The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (This one's for you, Dad)

'Tis the season for trains! Many people back home have been visiting the trains in downtown Cincinnati (a tradition for my family, I even called in sick to work last year to go with my family!). Still others (also my family) have been setting up their trains around the Christmas tree. Anyone know where this tradition comes from? Let me know if you do.
So being the season, I did my part to carry on the tradition by actually riding a train. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (click it to learn more). I rode the train from Kurseong to Sonada. It wasn't a long trip length wise, but it is a slow train so it took a couple hours. Its not easy for a train to climb those mountains.



Its is referred to as the "Toy Train" because of its small size. As you can see below, its not much taller than I am. It is a class "B" engine (for those in the know). It is a two-foot gauge, meaning that the tracks are only two feet apart (compared to the standard gauge of 4' 8.5").



(Here's me in my fat pants again. Ha! And in case you're wondering why I'm wearing the same clothes in all the pictures I've posted thus far...its not because all the pictures were taken the same day. Its because in the two weeks I was in India I only wore three different pairs of pants and four different shirts. Don't judge me, you would have done the same.)



The railway was completed in 1881 and designed by the British (no surprise there). It has been running ever since and its one of the last regularly scheduled steam engines in the world. Its been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site which is the reason for its continued existence. It costs more to run than it makes, but for now its still around. Who knows in a few years. So it was a privilege (it took me forever to figure out how to spell that dang word) to be apart of a piece of history like this.



As I mentioned, the train is slow. People are constantly running and jumping on and then jumping off again when they reach their destination. I was half tempted to jump off and jump back on just to say I did it. But I didn't. Oh well.



Here we are at our last stop in Sonada. It was a fun trip, something I'll remember for a long long while.



And I even took a video for you. Make sure you watch it. Its not very long, but with the internet here (not sure exactly how long cause I went to bed) it took around 3 hours to upload!