Background *********** In the days when the British ruled India there were many problems for an expatriated Brit to contend with but one of the most serious was the heat. The average chap sent out to make his fortune or defend his nation's economic and political interests wasn't bred to deal with saturation humidity and thermometer-bursting temperatures. To cope with these extremes, each summer the government, civil service and everyone with the wherewithal to do so, would flee from the then-capital Calcutta and literally 'head for the hills'. Many so-called 'hill stations' provided respite from the summer heat but Shimla (or Simla) and in 1864 the city became the official Summer Capital of the British and took on the mantle of the 'Queen of the Hill Stations'.
Located up at around 7000 feet in altitude, Shimla offered cool temperatures even in the midst of the summer. It was also a pretty good place to send the ladies (imagine 50 degrees C in corsets - it doesn't bear thinking about) and soon acquired a reputation for being a bit racy. Every season ship-loads of well-bred husband-hunting ladies known as 'the fishing fleet' would be sent over to find their man amongst the army officers, civil servants and businessmen of Shimla. Those who didn't succeed sailed home at the end of the season as so-called 'returned empties' - oh for the delights of a politically incorrect age.
But for now, let's look at the problem of how you can actually get there and that's where the Kalka Shimla Railway comes in. How should a well-travelled small bear with a taste for the high-life travel to Shimla?
The KSR is what's known as a 'Toy Train' - a narrow gauge railway designed to climb mountains. Work started on the line in 1898 and it opened for business in November 1903. Today, over 100 years later, it's still the traveller's best option for getting to Shimla, going much closer to the city and costing a lot less than flying. And of course, it's also a heck of an experience. In the early days of Shimla the journey would have taken many days and been very arduous with a combination of ponies and sedan-chairs hauled by humans. Bearing in mind that the train journey takes nearly 5 hours, I think you can imagine how long it must have taken before the railway line was commissioned.
Some
facts and figures ******************* The railway is a 2 ft 6 inch (approx 75cm) narrow gauge line that stretches for 60 miles. There are 102 or 103 tunnels (depending on which source you believe) and 864 bridges. The track rises to an elevation of 6811 feet from a starting altitude of 2152 feet (sorry to be so 'imperial' with the measurements).
There are several toy trains including the Himalayan Queen and the Shivalik Express that roll up and down the mountain along the Kalka Shimla route. They are scheduled to meet the trains from Delhi to Kalka and this is how we reached the KSR. We picked up the overnight mail train in Delhi. By the time we joined it had already travelled all the way from Calcutta.
How to get to Kalka ***************** If you are leaving from Delhi you'll need to use the Old Delhi Station - a truly horrible place that's smelly, filthy and crawling with nastiness. Our one lucky break was finding that the train left from the nearest platform so we escaped the need to drag our bags up and down stairs or to battle with the coolies for control of our luggage. We stood for 40 minutes watching rats the size of cats running around the tracks, fending off the pitiful scabby dirty children who live on the railway station and are some of the poorest and most abused children in India, and watching men squat at the side of the track and piss on the rails. Yes we fantasised about them being electrocuted - the peeing men, that is, not the kids or the rats.
The overnight train travels very slowly, stops just about everywhere and costs about £8 for a second class air-con sleeper bunk. Pooh, my husband and I like travelling this way but our friends weren't impressed and grumped quite a lot of the way.
The Toy Train ****************** Arriving at Kalka at around 5 am, we found the station to be a blessed relief after the grime and grimness of Old Delhi Station. The public toilets were the cleanest I've seen in an Indian station although I'll admit that I'm squeamish and usually send hubby in first to check just how disgusting things are before I'll give it a go (obviously not into the ladies). Leaving the train it was easy to find the toy trains at the end of the platform we'd arrived on. We found our carriage and settled in with about half an hour to wait.
The carriages are small - just three seats across and only about eighteen seats. Our carriage had a toilet and a carriage attendant to feed and look after us. He had a small area with a water boiler for making tea and enough space to store a few cardboard boxes of various goodies. The seats were upholstered in an itchy-scratchy fabric not seen outside India since the 1950s. It's the upholstery equivalent of flock wall-paper - a sort of 3-dimensional velvety stuff.
We had booked the early morning train, thinking it would give us the best views. In November, the afternoon trains are likely to arrive after dusk so travellers could well miss the best views. As it was, I missed a lot by reverting to my normal default behaviour of spending most of the journey asleep.
Our carriage had the four of us, a handful of other tourists (including a sour-faced lady with the most bizarre Burberry-check false nails) and a couple of Indian families, each with plenty of small children. We were the last to get in and most of the luggage storage space had already gone. Our friends travel with suitcases only slightly smaller than an Indian village house so we needed to shuffle bags around to make sure there was space for everything and the poor carriage attendant ended up with their giant suitcases in his zone.
