India - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - Driver prepares his engine for daily journey

Train driver Birkh Dattani drives the narrow gauge steam train between Darjeeling and Kurseong, the shorter of the two journeys he has been traveling for the past 40 years. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 km long. The elevation level is from about 100 m at Siliguri to about 2200 m at Darjeeling. It is still powered by a steam engine and travels daily between the two towns, as well as a shorter route to Kurseong. It is now classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. India.

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Filename: 20071212_india_0079_1.jpg
Copyright: Christopher Pillitz
Image Size: 3872x2582 / 1.0MB; Cleaning DIRECTIONS DRIVER Darjeeling GAUGE India JOURNEY LOCOMOTIVE LOYAL MAINTENANCE NARROW PHOTOGRAPHY PRIDE SIGN TRAVEL West action adventure bengal christopher color colour culture employment engine faithful heritage himalayas horizontal narrow gauge pillitz polishing portrait site steam steam train tourism tradition traditional train unesco work workers world
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Train driver Birkh Dattani drives the narrow gauge steam train between Darjeeling and Kurseong, the shorter of the two journeys he has been traveling for the past 40 years. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 km long. The elevation level is from about 100 m at Siliguri to about 2200 m at Darjeeling. It is still powered by a steam engine and travels daily between the two towns, as well as a shorter route to Kurseong. It is now classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. India.