0:00:02 > 0:00:05From the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiris in the south,
0:00:05 > 0:00:10for a century, little trains have climbed through the clouds
0:00:10 > 0:00:13into the world of the Indian hill railways.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Another train leaves a station -
0:00:47 > 0:00:50one of 11,000 departures every day
0:00:50 > 0:00:53on the vast network of Indian Railways.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00But this train is leaving the crowded alleyways
0:01:00 > 0:01:03and ramshackle houses of the plains behind.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10From the little railway town of Kalka,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13this train is heading into the foothills of the Himalayas,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17in the Northern state of Himachal Pradesh -
0:01:17 > 0:01:19the Land of the Gods.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23150 years ago, a narrow ridge of mountain villages
0:01:23 > 0:01:29was transformed by the British into the summer capital of the Raj.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43To get there, they created this little narrow-gauge railway.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47It took five years to lay the 60-mile line
0:01:47 > 0:01:53with its 100 tunnels, 864 bridges and 20 stations.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55It was was opened in 1903.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Every summer it ferried ministers and generals,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10diplomats and administrators, their families
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and their servants on a five-hour journey into the hills.
0:02:19 > 0:02:242,500 metres above the plains, the British created Shimla.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29With all the confidence of the most powerful nation on earth,
0:02:29 > 0:02:34they built to impress the local population and to govern them in familiar comfort.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46High in the hills, they solemnly created a replica England,
0:02:46 > 0:02:484,000 miles from home.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Shimla has mock Tudor homes,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58shopping promenades
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and English boarding schools.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04For six months every year, the entire government machine
0:03:04 > 0:03:08moved from Delhi and the heat of the plains,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12making Shimla the most powerful place in India.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16From the second floor office of Viceregal Lodge,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18a fifth of humanity was governed.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24It was from here that India and Pakistan were eventually partitioned.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31When the British left, their notions of time and discipline,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34of loyalty and duty, remained intact...
0:03:35 > 0:03:38..just like the railway they left behind.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41TRAIN ENGINE WHISTLES
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Now six trains arrive in Shimla every day.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Diesel has replaced steam
0:03:51 > 0:03:55and the carriages are full of Indian tourists.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00But much of the engineering on the line remains from the days of Empire.
0:04:02 > 0:04:03Shimla.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The signals, the track, the rolling stock,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10is maintained by the now state-owned Indian Railways.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14They demand loyalty, order and dedication from their staff.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Shimla stationmaster, Sanjay Gera, is obsessive about all three.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23HE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH
0:04:28 > 0:04:33These numbered metal balls supplied by the 100-year-old Neal's machine
0:04:33 > 0:04:36are Sanjay's prized responsibility.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41To ensure train safety,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45every driver must collect one before leaving the station.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49It's then carried in the locomotive, mounted in a circular steel frame.
0:04:49 > 0:04:55At the next junction, it's handed over to show the train has completed that section of the journey
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and the single line is now free and safe for the next train.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01It's a routine as old as the line.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06SANJAY:
0:05:11 > 0:05:14TELEPHONE RINGS
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Shimla.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21Along with safety, punctuality is a prime responsibility for 42-year-old Sanjay
0:05:21 > 0:05:26and, like Shimla itself, he's inherited many British obsessions.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Indian Railways employ more than a million people
0:05:48 > 0:05:53but promotion opportunities for staff who want to stay in Shimla are limited.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57For Sanjay, there's only one job left.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12TRAIN ENGINE TOOTS
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Sanjay wants his boss's job.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21And, as luck would have it,
0:06:21 > 0:06:26station superintendent Bataljit Gill has applied for a transfer.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32HE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:06:41 > 0:06:47There have been only 18 superintendents in Shimla since 1903.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53Bataljit arrived in 2005 but now hopes he'll soon be transferred away.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17In the last 50 years, life in the Shivalik Hills has been transformed.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24The slopes below Christchurch, once forests of pine and deodar,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27are now crammed with thousands of Indian homes.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33Shimla's population has more than doubled since the days of the British Empire.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35HORN BEEPS
