The evening times., 1898-09-06
A GREAT WORK.
The Darjeeling Railway Is a Mod
ern Wonder.
<U-o,s a. yr;sa World

at 3 on the same day! Imagine, also,
that you are not carried through the air
in some marvellous balloon without
catching a glimpse of the earth beneath;
on the contrary, suppose that you are
travelling along the ground and passing
through Afghanistan Persia, Asia Minor,
Turkey. the Tyrol, Switzerland ana
France. What a wonderful panorama OF
changing scenery. climate, vegetation
and people! Nay, more; imagine that
as you are slipping your tea at the end of
the journey you have only to look out or
the window to see on the distant horizon
one dazzling line of snUw-Cad peaks
piercing THE clouds and bathed in all the
cofors of the rainbow.
That is what practically is done every
day by the DarjeeItng Himalayan Raii-
way. one of the modern wonders of the
world both as regards the stupendous
nature of its enterprise and the subhme
grandeur of its environments. To the
tourist the whole journey from the foot
of the hills, where he BIDS farewell 70 I4ie
not plairs of India, to the summit OF
Darjee ling whence ne lbeholds the mls4fIS
Himalayas i'm one magnlhctgN SWEEP
across the horizon, IS like dreamy, &C.
static transformation scene IN some mas
IT, Kaleidoscope The exquisite beauty or
.he pai-Mahal the roveliest work OF
man. falls as far short of the suoime
grandeur of the snowy range or OAR
feeling the most stupendous Work OF ma
ture. as a glimmering street lamp Is
transcended by the Aurora Borealis
The various railway lines of India
| pour their human burden into Silliguri,
the first station of this wonderful Hima-
layan railway at about $50 a m. every
day. The ascent begins at $50 a. m,
the train starting from the very door OF
the railway hotel The first impression
of the traveller when he sees the train Is;
What a tiny toy, this Himiayan rai'-
wayr' How different from the cum
| brous broad-gauge trains OF the eastern
Bengal Railway one had entered In Cal-
! cutta the night before, or even the mar
row-gauge trains of the North Bengal
! one has just left behind. Why, II has
! only a two-foot gauge. and each car Is
no bigger than an ordinary dining table!
! Quite true, but that little train has 10
reach an tltitude of 1850 feet by p. m!
/ Nay, II has to creep along narrow ledges
/ cut in the solid rock, with yaWnlnB
/ chasms on one side and perpendicular
! walls on the other; it has to leap from
| crag to crag like a mountain goat NO
| wonder, then, the whole train weighs
! not more than forty tons, and in traVers-
! ing the fifty miles from Siliiguri 10 Oar
! feeling has 70 go up gradient OF one IN
/ twenty-three in several parts of the line.
I =
! the lS-ton trains and one in nineteen
! gradient of few years ago.
! a. etaoin shrdlu cmfwyp vbgkqJJftl1hJnj
! On leaving the plains the train races
along at fair speed Seven miles from
/ Silliguri the country is still fiat, and the
! vegetation semi-tropical, that Is, of the
/ latitude OF Northern India. But notice
! that the permanent way in the glade Is
artiticially raised above the surrounding
/ plains This artificial rise goes on for
/ some time till the train reaches the foot
! of the first range of hills (they cal! them
! hills in India ii they be anything be-
[ low 1000 feet in height. Obviously, it
! wouldn't do TO start climbing all of
! sudden But imagine the labor of rails
/ ing inch by inch that artificial embank-
ment seven miles long.
! At one place, named agony Point. "
there Is an extraordinary loop OF the line,
( situated at an altitude OF about 5000 feet.
/ What an extraordinary amount OF work
! must have been done in constructing TINS
/ loop, The top of the hill was cut away
! till surface of about hfty-nine and one
! half feet radius was obtained; then the
! line was laid at the extreme edge OF tn
| surface, with no margin to spare Even
| as 1t Is, the curve is so sharp that every
/ messenger can see his neXt-door neiSn-
| bor OF course, the speed here is also re
| duced 10 walking pace, both on account
of the sharp curve and the steep gradient.
| The passenger feels the effect OF This gra-
! dent far more interest when
the train is descending than
in the upward journey The
/ sensation Is very queer; II IS compina-
ton of what one experiences in going
down switchback and the creepy feeling
up ones back in the underground when
the brake is gradually applied on near
! ing a station a sudden rush TO one side
! of the train might upset the whole con-
| Germ into the valley beneath, especially
as the cars actually hang over the ledge.
After leaving this place Ton the upward
/ Journey there are no more loops TO be
met with. the method OF ascent being by
wav of reversing the train alternately
| on the side of hill.
| BY about l p. m an altitude of 4,5oo feet
! Is attained and the train draws up along
| side an hotel where nearly an hour is
| given to the passenger for taking ufflH
! and changing his clothes. For, so far
! the sun was pretty hot; consequently tbs
| light clothes of the plains were a suffi-
! cient protection. Now, however, the train
will ascend regions of a temperate eli
mate. and some little extra clothing
| even If il be an overCoat-is essential.
Higher and higher the train climbs
amid the grandest scenery. Alpine mead
| ows mantle the mountain side, oaks, pines
| and rhododendrons dot the ground at eV-
| cry step. Down the steep mountains two
| streams the Rungeet and the Teesta, rush
| along swiftly and join together in one
| broad river. Nor is this all. AS soon as
| we attain an altitude of 5000 feet white
| banks of cloud begin to gather on al
sides. At one moment the sun is shining
~. i
and we are left in sudden darkness. W.
ascend little higher-the cloud envelop:
us like a delicious, cool mist-then passe:
away, leaving us in bright sunshine W.
ascend yet another spur, turn round cor
! ner-there below us is the cloud covering
| the mountain side like a bundle of fleece
| Suddenly there is break in the range o.
| mountains-down, down, 40 miles away
we catch a glimpse of the plains below
| like a green cloth with white chall
mark meandering all along 1.-THE united
stream, the junction of whose tributarie:
| we have just passed. Suddenly a larl
| cloud obscures the sun-its huge shadow
rushes along the plains with a frightfu
| velocity and sweeps over stream and val,
and mountain in one gigantic embrace
Thus we climb henceforth. Beauty up
on beauty, grandeur upon grandeur, sue
| ceed one another in an endless panorama
| The human mind is lost in an ecstacy o
| delight and knows not which way to turn
to admire. Primeval forests cover tht
valleys, orchids, ferns creepers hang il
| the gayest festoons on every side, Will,
| gorgeous-plumed hill mynas fit acros:
from tree to tree like so many butterflies
, And still we ascend, higher. yet higher
At last an altitude of $500 feet is reach
==-----