RRB Practice 11

India's heritage railways are among the most celebrated examples of mountain railway engineering in the world, and three of them — the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and the Kalka-Shimla Railway — have been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, forming part of the Mountain Railways of India designation that recognises their outstanding universal value as engineering achievements and their role in shaping the social and cultural landscape of the regions they serve. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, affectionately known as the Toy Train, was constructed between 1879 and 1881 to connect the plains of Bengal with the hill station of Darjeeling at an altitude of approximately 2,134 metres above sea level. The railway runs on a two-foot narrow gauge track, the narrowest gauge used on any of India's heritage railways, and uses a combination of zigzags and loops to gain altitude on gradients that would be impossible for a conventional railway. The Batasia Loop near Darjeeling is one of the most photographed locations on the route, where the train makes a complete spiral to gain height within a short horizontal distance. Steam locomotives, particularly the iconic B class engines manufactured in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, continue to haul heritage tourist trains on portions of this route, drawing visitors from around the world who wish to experience the romance of steam travel through the tea gardens and mountains of the eastern Himalayas. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Tamil Nadu connects Mettupalayam at the foot of the Nilgiri hills with Ooty, the popular hill station known as the Queen of the Nilgiris, over a distance of approximately 46 kilometres. This railway uses a unique rack-and-pinion system on the steepest sections, where a central toothed rack rail engages with a pinion gear on the locomotive to provide the traction necessary to climb gradients of up to one in twelve. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, connecting the plains station of Kalka with the former summer capital of British India at Shimla, runs over a distance of approximately 96 kilometres on a two-foot six-inch narrow gauge track, crossing 103 tunnels and 864 bridges as it winds through the lower Himalayan foothills. The railway was constructed between 1898 and 1903 and served as the lifeline of administration during the summer months when the colonial government relocated to Shimla. Modern diesel railcars now provide the primary service on this route, supplemented by heritage steam specials during tourist season. The Matheran Hill Railway near Mumbai and the Kangra Valley Railway in Himachal Pradesh are among other narrow gauge lines that retain their historic character and continue to operate as both working railways and tourist attractions. Preservation efforts on these heritage lines face the dual challenge of maintaining ageing infrastructure and vintage rolling stock to operational standards while generating sufficient revenue from tourist traffic to sustain operations. The Indian Railway Heritage Foundation and various enthusiast groups have played an important role in advocacy for the preservation and promotion of heritage railways, and state tourism departments have partnered with Indian Railways to develop heritage tourism packages that combine rail journeys with stays at heritage properties along these routes.