Driver's Eye View (India) - Kalka to Shimla Railway - Part 2 - Sonwara to Salogra - 4K

In "Part 2 of Driver's Eye View (India) Shimla Railway" we climb ever higher between Sonwara and Salogra. Once again I am grateful to the train crew for allowing me to mount cameras on their railcar so that we can all enjoy the views normally only available to the driver and second man.
The views become ever more spectacular as our little railcar makes lightwork of the stiff gradients with both the driver and second man sounding their horns to warn people who have become used to using the railway as a footpath that a train is approaching. British Great Western style signals regulate our path, signallers exchange tokens with our driver as we pass non-stop through a succession of beautifully presented stations. Monkeys, dogs and people scramble clear of our train as we make our way at a leisurely pace along the ledge cut into the hill side to carry the railway from one surprisingly long tunnel to the next, punctuated by gallery bridges peculiar to this line. I can feel the smile spreading across my face as I enjoy riding this extraordinary railway in an unusual railcar under perfect blue skies, this is an Indian Hill Railway at its best.

The 2 ft 6 in (762mm) 96.6 km long narrow-gauge Kalka to Shimla Railway is located in North India, the route climbs steadily from Kalka where the line shares a station with Indian Railways broad gauge trains, the narrow gauge line to Shimla offers breath taking views of the mountains and the villages clinging precariously to the steep slopes. The line was constructed between 1898 to 1903 under the direction of Herbert Septimus Harington to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India during the British Raj, with the rest of the Indian rail system.
On 8th July 2008, UNESCO recognised the special importance of the Kalka–Shimla Railway by including it in the "Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site" along with the the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

Construction of the railway using a gauge of 2 ft (610mm) was started by the privately funded Delhi-Ambala-Kalka Railway Company following the signing of a contract between the secretary of state and the company on 29th June 1898. The contract originally specified that the line would be constructed without any financial aid or guarantee from the government, although the government provided the land free of charge. The estimated cost of 8,678,500 rupees doubled by the time the line was opened. Chief Engineer Herbert Septimus Harington project managed the construction undertaken by Chief Contractor Sujan Singh Hadaliwale.
The British military had concerns about the choice of two feet for the KSR's rail gauge and following a meeting that recognised the concerns of the military, a decision was reached recommending that narrow gauge hill railways and strategic light railways should have a common gauge of 2' 6". As a consequence the DUKR's (Delhi Ambala, formerly Umballa, Kalka Railway) contract was revised in 1901 to incorporate the change to 2 ft 6 in (762mm).

One of my travelling companions on this tour was “Richard Wallace” author of the book “Hill Railways of the Indian Subcontinent” published by the Crowood Press. Richard's knowledge of the Hill Railways along with a copy of his book at hand added a welcome extra dimension to our tour with fascinating snippets of information and history about the railways we were experiencing. To learn more about Richard's book, please click on this link - https://www.crowood.com/products/hill...

01:13 - Sonwara
16:27 - Dharampur Himachal
29:28 - Kumarhatti Dagshai
38:36- Barog
50:40 - Solan
01:00:28 - Solan Brewery
01:06:46 - Salogra

This video was filmed on 26th November 2024 from Railcar No.3
Map 00:27 - Google Earth
Map 0:38 – OpenRailwayMap.org

This trip was part of a tour “Railways of the Raj” organised by “The Railway Touring Company” - https://www.railwaytouring.net/ in conjunction with Travel Pals (India) Pvt Ltd

To watch Part 1, please click on this link -    • Driver's Eye View (India) - Kalka Shimla R...