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Every day the train brings hundreds more -
0:07:46 > 0:07:49tourists from all over India -
0:07:49 > 0:07:54looking for a glimpse of the Raj and maybe even some snow.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59But their first encounter will inevitably be
0:07:59 > 0:08:02with a railway porter.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08Over 40 railway porters earn a living from arrivals and departures.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Maqsood Gannai has worked on the station for 27 years.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15His father was a porter before him.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20HE SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:08:44 > 0:08:50Maqsood sometimes carries bags as far as five kilometres uphill.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Each job earns him around 50 pence.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56He hopes to get four or five jobs a day.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Porters have always filled Shimla's narrow streets.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Since British times, the town centre has been closed to cars
0:09:08 > 0:09:15and rickshaws, so the only way to move luggage and items up the hill is on a porter's back,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19using nothing more than a few bits of strapping and their own stamina
0:09:19 > 0:09:22to keep the local economy moving.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Many tourists are attracted to Shimla to see the snow
0:09:29 > 0:09:32but this winter, times are hard for the station porters -
0:09:32 > 0:09:36spring is fast approaching and so far there's been none.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05At 46, Maqsood is one of the younger porters.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The longest serving is Achroo Ram.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10He's nearly 90.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Every day he collects meals from the station canteen
0:10:14 > 0:10:18and carries them up from the platform to his boss,
0:10:18 > 0:10:19Bataljit Gill.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28It's a master-servant relationship but with a mutual respect.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33BATALJIT SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:10:34 > 0:10:37THEY SPEAK IN HINDI:
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Achroo Ram is a permanent fixture on Shimla station
0:10:58 > 0:11:01but Bataljit is just passing through.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03He's hoping his new posting will come soon.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09But like the porters and the tourists,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13there's only one thing he'd like to see before he goes.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Bataljit may soon get his snow.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Temperatures are starting to fall. Shimla is the only place in India
0:11:39 > 0:11:44with a skating rink where the ice forms naturally.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46It could soon be in use.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57MILITARY BAND PLAYS
0:12:06 > 0:12:09When the British left India at the end of the '40s,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Shimla fell on hard times. The local economy collapsed.
0:12:13 > 0:12:20But in 1971 the town was made the capital of a new state, Himachal Pradesh,
0:12:20 > 0:12:26and government and prestige returned.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Today the tricolour flies proudly over the town
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and Shimla celebrates its independence
0:12:33 > 0:12:36as a flourishing Indian city.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46But everywhere in Shimla, traces of the former rulers remain.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Nowhere more so than on the railway.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56The British Viceroy travelled in his own personal vehicle - the railcar.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01Today there are four of the strange little locos still in service -
0:13:01 > 0:13:07diesel driven and with all the comforts befitting power and privilege.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10In their 80-year history, railcars have carried prime ministers,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15politicians and leaders of the independence movement to Summerhill,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18the Viceroy's private station.
0:13:18 > 0:13:24And when the Viceroy arrived, so did British government and Shimla came alive.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Only a handful of these imperial mansions remain.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37The oldest and best preserved is Chapslee.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44It was built in 1835 for a director of the East India Company
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and transferred to Indian hands in the '30s.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53Now Ratanjit Kanwar Singh, a descendant of a local Maharajah,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56returns every year in time for the Shimla season.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59RATANJIT SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Aristocratic families like the Singhs lost much of their wealth after independence.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30To pay for the costs of repair and staff,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35Chapslee is opening this season as an upmarket bed and breakfast.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00At the bottom of the line lies Kalka,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02the gateway to the hills.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Today buildings are being demolished
0:15:05 > 0:15:09to make way for a wider, faster road to Shimla.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Most of the traffic uphill travels on the road nowadays.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25But Kalka is still an important railway junction. Inter-city trains
0:15:25 > 0:15:27bring tourists from all over India.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34Before independence, the platforms would have teemed with English children
0:15:34 > 0:15:38catching the train back to boarding school after the winter break.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42The only Englishman resident in Shimla this season
0:15:42 > 0:15:44will be John Whitmarsh Knight.
