Today we are going to go on a journey of Indian Railways. It’s actually the journey of Indian trains which enable a lot of our journeys. We have with us Shri R. Ananth Ji, who is an Indian Railways account services officer. I know him through his Twitter handle on which he shares lovely images of Indian railways. Along with tidbits and information about the heritage and history of it. So, I requested him to come on Detours and share it with our listeners. So, Ananth Ji Welcome to the Detours.

I am so happy we stopped here despite being tired. We walked 4-5 km inside the sanctuary, but it was such a refreshing walk. There were hardly any tourists there despite it being a Sunday. A few families we met at the ticket counter also walked less than half a kilometer and returned back.

Rack & Pinion Innovation

In Ooty, the designed technique ‘rack and pinion’ method is again an innovation. Rack and Pinion prevented the train from rolling back on a huge gradient while accelerating. It enabled a smooth journey from Mettupalayam to Nilgiri Hills, one of the most scenic railways we have. The fourth one which came up was Matheran near Mumbai, a small railway line of 16 to 18 km built-in 1907 from Neral to Matheran. From Neral there is another station called Aman Lodge to Matheran.

The last hill railway which came up after Independence was the Kangra valley railway line. The foundation was led by Lal Bahadur Shastri and the then railway minister who opened the railway line in the 1950s. It covers the distance from Pathankot to Jogindernagar via Palampur. It is also one of the most scenic railway lines because it passes from the Kangra Valley.