Take a Ride on One of India's Legendary Mountain Railways | National Geographic

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

[Music] The rugged mountainous terrain of India contains unmatched adventure. Their three historic railways are grouped into a single World Heritage site known as the Mountain Railways of India. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and the Kalka Shimla Railway are a Holy Trinity for train aficionados. But they're more than just relics of British colonization; all three are still fully operational today, and a ride on any of them reveals the incredible engineering that connected these rugged locales.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, often called the toy train because of its diminutive size, opened in 1881. The serpentine track gained serious altitude by employing an endless series of switchbacks, hairpin turns, and bridges. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway spans 29 miles of mountainous terrain in Tamil Nadu state. This steam-driven line climbs through southern jungles, rising towards its terminus at Ooty, Mandalam.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway line climbs close to a mile high, taking passengers through 102 tunnels and across 864 bridges. If the journey is as important as the destination, then the Mountain Railways of India are an essential travel experience. There are intriguing stops along each of these lines, leaving it up to the traveler to decide how long to linger along this iconic route. [Music]

Race to Get on the Water | Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks

Mystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86

View All

Paying for college | Careers and education | Financial Literacy | Khan Academy

I think most people realize that college isn’t necessarily a cheap proposition, so it’s important to think about how you can pay for college. I think in many cases folks might be surprised that college can be more affordable than expected. I remember whe…

Miyamoto Musashi | A Life of Ultimate Focus

Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most legendary samurai and famed as Japan’s greatest swordsman—undefeated in more than sixty duels. After he escaped death during the Battle of Sekigahara, Musashi became a ronin. Aside from being a swordsman, he was also a …

NERD WARS: Altair & Ezio Vs. Daredevil

It was Jeff Ryman. This is Anna McLaughlin. We’re coming at you with another Nerd Wars. This one: Altair versus Daredevil. Oh my god, I am going to win so easy, as always! I will be taking the superhero Daredevil, and I’m gonna get gas. And I’m gonna be t…

Fishing Under the Ice | Life Below Zero

♪ CHIP: When you’re providing things, you’re doing things, it’s so much easier when you’re done with the work to sit back and enjoy than to spend a whole day doing nothing. ♪ ♪ CAROL: Come to me, fishy, fishy. WADE: That sounded new to me, too. AGNES: …

DON'T SHOOT THE PUPPY!! .... and more: DONG #23

Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. And the Internet is a big place. So, let’s take a safari through the World Wide Web and find some cool things to do online now, guys. Size it up with iruler.net. This website detects your monitor size and resolution and render…

Charlie Munger's SCARY Inflation Warning (2022)

What makes life interesting is we don’t know how it’s going to work out. I think we do know we’re flirting with serious trouble. Inflation is at such high levels right now that those of us under the age of 40 have never even lived through a period of such…

Take a Ride on One of India's Legendary Mountain Railways | National Geographic

More Articles