Darjeeling

Photographer's Note

DARJEELING LANDSCAPE SERIES - II(IMAGES OF LANDSCAPES FROM DARJEELING - SECOND IN A SERIES OF 5 IMAGES).

In this photograph you can see what is known as Toy Train in Darjeeling approaching Batasia near Darjeeling town and in the backdrop you can see the peak of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world.

Some tidbits about the famous Toy Train of Darjeeling.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 metres (328 ft) at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services: however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by the vintage British-built B Class steam locomotive, DHR 778. The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway, is listed as a Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong.The railway line basically follows the Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Highway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are surrounded with buildings, the railway line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line.To warn residents and car drivers about the approaching train, engines are equipped with very loud horns that even drown horns of Indian trucks and buses. Trains horn almost without pause.

The trip up to Darjeeling on railway has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travelers and rail enthusiasts, so much so that it has its own preservation and support group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.

Several films have portrayed the railway. Especially popular was the song Mere sapno ki rani from the film Aradhana where the protagonist Rajesh Khanna tries to woo heroine Sharmila Tagore who was riding in the train.Other notable films include Barfi!, Parineeta and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. The Darjeeling Limited, a film directed by Wes Anderson, features a trip by three brothers on a fictional long-distance train based loosely on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.More recently the Toy train has been picturised in Popular Bollywood Movies Like Parineeta and Barfi.

Sonata11, mohammad_H, ikeharel, annjackman, snunney, Kielia, Miguel82, williewhistler, delpeoples, agulberk, lakshmip1949, zoomer, shevchenko, kordinator, maria-v1981, mirosu, holmertz, adramad, aliabazari, s_lush, bj40, raszid62, TopGeo, gildasjan, ourania, Didi, josepmarin, nikkitta, COSTANTINO, PaulVDV, fritzi007, maloutim, No_One has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mohammad_H (10178) 2012-11-10 22:15

Hello dear friend
Beautiful scenery, old train in the foreground and the background of blue sky and snowy mountains
Beautiful flowers with colors absorb
Very good resolution
Good day.

cargus (13954) 2012-11-10 23:15

Your picture is an interesting achievement,very beautiful colors,with good contrast and light.Well done.
regards
Adrian

annjackman (23019) 2012-11-11 0:00

Hello Farhat,
Thanks for showing a picture of the 'Toy Train' as I had not seen one before. The composition is wonderful with the flowers in the FG and the mountain peaks behind. The billowing black smoke adds exta atmosphere.
Well done - TFS.
Kind Regards, Ann

snunney (130967) 2012-11-11 3:05

Hello Farhat,
Interesting to see this toy train, whose blue tones contrast so nicely with the surroundings. The black smoke adds much to the atmosphere of the composition, which has very good colours and sharpness.

Kielia (24077) 2012-11-11 3:09

Hi Farhat,
I have seen this train before here on TE and I never get tired of it!
YOu have chosen a very well working POV on this charming scenery. THe colors make the image very attractive. My compliments also for the interesting notes!
Warm regards
Hariet

Miguel82 (47110) 2012-11-11 4:03

Fabbs,
You break my heart, I have taken that train several times to go to Darjeeling. So many memories
Flowers, the slow toy train, tea plantation and the view on the Kanchenjunga is so romantic and wonderful
Excellent sharpness, pov and fine colors
Regards

mauro61 (53429) 2012-11-11 4:06

ciao Farhat,
la vaporiera che passa fumante riporta indietro negli anni.
MI piace l'inserimento tra la neve delle montagne e i fiori in FG,
saluti
maurizio

williewhistler (16606) 2012-11-11 4:14

Hello Farhat,
I really like the billowing black smoke that the little blue train is puffing out,a nice dramatic touch in a nice colourful photograph.Lovely shot.
Kind regards Les.

korbee (6619) 2012-11-11 4:43

Hello Farhat,
the bet possible shot you could make from the toytrain,a true monument under the railway history of India(a huge one..),the Kachenjungas in the BG are great looking.
Myself I did a simulair journey in the 80s,from Kalka to Shimla,with the Kalka mail... ;=]]

jan

cornejo (61504) 2012-11-11 4:56

Farhat Hello, I like this nice picture of this interesting train composition with snow covered mountains in the background and the beautiful flowers in the foreground. Very well framed and technically very well done, with crisp, deep, beautiful light and good color. Very good job well done my friend, my congratulations on this beautiful work. Tfs.

Good evening and happy start to the week.
Best regards and best wishes.
Angel.

delpeoples (60342) 2012-11-11 5:32

Namaskar dear Farhat

A beautifully coloured scene, with an interesting and dynamic subject (the train) and majestic mountains in the BG. I noticed you used an aperture of f/25 and yet the image lacks a little sharpness, possibly because the train was moving. The foreground and background are very sharp, so the movement of the train must be the only explanation. In which case, can I suggest in this situation increasing the ISO to 500 or 640, the aperture to around f/11 and the shutter speed increasing to whatever your light meter indicates (alot faster than 1/125 seconds). I know it would be difficult to do as the train was going so fast and you had to react quickly, but hindsight is so much easier :)

Warm regards
Lisa

Tigerlily (3381) 2012-11-11 5:44

Wonderfully captured image, beautiful colour.. I watched a TV program about this railway line..it would be a great experience to travel on this line..

