The Toy Train
Ever since I saw a programme on ‘Heritage Toy Train of Darjeeling’ I was seized with a wish to enjoy a ride on it. I saved money for the trip. One day I was on the train to Jalpaiguri from Delhi.
From Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling it is 82 Isms on the toy train. The very sight of the Toy Train excited me and my eyes sparkled. Finally, I was in the dream toy. The experience indeed was off unforgettable as the train chugged through lush green and thick Terai forests. The scenes all around me were just out the fairy tale book. There were fascinating hills, waterfalls and woolly clouds almost touching the ground. The mist filled valleys and hills lent a dreamy touch to the journey. The tall trees of oak, pine and fir stood majestically adding beauty to the scene. At most of the places the train ran alongside the motor road. The huge terraced tea plantations all along the track presented a thrilling picture that wetted the eyes. It was a really journey through a dream land. The entire train journey took six ours but the time flew as fast as it does in a dream, years and days compressed into a few seconds-minutes.
The Toy Train passed through by tiny villages or clusters of houses or buildings on both sides. The coaches ran so close to the shops that one could pick up goods from them or talk to the shopkeepers in low voices. The school children ran along the toy coaches and giggled at the passengers. The train slowly climbed up the mountains. The people got on or off the running train with ridiculous ease and safety. All along the track innocent and happy faces of mountain people smiled at tie passengers he women folk wore colorful woolen garments which made them look like mountain fairies. To ascend the mountain heights the Toy Train ran on zig-zag track. I felt sorry when someone to me that the next was the terminal station of Darjeeling. How I wished more of the toy Train!
Questions
- Between which stations the Toy Train runs?
- What trees are commonly seen along the Toy Train track?
- What plant is grown on the terraced plantations of Darjeeling?
- How much time the one-way journey of Toy Train takes from one end to the other?
- What do school children do when they see the Toy Train?
Answers
- The Toy Train runs between Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling.
- One can see oak, pine and fir trees from the Toy Train alongside track.
- Tea.
- It takes six hours to reach Darjeeling from Jalpaiguri, the two terminals of the Toy Train.
5 The school children run alongside Toy Train coal-fa-arid giggle merrily at the passengers.
