<p>Whenever I had a chance to visit Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park and ride on its iconic toy train, the Puttani Express, I could always see many parents accompanying their kids, equally enthralled by the ride. That perhaps explains why a toy train anywhere continues to attract tourists in droves.</p>.<p>Years ago, I travelled on the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Toy Train running between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, which was hauled by a diesel locomotive. All through the seven-hour journey, the landscape kept changing, with the train chugging along mountain roads, sometimes even right in the middle of a bustling road.</p>.<p>Midway, one coach of our slow-moving train got derailed; soon, a group of rail workers descended on the spot and, backed up by special equipment, physically mounted it back on the track! As Darjeeling neared, the sight of baby-sized steam locomotives hauling shorter-route trains, with their sweet-sounding whistle reverberating across the hills, threw us spellbound.</p>.<p>Previously, I had watched a BBC documentary on this train, in which its guard also appeared intermittently. Unexpectedly, I found the same person, sporting a distinctive beard and wearing a black suit with his name pinned on it, on duty aboard our train. When I reminded him about the TV programme, he proudly narrated how it all happened.</p>.<p>Recently, we took another joy trip on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, another World Heritage Site, to Ooty. The platform at the Mettupalayam-originating station was brimming with train enthusiasts. The train comprised four chair cars and a steam engine at the back, all vintage. At the intermediate halts, people got off the train to enjoy the refreshing view of the mountainous surroundings. At some stations, a troop of monkeys would swarm the platform to grab food from the travellers. The train meanders through numerous stone bridges, some curved, all of a bygone era. Much of the metre-gauge track here has a rack and pinion system for the train to securely climb the steep gradient.</p>.<p>As the steam locomotive bears the heavy thrusting of the train upward, the resulting jerks sometimes give us the feel of a pony ride!</p>.<p>To add to the all-around fun, the lone TTE of our train, a jolly Malayalee lady named K Valli, would drop by randomly and befriend the picnickers. As a polyglot, she would even croon some hit numbers from Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam movies. Her call for a group Antakshari, an all-time favourite travel pastime, earned an instant thumbs-up from many. She had, in a way, found a unique way to deal with her own mechanical and repetitive routine on desolate, hilly terrain!</p>
<p>Whenever I had a chance to visit Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park and ride on its iconic toy train, the Puttani Express, I could always see many parents accompanying their kids, equally enthralled by the ride. That perhaps explains why a toy train anywhere continues to attract tourists in droves.</p>.<p>Years ago, I travelled on the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Toy Train running between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, which was hauled by a diesel locomotive. All through the seven-hour journey, the landscape kept changing, with the train chugging along mountain roads, sometimes even right in the middle of a bustling road.</p>.<p>Midway, one coach of our slow-moving train got derailed; soon, a group of rail workers descended on the spot and, backed up by special equipment, physically mounted it back on the track! As Darjeeling neared, the sight of baby-sized steam locomotives hauling shorter-route trains, with their sweet-sounding whistle reverberating across the hills, threw us spellbound.</p>.<p>Previously, I had watched a BBC documentary on this train, in which its guard also appeared intermittently. Unexpectedly, I found the same person, sporting a distinctive beard and wearing a black suit with his name pinned on it, on duty aboard our train. When I reminded him about the TV programme, he proudly narrated how it all happened.</p>.<p>Recently, we took another joy trip on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, another World Heritage Site, to Ooty. The platform at the Mettupalayam-originating station was brimming with train enthusiasts. The train comprised four chair cars and a steam engine at the back, all vintage. At the intermediate halts, people got off the train to enjoy the refreshing view of the mountainous surroundings. At some stations, a troop of monkeys would swarm the platform to grab food from the travellers. The train meanders through numerous stone bridges, some curved, all of a bygone era. Much of the metre-gauge track here has a rack and pinion system for the train to securely climb the steep gradient.</p>.<p>As the steam locomotive bears the heavy thrusting of the train upward, the resulting jerks sometimes give us the feel of a pony ride!</p>.<p>To add to the all-around fun, the lone TTE of our train, a jolly Malayalee lady named K Valli, would drop by randomly and befriend the picnickers. As a polyglot, she would even croon some hit numbers from Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam movies. Her call for a group Antakshari, an all-time favourite travel pastime, earned an instant thumbs-up from many. She had, in a way, found a unique way to deal with her own mechanical and repetitive routine on desolate, hilly terrain!</p>