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]

15 Things You Envy In Other People

Public education helps the poor?

View All

Filming Glow-in-the-Dark Critters | Best Job Ever

[Music] Being a wildlife cameraman, it’s a whole discovery of technical knowledge. I’m working with Paul Merrick, who is a grantee of the National Geographic Society. Dr. Merrick studies millipedes, and we’re headed out to film them in their natural habi…

This Is The ONLY Video You Need To Watch To Start Your YouTube Channel

You want to start a YouTube channel but you’re lost. There are tons of videos and you’re getting overwhelmed. But don’t worry, I got you, and by the end of this video, you will exactly know where to start, what to do, and how to do it. This is the only vi…

15 Things to Avoid During the Holidays

Hey there, relaxer. Wherever you’re watching this, you know, you’re probably celebrating some sort of holiday, whether you’re religious or not. It’s still a time when the year comes to an end. It’s a closing chapter for most people around the world. A tim…

Worked example: Using formal charges to evaluate nonequivalent resonance structures | Khan Academy

[Instructor] We’re told that three possible resonance structures for the thiocyanate ion are shown below. All right, there we have them. Based on formal charges, which of the three structures contributes most to the resonance hybrid of thiocyanate? And …

The Science of Jetpacks and Rockets!

This is a water jet pack… but no, that’s not me flying it. This is me. It’s harder than it looks, ok? But to understand how it works, we need to first talk rocket science. Rocket science is meant to be one of the most complicated things in the world, but …

Mad Brad | Wicked Tuna

All right, we’re going to haul up now and come in. Weird fishing, there’s fish around. There’s a couple bites; you don’t mark that many. It’s just very strange. There’s a ton of boats out here; everybody’s trying to get their last licks in before the end …

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

More Articles