The Journey *********** We set off in the dark and were soon served with a cup of tea and a small packet of biscuits. Hubby and I were sitting in a set of two individual seats facing each other and had a small lift-up table. Our friends were opposite Mr and Mrs Burberry Nails and the attendant brought them a collapsible table which excelled at doing just that - i.e. collapsing. Mr & Mrs BN turned up their noses and refused the tea and I suspect they were a bit peeved that our friends had the forward-facing seats whilst they were going to go backwards for the next 5 hours. The attendant also handed out bottled water which he placed in the overhead luggage racks.
After about an hour the skies started to lighten and we prepared for a sunrise - but of course, in the mountains things don't always go to plan. Rather than a proper sunrise, you just find that after a while it's light but the sun is off
Pictures of Kalka-Shimla Railway, India
One way up the mountain might be a canon
somewhere behind one of the mountains so you don't really see anything. The scenery is undeniably spectacular - sheer cliffs covered in deep green foliage and occasional views of tiny villages or towns hanging precariously on the sides of the mountain.
The children had started the journey as quiet, subdued little darlings but as time passed and the sun came up they morphed into irritating little sods who couldn't sit still. (Yes, I know what you are thinking - I am indeed utterly intolerant of people who can't control their kids and it's no doubt a good thing I don't have any of my own). The space between the facing seats had never been designed for 21st century leg length or deportment but it was impossible to leave your legs in the aisle without the kids running over them - unless you are a small bear. What is it that's so fascinating about a train toilet that every child needs to go and inspect it roughly every 25 minutes?
About half way through the journey we stopped at a station to get out and stretch our legs. The station was cute in a mock-Tudor, mock-Surrey sort of way and was the loading point for the attendants to collect our breakfasts. We all got off and wandered around for a few minutes, taking photos of the train and the views.
Back on the train and breakfast was served along with another cup of tea. Breakfast is included in the fare, which is a good thing since there's no way you'd pay for it but at that time of the morning, it's a good thing to get a bit of food. We got a sort of omelette sandwich. Shortly after, one of our friends realised that the bottles of water had disappeared and, as she speaks both Hindi and Punjabi, proceeded to give the carriage attendant a good telling off for taking the water back. She confessed that she'd later realised that it might actually have been one of the other passengers who had pinched the water.
As you get closer to Shimla the views become increasingly spectacular but the novelty of the train starts to fade and you can't help just wanting it all to be over. Compared with other toy trains I've taken, the journey is the least nauseating and uncomfortable but it's still a bit of an ordeal. The train mostly travels in the same direction - rather than zigging and zagging like some. It also doesn't have any really steep sections where you feel as if you are in a sort of funicular. It just gently and slowly shuffles up the mountains. If you can get seats on the right hand side of the carriage you will get better views - ditto if you can go in a forward facing direction. However, you won't get any choice at all - the train booking system allocates you a seat so relax and just go with what you get.
Booking Your Tickets ******************* We booked our seats on-line through the IRCTC booking site (there's a review on that if you search in my list) and had everything fixed up about 6 weeks before we travelled because we were arriving just before Diwali. However, at most times, the line from Kalka to Shimla is quite busy so don't leave your booking too late. Our first class seats cost £4 or £5 each and included refreshments.
Arrival ******** On arriving in Shimla, we found a cute little station that could have been anywhere in the home-counties. We had looked up maps on the internet beforehand but due to the three-dimensionality of the city and its layout on the side of a cliff, the maps are almost useless. We knew our hotel was only half a mile from the town centre but not that the town centre was quite a long way from the station. Thank goodness we didn't try to walk it - it would have been about 7 miles at high altitude and with some serious inclines. The taxis in Shimla all operate as a cooperative so you can't play one driver off against the other - the price is take it or leave it. I advise you to take it. The taxi coordinator gives you a price, checks how much luggage you have and summons a driver with an appropriately sized vehicle. Our journey cost 200 rupees - approximately £2.50.
UNESCO ******** UNESCO have the KSR on their list for consideration as a World Heritage Site and a team of inspectors was due to visit earlier this year. A decision on awarding the status should be made next year. This really does indicate how significant the railway is as an engineering achievement and as a contributor to Indian history.
How we got back down the mountain ****************************** We were going to Chandigarh and hired a car and driver through the hotel for a price of about £30. Not cheap but split 4-ways it was very affordable and we were able to make sure we got a good quality vehicle, with seatbelts and a driver who didn't drive as if he welcomed reincarnation. However, despite all of this, it's a queasy yucky hairpin drive - as the Spice Girls might have said, plenty of Zig-a-Zag Argggghhhh. If going back to Kalka is an option for you, book the train in both directions as there's little difference in the time that the journey takes and the train is less nauseating.
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India's trains make me shiver still 10 years later. But this sounds much better! x
brereton66 14.01.2008 14:50
Great review as always.
anonymili 14.01.2008 11:43
I wanna have a go! Makes a change reading about somewhere in India that has decent toilets, I saw some of the most disgusting sights (toilet-wise) when in Sikkim recently)! x
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