essay on darjeeling himalayas railways
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The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 km (48 mi) long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 m (328 ft) at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 m (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services; however the daily Kurseong–Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by the vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives.
The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka–Shimla Railway, is listed as the Mountain Railways of India UNESCO World Heritage Site. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong. Operations between Siliguri and Kurseong were temporarily suspended in 2010 following a Landslide at Pagla Jhora and another near Tindharia in 2011.[1] However the normal Toy Train service resumed between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and Darjeeling from 2 December 2015.