Indian Hill Railways

[timmy]

Gail and I just finished watching the last of the three-program set from BBC entitled "Indian Hill Railways." The three railways covered are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling ... an_Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_Mountain_Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalka-Shimla_Railway

Ever since I was a little kid reading about the Darjeeling Railway, I've wanted to ride it, and so I was quite keen to watch that episode of the series. I was not disappointed! But having finished the 3rd one tonight, I was surprised that the Nilgiri Railway was the one that really took my breath away. I hadn't viewed 5 minutes of it before I was absolutely entranced and enchanted. Afterwards, Gail said that it really caught her imagination, as well. Seeing the wildlife, like the elephants, along the route was especially a treat!

Many of you gentlemen have suggested places in India I need to visit -- thanks so much for this; I have saved all of those posts on my HD so I can pull them up for reference. But this trip to Ooty is one I hope I would get the chance to take sometime in my life! All 3 of these films show such beauty.

Now, I have to see that scene with SRK riding the Nilgiri Railway in the film Dil Se, but that has to wait until we watch a previous recommendation: Amrapali. Too much to do in life, and not enough time to do it in!

[nagarifle]

indian toy railways are indeed an enjoyable experiences, having done the kalka-shimla route, man it is enchanting experiences, i have seen the darljeeling toy train and took the jeep,[they say you get of to pee with comfort and still walk around the bend and jump back on the train] as 8 hours seemed a long time to spend as when compared to 2-3 hours in jeep.

[prashantsingh]

they say you get of to pee with comfort and still walk around the bend and jump back on the train.

True.
Can get monotonous after some time.
You also have the kids jumping on to the running train to go to school.