Shimla Mountain Railway

Friday April 12th,   10:00pm

Delhi station was just how I imagined it to be ... chaos !    The minute I got out of the taxi a red coated porter grabbed my bag, put it on his head shouting " 250 rupees" and shot off towards the station. He was quite old and only about 5ft. tall but boy could he move.  I had a job to keep up with him through all the crowds.  In the end I was really pleased because we walked for miles up and down platforms over bridges and through underpasses until finally, he delivered me and my bag, not just to the train but to the exact carriage and compartment.  250 rupees (about £3) well spent I'd say, I think I might have had a bit of trouble on my own !

I booked a 1st class air conditioned sleeper for the overnight trip to Kalka.
It cost 1050 rupees (about £12) for a 190 mile journey in a private sleeper !!
That's like, London to Manchester !   Network rail, are you reading this  ??

It was ok,  only just ok !  Lets say I'm really pleased I didn't go with 2nd class.  It was a bed for the night, reasonably clean and when I woke up in the morning I was half way to Shimla.   But... how did I get through the night without using the toilet ?  It was disgusting !

I Slept well and in the morning I walked down the platform at Kalka to find the narrow gauge mountain railway to take me up to Shimla.

In India, this railway is known as the "toy train" and you can see why. The carriages are little boxes each taking 24 passengers. Each carriage has it's own "attendant" who, believe it or not, makes tea and coffee for us all.

Now I'm not a snob and I will do basic with the best of them but .....
.....  the thing I really don't like about Indian railways is the toilets !

Did I say "toilet" ?   Sorry,  what I meant was, that room at the end of the carriage which has a hole in the floor !!

Because that is exactly what it is !  Just a hole in the floor !
Standing on the platform and looking down on the tracks at Delhi and Kalka,
guess what I saw in great piles all over the sleepers ?
And out in the country,  the people use the railway as a road to walk along !

Fortunately, the journey up the mountain was so breathtaking that I never wanted to use the loo!
The journey from Kalka at the bottom to Shimla at the top is 96kms and takes 5 hours.  According to the 2003 centenary plaque at Kalka there are 102 tunnels, 988 bridges and 917 curves and it climbs to 2075 metres above sea level at Shimla.

I can't imagine how anyone back in 1903 could  have thought about building a railway up this mountain,  let alone actually doing it !!  As usual with panoramas I'm afraid the pictures don't do justice to the views.  It feels like you are travelling on top of the world and looking down on everything.

There are a number of hillside stations along the route where hot meals are loaded on for each carriage ....

 ... and slowly, as the train climbs high above the valleys below, the town of Shimla comes into view,  clinging to the side of the mountain.

I'm now up in the western Himalayas and what a fantastic journey.  The air is so fresh and, clear up here - I think I'm going to enjoy my few days in Shimla.


I wish I was a better photographer,  these views were fantastic.   But, in my defence - it was quite hazy !

Thanks to Carol, Kim, Maddy and Nick for your comments,  it's really nice when you're travelling alone.