Darjeeling Himalayan Railway History
Nearly 120 Years Old.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was opened in 1881. The original line was laid on the Hill Cart Road, but some of the grades were excessively steep, and as a result new alignments had to be adopted. The last major change came as late as 1942, but minor adjustments, often in response to landslips, have occurred more recently. Some 88km (55 miles) long, the railway rises from 533 ft at Sukna to 7407 at Ghum, in only 40 miles. The ruling grade is variously quoted at 16 to 1 or 18 to 1. The sharpest curve is 59ft radius. There are five zig-zags and four loops, two of them double spirals.
These arduous conditions were too much for the three locomotive types tried before the famous "B" class was evolved by Sharp, Stewart of Manchester in 1889. Weighing 14 tons, the "B"s are an 0-4-0 saddle-and-well tank design. Originally pressed to 180lb, with 26 inch coupled wheels and 11 x 14 inch cylinders, the engines could haul four 24ft bogie carriages and a four-wheel van on the hill section of the line. The last of the 34 "B"s were built in 1927.
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The DHR also purchased, in 1911, the second design of Beyer-Garratt articulated ever built (and the third actual engine), but although a qualified success, it was not repeated. Two Pacifics were also acquired in 1915 for the plains section to Kishenganj. Glory Years The DHR was long the mainstay of transport in the hills. At its opening, the price of rice in Darjeeling more than halved. In 1915, two branches were opened. One, to Kishenganj, southwest of Siliguri, connected with the metre gauge Oudh Tirhut Railway. The other, northward along the Teesta valley, east of and almost parallel with the original line, was intended to reach Kalimpong, the capital of Sikkim, then as now a tributary state to India. In the event, connection to Kalimpong was made via a ropeway, and the Teesta Valley branch never reached its potential. Nonethless, for decades the railway's operations were highly profitable. Under these conditions, and with absentee management from London, the line stagnated technologically and in operational terms. The management was criticised for lethargy and indifference. Yet during the 1940s, the DHR responded very nobly to war conditions and greatly increased traffic. The Darjeeling Mail covered the 50 miles from Sililguri to Darjeeling in a mere 5¼ hours, a very creditable performance for a 2ft gauge hill railway. Independence and Change In 1947, India's Independence resulted in the excision of East Bengal to become part of Pakistan. The direct broad gauge rail route from Calcutta to Siliguri via Parbatipur, part of the old Eastern Bengal State Railway, was cut. |
A "B" class at Darjeeling in the 1940s
A DHR train on the loop at Agony Point, some time in the 1940s. |
The DHR was purchased outright, and its Kishenganj branch was replaced by a new metre-gauge line, largely on new formation. Part of the Teesta Valley Branch was converted to dual gauge. Following the disastrous floods of 1950, in which much of the DHR's right of way in the Teesta Valley proper was washed away, this line was abandoned, and the remaining sections became metre gauge only.
In the National Network
Under Indian Railways ownership, the DHR was thus reduced to its original, and most profitable main line from Siliguri to Darjeeling. This was extended in 1960 by 8km at the southern end to New Jalpaiguri, to meet the new broad gauge line from Calcutta via Farakka.
No changes in either technology or operation occurred in this period. Tindharia Works continued to rebuild rolling stock and to maintain the "B" class locos. During these years, the DHR suffered from "branch line syndrome". It was a small, non-standard appendage, initially to the Assam Railway, then to the Northeastern, and later to the North-East Frontier Railway. These, controlling the major strategic link to oil-rich Assam, with busy broad and metre-gauge lines in their charge, were not greatly interested in a narrow gauge branch line.
Declining Fortunes
But from the 1970s onwards, road competition cut increasingly deeply into the DHR's traffic. Systematic neglect replaced the previously high maintenance standards. By the 1990s, the line was being steadily run down. Freight service was withdrawn, and the wagons sold for scrap. Standards of passenger service fell steadily, with trip times from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling stretching out to eight hours and beyond. The locos worked at reduced boiler pressure, and had increasing difficulty maintaining schedules. The line's operating ratio is reportedly some 3,000%!
Courtesy and © DHRS, Australia (www.dhrsa.org.au)
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway History