Showing posts with label Barog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barog. Show all posts

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Railway station Barog and whispering in tunnel number 33

Shimla, India:
Shimla Kalka UNESCO World Heritage narrow gauge train of India covers it's 96 kilometers route with 880 bridges, over 919 turns and 102 tunnels all through the scenic Himalayan valley which is covered with beautiful coniferous trees of pines, deodars, oaks, willows and blooming dendron.
Shimla, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla Railway Station, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla Railway Station, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla Railway Station, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Shimla Railway Station, India, a hill city at 2276 m

Kalka Shimal Railway, India, a World Heritage narrow gauge train

Kalka Shimal Railway, India, a World Heritage narrow gauge train


Railway station Barog:
My train 52456 reached on a sunny, cool afternoon of 6th December 2017 to a railway station Barog, operational since it's inception in 1903 at 1560 m elevation in Himalayan valley, borrows it's name from an English gentleman Colonel Barog, a British Engineer then in British India, who was responsible for making of the adjacent 1143.61 m long tunnel, now recorded as straightest in the world.

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation and Barog tunnel number 33

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation and Barog tunnel number 33

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation and Barog tunnel number 33


His master's apparition:
As train stopped at the platform of the Barog railway station, I saw a black dog looking towards the adjacent tunnel number 33 from behind the station building, as if he was waiting for his master to appear from somewhere. That's a sad story to recount.

Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog tunnel number 33 at Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

Barog tunnel number 33 at Barog railway station at 1531 m elevation

The sad story:
It is said that due to his minor miscalculation, both ends of then excavated tunnel could not meet in the center as it was supposed to be. His due frustration and Re 1 humiliating fine from then British authorities aggravated his depression.


He killed himself by his service revolver at that very entrance of the failed tunnel number 33.  It was his dog that came rushing back to the nearby people to take them to the spot where his master Colonel Barog lay in a pool of blood on that fateful day. His grave lies there ever since. Tunnel and railway station is now known as Barog to his honour.

The whispering:
Scary silence echoes the train reverberations of carriage wheels & whistling engine when train enters into this long, dark, wet, eerie, damp tunnel. These reverberating sound in tunnel number 33 seems to be mixed with the whispering of Colonel Barog too.


Locals believe that his apparition is often seen in and around, moving to and fro this tunnel in frustration, riding his horse.

(Note:Pictures and travel account from author's personal journey made on 6th December 2017 afternoon)

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Colonel Barog: tall upright man of Barog Tunnel

THE 96.54-km-long Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge track in India has 102 operational tunnels that constitute about 8 per cent of the total length of the route.
This rail track, which was open to passengers on November 9, 1903, is a living tribute to those engineers who dared to bore a total of 107 tunnels and set an example of how a railway line could pass through a rough mountainous terrain without destroying the splendour and beauty of the hills.

Barog, the place:
Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway in India. It is named after Colonel Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903.
Barog tunnel as of now

Barog, the engineer, was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain, which is quite common as it speeds up construction. However, he made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupee by the British government. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel. The area came to be known as Barog after him.
Barog Tunnel Facts

Later it was constructed under Chief Engineer H.S. Harrington's supervison guided by a local sage, Bhalku, in a short period from July 1900 to September 1903 at a cost 8.40 Lakh rupees (Rupees 840,000).

This tunnel is the longest of the 103 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway, which is 1143.61m long. 
Barog station is immediately after the tunnel. 

Barog tunnel is the straightest tunnel in the World. 
Trains take about 2.5 minutes to cross this tunnel, running at 25 kilometres per hour.

And The Man lies forgotten
He was buried in front of the tunnel, 
near the Kalka-Shimla national highway, 
about 1 km from Barog.
Ironically neither the Railway authorities nor the state government has done anything 
to maintain his grave. 
A signboard giving details about the sad end of Barog was put up near his grave 
but that too has now disappeared. 
As a result, it is now even difficult to locate the whereabouts of his grave. 
The forlorn tunnel has now been closed. 
The tunnel has a natural water source 
that meets the water demand of the Special Service Bureau (SSB), Dharampur.


# Reference notes:
* On July 8, 2008, the Kalka–Shimla Railway was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India. The Mountain Railways of India (including Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai have already been declared as world heritage properties.

* Kalka–Shimla Railway
 


0 km Kalka


6 km Taksal


11 km Gumman


17 km Koti


27 km Sonwara


33 km Dharampur


39 km Kumarhatti


43 km Barog


47 km Solan


53 km Salogra


59 km Kandaghat


65 km Kanoh


73 km Kathleeghat


78 km Shoghi


85 km Taradevi


90 km Totu (Jutogh)


93 km Summer Hill


96 km Shimla
# Consulted and thankfully shared from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalka%E2%80%93Shimla_Railway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barog
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020615/windows/main4.htm