0:15:49 > 0:15:55At 68, after a globetrotting career, he's coming back as a schoolteacher.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02My mother and father were both educated in the hills when they were young in the '20s.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05And I'm the fifth generation India-born.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10India's been very good to the family and it's my way of repaying that as well.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22John is off to teach at Bishop Cotton,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Shimla's oldest boarding school.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35The schools boomed when the railways made the town more accessible.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40Before the train, the journey would have taken four days on the back of a bullock cart.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43English children suffered in the heat of the plains,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47so they were sent to Shimla for the school year.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50'The parents had a simple choice.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54'They either lost their children for nine months of the year,
0:16:54 > 0:16:59'or they risked their children dying of heat, snakes
0:16:59 > 0:17:02'and insect bites on the plains.'
0:17:02 > 0:17:06And there were cases... Actually, one of my ancestors
0:17:06 > 0:17:11died of heatstroke travelling on a train on the plains.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Here, you turn round one corner and there's this huge panorama
0:17:16 > 0:17:19of colour and space in front of you.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Very, very, very...freeing?
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Is that the right word to use - freeing?
0:17:36 > 0:17:38The views from the train,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41as it weaves its way up through the Shivalik hills,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45makes the line one of the great Indian railway journeys.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Rail freight services ended in the '60s,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01when the road up the hill was first widened.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Travelling by car is usually the quickest way to Shimla
0:18:04 > 0:18:09but with a ticket costing only 50p, the train is cheaper
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and more comfortable.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Today's train has only tourists aboard and one Indian-born expat.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28'I feel very strange actually when I leave, I must confess.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30'A little bit homesick!'
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Porters gathering, like wolves coming down on a flock of poor defenceless lambs.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48- Namaste, Namaste.- Welcome, welcome to Shimla.- Thank you.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49How was your journey?
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Very nice, thank you. Your English is very good. Well done.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56- Thank you, sir.- Very well done. - Thank you.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Maqsood takes John's luggage at the end of his two-day journey from England.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03That's all right. Thank you.
0:19:06 > 0:19:12For the next nine months, John's home will be the exclusive Bishop Cotton school.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18While on the other side of town, the railway provides another home in exile,
0:19:18 > 0:19:23for Maqsood and the station's Kashmiri porters.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37They are Muslims, economic migrants from the Kashmir,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42a region that was awarded to India during partition in 1947.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Pakistan has always disputed it
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and two wars have been waged over the territory since.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Maqsood and his fellow Kashmiris
0:19:52 > 0:19:54have come to Shimla to earn money
0:19:54 > 0:19:57and escape religious intolerance.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00MAQSOOD SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Maqsood's wife and two children still live in Kashmir
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and he works to send money back to them.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53The railway provides a place to live for all its workers at Shimla,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56in the railway colony just below the platform.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Here junior staff live with their families in apartments and flats.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06Above the station live senior staff in two- and three-bedroom bungalows.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11For the drivers and guards who don't live in Shimla,
0:21:11 > 0:21:16there's a dormitory, the Running Room, where they stay overnight before their return journey.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19It's very much a male preserve -
0:21:19 > 0:21:23a place to unwind, eat and catch up with railway news.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29HE SPEAKS IN HINDI
0:21:33 > 0:21:38At the Running Room tonight, there's a retirement party for a driver.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40DRUMS BEAT
0:21:40 > 0:21:46It's a chance to say goodbye to old friends and colleagues after 30 years' service.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54Staff live and work together. The railway is a giant family.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12But life as the head of the station family can be lonely.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18Bataljit is still waiting for the transfer that will reunite him with his wife and children.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40But Bataljit's not completely alone.
0:22:40 > 0:22:47Achroo Ram lives with him, as he did when Bataljit's whole family was in Shimla.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Bataljit's wife still speaks to Achroo every week.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16While Bataljit waits in the bungalow with Achroo Ram,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20outside in the railway colony the temperature is starting to fall
0:23:20 > 0:23:22but will it snow?
