Joy ride on French rail - Darjeeling loco runs to celebrate narrow gauge survival

Siliguri, July 3: An engine of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway that ferried passengers up and down the hill tracks for almost 70 years chugged and whistled on the rail lines in France to celebrate 40 years of survival of a narrow gauge stretch.

Loco 19 that was built in 1889 crossed the English Channel last month to be part of a four-day event in Picardy.

Five members of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society, an association of UK-based steam enthusiasts, also participated in the programme organised by the Froissy-Dompierre Railway.

“The British-built steam locomotive made its appearance in mainland Europe’s Picardy in Northern France for the very first time in early June. Its temporary home for four days was the Froissy-Dompierre Railway. Also present at the event were five DHRS members taking their sales and publicity stands abroad for the first time,” Paul Whittle, vice-chairman of the DHRS wrote in an e-mail to The Telegraph. He was among those who attended the event.

The engine served the DHR till 1960 before the Indian government sold it to an American to pull trains in his railway. In 1975, the engine was donated to the Hesston Steam Museum in the US. In 2003 a DHRS member, Adrian Shooter, bought the locomotive from the museum to run it in his garden at Burmingham.

The engine is the only one from the DHR fleet to have travelled outside India.

The five-mile narrow gauge line in Picardy was built in 1916 during World War I. In 1971, the French government closed down narrow gauge lines across the country. The Froissy-Dompierre Light Railway members, however, managed to save the five-mile 600mm track from closing down.

“Forty years down the line, the volunteers organised a great celebration of the track’s survival. Several of volunteers are from the UK and they suggested the idea of running the DHR loco at the event,” Whittle wrote in his e-mail.

He said currently the track is only used by visitors.

“It was rescued from closure in 1971 by a group of railway enthusiasts and is presently run as a heritage railway only for tourists. The last freight trains for carrying goods to a sugar refinery were run on the line in 1973,” Whittle wrote.

The DHR engine ferried around 1,000 passengers during the four-day event.

“The travellers most definitely enjoyed their rides. With its bright blue paint shining in the sunshine Loco 19 was most definitely the star of the show. Many people were amazed to hear of its history and origins in Darjeeling,” Whittle wrote.

He added that the DHRS made profit from its sales at the event. “We made a good profit on our sales of books and DVDs. The fund will help us support our projects on the DHR,” Whittle wrote.

He added that the scenery along the French tracks is very different from those in Darjeeling.

“The line (in Picardy) starts on the level running alongside the Somme canal and goes through a 250m tunnel. It then starts to climb steadily up to the Sancerre Plateau. I am afraid it did not resemble either Sukna or Darjeeling, not a tea garden in sight! Once up on the plateau it is rolling farmland with huge fairly level fields. But just like the DHR the line uses zig zags to gain height.”

-The Telegraph