I listened, motionless and still, and as I mounted up the hill, the music in my heart I heard, long after it was heard no more,” are iconic lines by William Wordsworth which capture the wondrous train journey from Kalka to Shimla.
Queen of Hills, Shimla served as the summer capital of the colonial masters where Lord Wavel shared the Cabinet Mission plan to transfer power to the natives. And in 1972, it was here that Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Bhutto inked the Shimla Pact.
That is history. But for a vacationer the Kalka – Shimla rail line is a narrow-gauge railway which traverses 96 km. This 96-km long railway track was constructed over 889 short to long bridges and passes through 102 tunnels in the foothills of the Himalayas; the longest tunnel is located at Barog.
A Twist in the Tale – Barog Tunnel
On this enchanting trip famished tourists break journey to savour delicious parathas and fried eggs, cutlets and piping hot tea or coffee in a restaurant at Barog station. Cool breeze wafts in and one can hear the chirping birds and a rivulet as the sun plays hide and seek.
The Barog Tunnel passes through the fissured sandstone and has a tragic tale associated with it.
Colonel Barog, who was supervising the construction of Tunnel No. 33 committed the cardinal mistake of boring the tunnel from both (opposite) ends of the mountain, a strategy adopted to expedite construction. This proved to be a monumental mistake as the alignment went awry and in sheer despondency Colonel Barog snuffed his life through the barrel of his gun.
On this picturesque path several trains ply. The journey is enduringly enchanting at a slow pace as the train ascends the slope rhythmically through stations such as Dharampur, Solan, Kandaghat, Tara Devi, Barog, Salogra, Totu, and Summer Hill to reach Shimla. The journey, which snakes its way through imposing mountains leaves an indelible impression on the minds of the backpacker.
Silken and pristine mountains, breathtaking lakes, salubrious climate, and alluring greenery is on a platter as the train weaves through Shivalik Hills.
The breathtaking beauty of the travel by train and the places to be witnessed from the compartment of the train never cease to leave the traveller spellbound.
There are around eighteen tourist spots which are habitually visited by sightseers in Shimla. The more celebrated among them are the Summer Hills, the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Annandale, Jakhoo Hill and Temple, Tara Devi Temple, Chail (the Palace of Maharaja of Patiala), Gaiety Theatre and the Viceregal Lodge. Tourists throng the Queen of Hills by road, rail and by air, but the journey by rail through the thick forest cover and clouds floating through the coaches has an old-world charm which leaves an ineffaceable impression on the febrile mind of the tipper as it has a magical quality about it.
“Trains are wonderful… To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches and rivers, in fact, to see life,” wrote Agatha Christie while plotting her next murder mystery.