0:23:35 > 0:23:42One railway worker has managed to build his own house next to the Viceroy's old station at Summerhill.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Stationmaster Sanjay Gera saved up for and designed and built
0:23:46 > 0:23:51this thoroughly modern home to share with his wife and two children.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58It's a huge house by railway standards -
0:23:58 > 0:24:01a testament to his determination and ambition.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06SANJAY SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Sanjay's family live on one floor of the house.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38The other two levels are occupied by the friends who helped finance it.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54SANJAY'S WIFE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Another advantage of a posting in Shimla
0:25:11 > 0:25:15is access to some of the best schools in India.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Sanjay went to a government school
0:25:17 > 0:25:20but he wants his children to go private
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and have all the things he missed out on.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56TANNOY: ..from Shimla to Kalka,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00shortly leaving from platform number one.'
0:26:00 > 0:26:02IN HINDI:
0:26:16 > 0:26:17SCHOOL BELL RINGS
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Bishop Cotton School is one of a handful of private schools built by the British
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and the oldest in India.
0:26:23 > 0:26:29It's the first day of term for teacher John Whitmarsh Knight and the new intake of boys -
0:26:29 > 0:26:31India's future elite.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36You are only lending them to us for nine months of the year.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39I say this year in and year out.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44You give us a boy, we give back to you a man.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Thank you.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- Good morning, gentlemen. - Good morning, sir.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Thank you, please sit down.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Julius Cesar, Act III, Scene I, page 42.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06John was born in India before independence
0:27:06 > 0:27:12and has watched institutions like the railways and the schools as they passed to Indian control.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15The reasons for doing Shakespeare in school -
0:27:15 > 0:27:20investigation, interpretation, imagination and information linkage.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Those are the skills that will enable you to survive after you leave school.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Make no mistakes about it, you are going into a war zone
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and you will need those skills to survive, OK?
0:27:36 > 0:27:40War zones have always been part of the mindset of Shimla's rulers.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Under the Raj, it was a garrison as well as a resort.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Even now, there are still as many troops as tourists.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Like all railways in India,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02a primary function of the Kalka-Shimla line was military.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04From these ridges in the north,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09the British could move troops to the borders with China and Afghanistan
0:28:09 > 0:28:13and bring in re-enforcements on the railway.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Shimla is still a strategic base for the Indian army
0:28:21 > 0:28:26and a close relationship between railway and military has endured for generations.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Both institutions were created by the British,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35both are now cornerstones of the Indian state.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Rudyard Kipling was a frequent traveller in these mountains.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Shimla was the setting for many of the stories
0:28:55 > 0:28:59that make up his first book, Plain Tales From The Hills,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03set amongst the ambition and intrigue of colonial life.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15It was also the venue for many treaties that would shape India.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20In 1838, the decision to launch the first British war in Afghanistan
0:29:20 > 0:29:22was taken in Chapslee,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25which tonight is opening its doors as a bed and breakfast.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28I would describe it as a time warp,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31that it hasn't changed at all since it was built.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36And this is the way English people lived in Shimla 100 years ago.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44Coming from royal stock,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Ratanjit Singh is a reluctant hotelier,
0:29:47 > 0:29:52but he still manages to charge the princely sum of £160
0:29:52 > 0:29:54for a night in Chapslee.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Look at that - steamed pudding.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44You better get a plate, I think.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47This is like we used to have at school.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49This is definitely once a week at school.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52- Very, very English. - Much nicer than the school.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57- Very delicious ginger.- Ginger steamed pudding - that's yummy!
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Schooldays in Shimla have hardly changed in a century.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16Boarding far from home is a tough rite of passage.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21We were in boarding schools. I hated it, cried myself to sleep all night.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23HE CHUCKLES
0:31:24 > 0:31:27But by next morning you had a choice -
0:31:27 > 0:31:31you either went on crying or you just got on with life.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42HE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:31:56 > 0:32:00- <- Hurry up, go to your beds now. Hurry up, hurry up!
