Maibang (N.C. Hills), Feb. 23: For Ruben Cashler, a “steam-engine buff” from Colarado in the US, the ride on a steam-hauled train to the last capital of the Dimasa kingdom was the best thing to have happened to him in a long time.
“The sonorous whistle of the mammoth engine, bellowing black smoke and chugging through green fields, dark tunnels and river bridges, was enchanting. I intend to come back with my friends, who are eager to see these steam engines in operation,” Cashler said after disembarking at Maibang.
The American was part of a group of tourists who made the special journey commemorating 100 years of the Lumding-Badarpur hill section of the Northeast Frontier Railway. The overwhelming response to the promotional event has sparked talk of reviving the Jatinga steam safari.
“Though this journey is through one of the most scenic sections, it’s still not on the tourist map. Next winter, we may offer the Jatinga steam safari and the toy train journey to Darjeeling as a package deal,” Vipan Nanda, general manager of N.F. Railway, said.
The Jatinga steam safari was introduced in 2001, but failed to become a regular tourist attraction. N.F. Railway is hoping things will change after an aggressive campaign is launched to promote one of the more exotic train journeys in the country. The steam safari had been introduced after the success of similar ventures in Darjeeling, Matheran (Maharashtra), Ooty and the Kangra Valley. Apart from the train journey from Lower Halflong to Maibang, the package includes a visit to Jatinga, a place made famous by the phenomenon of “mass suicide” by birds.
Tourists can also enjoy colourful folk dances and a visit to a pineapple garden tea prepared in bamboo containers is served. “The locomotive experience is just mind-blowing. One can chat with the driver and be a part of everything that goes on in the engine room,” Leena Sharma, chief public relations officer of N.F. Railway, said.
The completion of the Assam-Bengal railway line, criss-crossing the North Cachar Hills, was a technical feat because of the hilly terrain and its impenetrable bamboo jungles. The project had been launched in 1899 and completed in 1903.
The track was linked to Chittagong port and passed through 37 tunnels, including the Dayang Viaduct, and 565 bridges. The graves along the track are testimony to the fact that several workers died while being engaged in the arduous task of laying the line. These workers were from the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Nepal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.
V.K. Chettri, station master of Maibang, said a block machine and a track circuit dating back to the British era were still functioning. “These are as old as the hill section of N.F. Railway,” he said.