Lineside Scenery of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

After arriving overnight from Kolkata at New Jalpaiguri (NJP), we split into taxis to chase and photograph the train. Our first shots were here at Siliguri Junction. When the line opened in 1881 this was the starting point, but after New Jalpaiguri station opened in 1961, broad-gauge trains from across India began running through and DHR services gradually shifted their origin to NJP.

This loop once lay between Sukna and Rangtong (Rongtong). It was known as the First Loop and was the railway’s earliest loop, but it was removed following landslides caused by flooding in 1991. Today the former Second Loop is commonly called the First Loop.

The line enters true mountain territory between Rangtong (Rongtong) and Tindharia. The B-class tank capacity—about 1.5–1.8 t according to sources—is typical for locomotives of this size, and the train took water here at the first major mountain section.

The second loop between Rangtong (Rongtong) and Tindharia is now widely referred to as the Chunabhatti Loop—or simply the First Loop today. A children’s park (Chunabhatti Children’s Park) occupies the center and houses line the perimeter, so it is reportedly difficult to view the entire loop at once.

Kurseong, in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, is the largest town on the middle section of the line and serves as an administrative and commercial hub for surrounding villages and tea gardens. With markets, schools and hospitals—and missionary schools since the British era—it is known as a “town of schools.” The station is a stub-end with water and engine changes. Trains toward Darjeeling skim past shopfronts; after rain, two crew members walk ahead and hand-sand the rails to prevent slipping.

Located between Ghum and Darjeeling at around 7,000 ft (≈2,134 m), Batasia Loop is the largest on the DHR. The line’s highest point is Ghum station at 7,407 ft (2,258 m), and while this spot is a little lower, it offers views of the Himalayas and the town of Darjeeling below. The center of the loop was an open space in 1978; since 1995 it has been landscaped around the Gorkha war memorial.

Chasing by minibus, we could not precisely identify many spots later. The railway mostly parallels the road, trading sides from right to left; the time-consuming Z-reverses made it easy to leapfrog the train and shoot again. In 1978 the run from NJP to Darjeeling took 6 h 45 m, with 7 h 30 m in the opposite direction. There were two round trips daily, plus one Kurseong–Darjeeling round trip and local services between NJP and Siliguri Junction.