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Goodnight, everyone.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06BOYS SAY GOODNIGHT
0:32:12 > 0:32:15TRAIN ENGINE WHISTLES
0:32:29 > 0:32:34At the bottom of the line, just before dawn, passengers are awaiting the Shivalik express,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37the railway's luxury train to Shimla.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Passengers pay ten times as much as standard-class travellers.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50For this they get soft seats, curtains and waiter service.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Like most hill railways,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08the line is losing money but closure is unthinkable.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15These first-class excursions give Indians a taste of the Raj
0:33:15 > 0:33:19and raise much-needed income for Indian Railways.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21The line has 20 stations.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26Most are tiny, created just for the steam engines to fill up with water.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32Today there are no steam engines but the stations have adapted.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Halfway up the hill lies station number ten,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Barog, now the line's main refreshment stop.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43For the first-class passengers there's waiter service
0:33:43 > 0:33:47and a breakfast of scrambled eggs, tea and toast.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56For the second class, it's a quick dash down the platform for tea and samosas.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04In 2008, the line and its stations were included
0:34:04 > 0:34:06on the UNESCO World Heritage List
0:34:06 > 0:34:10and that helps the railway to target foreign visitors.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Among the first-class passengers are British tourists, trainspotters
0:34:14 > 0:34:17and their wives, on a hill railway pilgrimage.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21I like mountains. Narrow-gauge rail is associated with mountains
0:34:21 > 0:34:24because they're a good way of getting transport in and out of mountains.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28We have an interest in North Wales narrow-gauge railways,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31which are similar in many respects to the railways that come up
0:34:31 > 0:34:35to the Himalayan foothills in Shimla and in Darjeeling.
0:34:35 > 0:34:40We saw this tour, which included sites in India we wanted to see, and everything else
0:34:40 > 0:34:44and it wasn't trains every day, so that was fine.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Unlike British railways now,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Indian rail is state-owned and very labour intensive.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56Its just like our railways used to be 50 years ago,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59with all the facilities we've got at the stations
0:34:59 > 0:35:03and the complete signalling system. It's just quite fantastic.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09Today Barog is not just a refreshment stop,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14it's also a memorial to one of the line's creators.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Two kilometres away from the station lies the remains of the tunnel
0:35:18 > 0:35:21that is responsible for the station's name.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Barog was the English engineer who started digging,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28only to realise that the two ends wouldn't meet.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Unable to live with the shame...
0:35:34 > 0:35:36he shot himself.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46The tunnel was eventually built and it's a kilometre in length,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49the longest on the Kalka-Shimla railway.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56On its five-hour journey up to Shimla on this luxury train,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59passengers enjoy a personal service
0:35:59 > 0:36:02and unlimited cups of tea
0:36:02 > 0:36:05and it only costs £2 each way.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Stationmaster Sanjay Gera's wife, Sapna,
0:36:28 > 0:36:33is one of the few people who depend on the train every day.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37She catches the 8:30 in from Summerhill to Shimla,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40part of a new breed of career women,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44with a full-time job as a supervisor at an insurance firm in town.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Her wages help to pay for the family's lifestyle.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55SAPNA SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:37:11 > 0:37:15They have been married for ten years and Sanjay shares his wife's ambition.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19SAPNA:
0:37:26 > 0:37:30All aspects of life on Indian Railways are subject to strict procedures.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Every action must be accounted for, everyone has a role,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36particularly when an accident occurs.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40Every year, a dozen or so people die on the line.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Most commonly they're hit by the train as they walk on the tracks.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Mostly staff have to deal with minor accidents on the railway
0:37:58 > 0:38:01but today it's different.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04IN HINDI:
0:38:15 > 0:38:17It's very serious.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20The two women - a mother and her daughter - are badly injured.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25They jumped from a bridge as a rail car approached just down the line.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Its Sanjay's job to co-ordinate the emergency services at the station.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49The accident occurred just 500 yards down the line.
