well for us making up any time over the fifty five miles of the journey. The DHR is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Area. Initially the route takes you through the suburbs of Siliguri, past the ubiquitous cattle; past pigs rooting amongst the rubbish beside the track; past homes made of corrugated iron and reclaimed materials which are close enough to the tracks to touch; past butchers slaughtering chickens and weighing out meat and […]