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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

India: The Toy Train

The Toy Train to Darjeeling
The Toy Train to Darjeeling

Noel Gallagher once wrote, 'These are crazy days but they make me shine,' and he was spot on; India is crazy, but it sure as hell is making me shine. Just one example is India's train network, which is delightfully bonkers, and the train into Darjeeling is a case in point. There are no traffic lights on the railway line from Siliguri to Darjeeling; instead, a lone man stands in the middle of the humid jungle waving a red flag. This sums up the whole Toy Train experience rather well.

The Toy Train's engine
The Toy Train's engine
The Toy Train being refuelled from a large roadside tank
Refuelling from a large roadside tank
The Toy Train stopped on a hill
The Toy Train at one of its many unscheduled stops

1 Which means you pass wonderful signs such as, 'If you want to donate blood, do not do it on the road, donate it in the blood bank,' 'It is better to be 15 minutes late in this world than to be 15 minutes earlier in the next,' and, rather worryingly, 'Love thy neighbour... but not while driving.' It's a pity nobody takes a blind bit of notice.