0:38:49 > 0:38:55They've decided to bring the injured women in on the rail car and direct the ambulance to the station.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06The porters arrive with stretchers and the Railway Police are on hand.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15The 13-year-old girl is lying in the rail car -
0:39:15 > 0:39:17injured but not critical.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24Her mother is unconscious and in grave danger.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51The young girl has suffered several broken bones
0:39:51 > 0:39:56but her mother's breathing is erratic and her pulse is failing.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01Despite everyone's efforts, she dies on the way to hospital.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03It's a difficult time on the railway.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Although staff work hard to prevent accidents,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19the line is now 106 years old
0:40:19 > 0:40:24and the years are taking their toll on bridges, tunnels and embankments.
0:40:24 > 0:40:30Land along the line has also been built up, threatening the structure of the track.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Every year there are landslides.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Derailments and collisions do occur.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41The 17 Diesel engines are nearly 30 years old
0:40:41 > 0:40:45and the sharp bends and steep inclines wear the rolling stock.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50There's a rigid maintenance regime in the diesel sheds at the bottom of the line,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53and engines are checked before every journey.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03To make sure procedures are fully understood,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06there's a weekly quiz at the railway institute
0:41:06 > 0:41:09with prizes for the winners.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12HE SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:41:25 > 0:41:28These quizzes are taken very seriously.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Knowing the answers is essential for promotion.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53There's no chance of any promotion for porter Maqsood.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58The only thing he wants is the snow that will bring tourists
0:41:58 > 0:42:00and the chance to earn some money.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27IN ENGLISH:
0:42:32 > 0:42:37Whatever the weather, for 70 years the train was Shimla's lifeline.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Every day, mail still arrives from the plains
0:42:40 > 0:42:44to be sorted at an office above the station.
0:42:44 > 0:42:50Where once it contained dispatches from London and letters from home, now it's the latest postings
0:42:50 > 0:42:53and orders from railway headquarters.
0:42:53 > 0:43:00Every day, Bataljit expects that the next letter he opens will confirm his next posting.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Today is a special day for Sanjay.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Although he's eager to step into his boss's job,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14another ambition is about to be fulfilled.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Ordered on the internet, paid for by credit card...
0:43:23 > 0:43:26IN HINDI:
0:43:26 > 0:43:31..he is about to take delivery of his cherished table-tennis table.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37Sanjay's dream house will soon be complete
0:43:37 > 0:43:40but they have to carry it up four flights of stairs.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12As clouds gather around the station,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16one of Bataljit's dreams could also be fulfilled.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50The British rarely saw these cold evenings.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53They liked the summer cool but returned to Delhi or Calcutta
0:44:53 > 0:44:57and the warm plains as winter temperatures dropped in Shimla.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09While Bataljit and Achroo Ram spend another night in,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12outside something magical is happening.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16TRAIN ENGINE TOOTS
0:46:24 > 0:46:29For just a few hours, at the very end of winter,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Shimla is transformed.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12It may not be very deep, or last very long,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14but snow is a precious sight in Shimla.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17It even makes the news in Delhi.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Most tourists have never seen it,
0:47:21 > 0:47:25so it's a special day for those lucky enough to be in the hills.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28THEY SPEAK IN ENGLISH:
0:47:33 > 0:47:36REPORTER: So how do you feel?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09The snow goes as quickly as it came,
0:48:09 > 0:48:14with winter soon replaced by the first signs of spring.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21It's a time of change in Shimla.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26On the railways, it's the season when promotions and transfers come through.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30SANJAY SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:48:35 > 0:48:41Sanjay is expecting to make the move up from station master to superintendent.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02Sanjay is confident about his prospects for promotion
0:49:02 > 0:49:06and for a stunning garden display by the side of the line.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10Spring means the trains pulling in to Shimla
0:49:10 > 0:49:15are now packed full of tourists looking to escape the warm plains.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19For the porters, there's a heightened expectation of work.
0:49:30 > 0:49:31No, thank you.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37British backpackers are usually Maqsood's favourite customers.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41They tip well and even carry their own luggage.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Oh, that's kind.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54While Kashmir remains unsettled, Maqsood will stay in Shimla.
