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Iron Sherpa, The Volume 1 The History By Terry Martin w/ dust jacket
Iron Sherpa, The Volume 1 The History By Terry Martin
Hardbound With Dust Jacket 367 Pages
Darjeeling and its remarkable Railway 1879-2006 Volume 1 The History
Copyright 2006
Contents
Acknowledgements 5
By Way of Explanation 7
Foreword 10
Introduction 11
Chapter 1 - A Monarchy of Merchantmen 15
Chapter 2 - Rails on the Road33
Chapter 3 - The Iron Sherpa59
Chapter 4 - Nature Takes Revenge87
Chapter 5 - Investment & Improvement 111
Chapter 6 - Summits of Achievement 143
Chapter 7 - War & Attrition 175
Chapter 8 - The Restless Dream207
Chapter 9 - The Pendulum of Politics 235
Extending the Lines - An Introduction 259
Chapter 10 - The Kishenganj Extension 265
Chapter 11 - The Teesta Valley Extension 291
Chapter 12 - Great Expectations 321
Afterword 353
Bibliography 361
Index 362
Introduction
There is no gradual approach to the Himalaya. It is sudden and immediate, and as if by way of defiance, there is the terai that must be crossed before the awesome ascent begins. A dripping, vaporous forest sown together by entangling vines, it provides a home for the elephant, tiger and panther, as well as a multitude of things that fly, slither and crawl across its hot, damp valleys. They guard the gateway to the highest mountains on earth, and it was with good reason that the area struck fear into the heart of early travellers.
If a railway, was to be built to Darjeeling, then it would have to pass through the terai, and it was essential that the track was laid as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss. The work was undertaken simultaneously at several sites alongside a road, which had already been constructed for bullock carts and provided a route through the steaming jungle. Travellers' reports from the early days on the train recalled that a log of resinous wood would be attached to the locomotive chimney to light the way at night, whilst fearless coolies riding at the front would be armed with buckets of stones to ward off stray animals. It was said that a lost race of giants also lived in the area and that it was the haunt of the churail, a ghost that had taken the female form and fallen in love with one of the locomotive drivers. The phantom used to wait for the train and travel with him, sometimes riding at the front of the locomotive and on other occasions by sitting on the roof of the guard's carriage, depending on her mood. And if that was not enough there were vats to avoid, the spiritual beings that lived in the trees and were said to be always on the lookout to obtain possession of the human body.
It was therefore with some misgivings that I ventured into the terai one February night in 2005 to photograph the evening dining-car special that had been chartered by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society. The drama and mystery of the forest had come alive after dusk, but Uttam, my driver, refused point blank to leave the car and busied himself rearranging the plastic gods and offerings that dangled from the mirror or were glued to the dashboard altar.
The darkness fell like a net as I left the car and walked along the silent track, lit only by the moon and a few stars that had come out. The anxious exhaust of No. 780 could be heard in the vague distance, panting and breathless before it delved into a cutting or disappeared behind a bend with its train, leaving only the sounds of the forest to take over. It was not
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