Darjeeling | 12.12.2020 | 04:00 pm ~ 05:30 pm

The Tale of the Toy Train – Darjeeling’s Narrow Gauge Railroad

About the walk

Darjeeling, a beautiful hill station in the North of Bengal, was the brainchild of the British. However, unlike other hilly destinations in the country, it was not developed for a good holiday spot to unwind, sip tea and take in a bit of shikar (shooting), but to provide a sanatoria for the many ailing soldiers and exhausted East India Company officials. While Darjeeling was established in the early 1800’s, reaching there on road from Calcutta was a very time consuming, tiresome and expensive affair and it was because of this that the Eastern Bengal Railway (EBR), proposed a hill tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the year 1878. 

This tramway, was later renamed the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. However, the steam engines continue to whistle along the Hill Cart Road even today and not only plays a significant role in the life of the hill dwellers but also proves to be a major point of attraction for tourists from all around the world.

Join us for a virtual walk that covers 88kms of one of the most picturesque railroads in the world and listen to the story of the living toy trains of Darjeeling.

This is an online-guided tour.
 

Meeting Time
03:55 pm
Event Date
Event Time
04:00 pm ~ 05:30 pm

About the walk

Darjeeling, a beautiful hill station in the North of Bengal, was the brainchild of the British. However, unlike other hilly destinations in the country, it was not developed for a good holiday spot to unwind, sip tea and take in a bit of shikar (shooting), but to provide a sanatoria for the many ailing soldiers and exhausted East India Company officials. While Darjeeling was established in the early 1800’s, reaching there on road from Calcutta was a very time consuming, tiresome and expensive affair and it was because of this that the Eastern Bengal Railway (EBR), proposed a hill tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the year 1878. 

This tramway, was later renamed the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. However, the steam engines continue to whistle along the Hill Cart Road even today and not only plays a significant role in the life of the hill dwellers but also proves to be a major point of attraction for tourists from all around the world.

Join us for a virtual walk that covers 88kms of one of the most picturesque railroads in the world and listen to the story of the living toy trains of Darjeeling.

This is an online-guided tour.
 

Led By

Sukrit Sen
Sukrit, a former student of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata. He has done his graduation in architecture from OmDayal School of Architecture, Uluberia, West Bengal. He is currently pursuing his masters in Heritage Management from the Centre for Heritage Management, under Ahmedabad University. He is highly interested in Cultural Heritage and its conservation, as he has been grown up in a family with a strong cultural background. It is for the same, he has been exposed to heritage, both…

Meeting Time

03:55 PM

Meeting point

Zoom - Online

Disclaimer

The information & views presented by walk leaders and individual speakers are based on personal perspectives and points of view and do not necessarily represent views, opinions and official policies of Sahapedia.

Sahapedia reserves the right to cancel an event due to unforeseen circumstances. Participants will be informed accordingly.

Maintaining safety during our events is our main priority. We have implemented several social distancing and safety measures to limit physical interactions between all attendees at the walk. Sahapedia/ India Heritage Walks is not responsible for any illnesses developing due to participation in physical events. 

 

In case you are unable to attend after having registered, please send us an email.

Email: ihw@sahapedia.org

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  • Session open to registered participants. No registration fee.
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