0:49:54 > 0:50:00It's not home but still a place where he can earn money and live a settled life.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15The one thing he can depend on is the railway.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18It will continue to provide him with a home and a living
0:50:18 > 0:50:21for as long as he chooses to stay.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02BELL TOLLS
0:51:04 > 0:51:08In Shimla, the Kashmiri porters have found a home from home.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18After a life spent travelling around the world,
0:51:18 > 0:51:22John Whitmarsh Knight has also decided to stay.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25He now feels he belongs in the country where he was born.
0:51:25 > 0:51:31I never realised how deep the feeling was to be needed, one...
0:51:31 > 0:51:34and, having worked as a businessman,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36which is a pretty take-take situation,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39now it's a give-give situation and that is refreshing.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43I had no idea it would grip me like this.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45For over 150 years,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49Bishop Cotton School has been educating the country's leaders.
0:51:49 > 0:51:55Fluent in English, familiar with Shakespeare, but now all Indian.
0:51:56 > 0:52:01And, for almost as long, the train has ferried them up and down the line.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03For the next seven years,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06Bishop Cotton will be home for these new boys.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10BOY SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:
0:52:35 > 0:52:38I really feel I'm totally at home.
0:52:38 > 0:52:43It is remarkably rewarding, really is.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50As they say, "Carry me out feet first -
0:52:50 > 0:52:53"the last Englishman in India."
0:52:53 > 0:52:55HE CHUCKLES
0:52:57 > 0:52:59DRUMS BEAT
0:53:03 > 0:53:05When spring starts,
0:53:05 > 0:53:10Indian gentlemen get the chance to cover themselves in paint and powder
0:53:10 > 0:53:13as they celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16Throughout the town,
0:53:16 > 0:53:19the new season is heralded in by a celebration
0:53:19 > 0:53:22that welcomes all classes and religions.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30And it's a tradition that owes nothing to the British.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44On the railway,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47the arrival of spring has finally brought the news Bataljit
0:53:47 > 0:53:49has been desperately waiting for.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52TELEPHONE RINGS
0:53:52 > 0:53:54Oh, I'm a happy man. A happy, happy man!
0:53:57 > 0:54:00Oh! Great!
0:54:00 > 0:54:03HE LAUGHS
0:54:13 > 0:54:17Station Superintendent Bataljit Gill has got his posting
0:54:17 > 0:54:21and he'll take charge of an entire line down on the plains.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24The long wait is finally over.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26He can move back to live with his family.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Leaving means saying goodbye to all the station staff,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42including his servant, Achroo Ram.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20Bataljit's posting has created a vacancy at the station.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23Shimla.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27But Sanjay won't be filling it.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31The railway are sending a man up from the plains,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35so Sanjay must wait a little longer for his planned promotion.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43HE SPEAKS IN HINDI:
0:55:55 > 0:55:57In accordance with railway policy,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Sanjay will eventually get his promotion.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05In the meantime, there are always other skills to learn.
0:56:10 > 0:56:15In six years, Shimla Station has generated a mountain of paperwork for Bataljit
0:56:15 > 0:56:19but he will take something else with him when he leaves.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Achroo Ram prepares the bungalow for its next incumbent.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13Station superintendents come and go
0:57:13 > 0:57:17and Bataljit is just the latest in a long line.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21But they all hold a place in their hearts for Achroo Ram.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40Achroo Ram remains a porter at Shimla station -
0:57:40 > 0:57:44a place he's lived and worked for the last 50 years -
0:57:44 > 0:57:48and at nearly 90, he's no plans to retire.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Shimla is a town of memories
0:57:54 > 0:58:00but a place where the echoes of the past grow ever more distant.
0:58:03 > 0:58:08The British left their schools, their legal system,
0:58:08 > 0:58:11their trappings of government.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14They also left division.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21But perhaps their greatest unifying legacy
0:58:21 > 0:58:25can be heard five times a day,
0:58:25 > 0:58:30winding its way up to Shimla - the queen of hill stations.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2010
0:58:33 > 0:58:37E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk