A small train slowly ascends the mountains, rocking gently, and your eyes are set outside the window on the picture-perfect villages and pine-covered mountaintops that pass you by. It’s the old world charm of this toy train running from Kalka to Shimla that attracts travellers and its superb engineering leaves them stunned. You can plan a short itinerary to experience this route or take the complete journey –during the peak summer season, there are extra Himachal Pradesh tourism toy trains running on this line.
It has remained
A small train slowly ascends the mountains, rocking gently, and your eyes are set outside the window on the picture-perfect villages and pine-covered mountaintops that pass you by. It’s the old world charm of this toy train running from Kalka to Shimla that attracts travellers and its superb engineering leaves them stunned. You can plan a short itinerary to experience this route or take the complete journey –during the peak summer season, there are extra Himachal Pradesh tourism toy trains running on this line.
It has remained a major attraction since it was constructed and has been honoured with the UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008. This century old railway line tells you the story of India’s illustrious past. In early 1900s, English built this railway line to make the commute to their summer capital, Shimla, more convenient. Even today, you can see masterpieces of their construction – more than 100 tunnels, 864 bridges, and 919 curves stretch on this 96-kilometre route and stand testimony to their genius work.
As it progresses slowly, it reminds you of another era when speed was defined in different terms. You can close your eyes and imagine bullock carts trudging along the villages and picture officers seated beside you, dressed in hats and trench coats, starting their summer retreat in the mountains.
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