Sergiom (117241) 2012-11-11 6:12

Bonjour Farhat,

J'aime beaucoup cette composition. Le cadrage sur le train est parfait et les fleurs devant sont magnifiques. J'aime cette fum馥 que s'馗happe vers les montagnes.

Bon dimanche

Serge

dkmurphys (79209) 2012-11-11 8:26

Hi Farhat,
Nice colors of this dynamic capture. Attractive background, well taken.

Daniel

agulberk (3794) 2012-11-11 9:51

Salam Farhat
Very nice captured of a landscape with beautiful flowers & lovely toy train with black smoke in the foreground and majestic high mountains which has snow covered summits İn the background. Excellent presentation with good perspective to get sense of depth , succesful light management to obtain sharpness,clarity and saturated natural colors and good framing to look at view in detailed.
Thanks for sharing
Best Regards
Greetings from Turkey

Adnan

Robert1969 (7160) 2012-11-11 12:16

Hello Farhat,

A picture with a very nice and colorfull
surrounding. The cut up and/or below
makes the picture nice wide. The steam
train makes the picture romantic.
Composition and light management are
aslo very good.

Friendly regards,
Robert

One advice: test your lens and look by
what f-number the picture would been
sharp from border to border (test it
horziontal and vertical and a nice
subject is a wall with a lots of
details). I believe** that F11, or f13
would be good**. You use now f25 and
than you lose shutterspeed (by f11
the shutterspeed would about 1/800)
and the photo is sharper by f11 than
by f25.

**I haven't the lens, so thats the
reason I advice you to test it by
yourself.

lakshmip1949 (19081) 2012-11-11 15:10

Hello Farhat,

A very nice atmosphere boosted by the trees and flowers. It must be fun to take a ride in this train. I like the thick black smoke trying to reach the sky. The mountains make a nice background and of course, the train is the most attractive. Nice colors.

Lakshmi

zoomer (6) 2012-11-11 15:55

Hi,very interesting and beautiful image.Those majestic mountains make the train look inconsequentional.Amazing color and fertility in the foot hills.All the best,Wolf.

Sonata11 (34119) 2012-11-11 17:07

Hi Farhat,
wonderful composition of this scene. Perfectly well done with an excellent management of light, splendid colors, sharpness, clarity. Beautiful POV and DOF is an excellent too. Thanks for sharing. Thank you.
Warm regards,
Barbara

kato (11630) 2012-11-11 22:40

Hi Abbas,

You're capturing well this landscape by a good composition, so it's interesting to see stream local train running the highland. It's lovely for flower bed in this side. And, it's impressive in the high mountain in behind.

Kind regards,
mikio

shevchenko (20560) 2012-11-11 22:44

Hi Farhat,
Good capture to a train that passing through the beautigul foreground and background, I like all these flowers,trees, mountains and train, thanks for sharing an attractive colourful view that full with relaxing feel.
Ally

danos (110407) 2012-11-12 0:31

Hello Farhat,
picturesque the scenery with the passing by old train to dominating the image with the snowy Mt. on the backdrop to fill it perfectly.
I like the created different layers with the flowers on the foreground to add colour in the shot.

Reagrds,Danos

pajaran (115831) 2012-11-12 0:59

Dobar dan.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep pogled i trenutak ...
Dobar trenutak snimka i kontrast, lepe boje.
Dobra kompozicija i trenutak sa dimom iz lokomotive.
Lepo cvece, voz i planine u daljini sa snegom.
Imajte lep dan, sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela.
Srecno.
Paja.

Good day.
Very interesting and good text ...
Nice view and a moment ...
A good time recording and contrast, beautiful color.
Good composition and timing with the smoke from the locomotive.
Beautiful flowers, train and mountains in the distance with snow.
Have a nice day, all the best in the new week that started.
Good luck.
Paja.

kordinator (8738) 2012-11-12 1:15

Hello Farhat
Wonderful composition with lovely train and all these trees and flowers all around.
Perfectly well done with an excellent management of light, splendid colors, sharpness, clarity.
Great job.
Kind regards
Sa啾

Nicou (193806) 2012-11-12 1:59

Hlelo

quelle compo et iamge sueprbe vue cette vielle locomotive crachant sa fum馥 quel effet avec la premier plan fleuri et ces belle montagnes en fond grandisoe.

Bravo et amiti�

Nicou

ikeharel (113291) 2012-11-12 3:30

Train and mountains creat an intriguing photos, Farhat.
The passing steam-engine added a dynamic scale to the scene, that background with the mighty Himalayan massive snowy cup.
Flowers in foreground gave a vivid tone contrst.
Beautiful taken moment.
Ike

maria-v1981 (10966) 2012-11-12 5:04

Hello Farhat,
I do like the different layers of the composition. The colourful flowers,the train and the snow mountains. Intresting notes about Toy Train.
Have a nice week,
Regards,
Maria

mirosu (16313) 2012-11-12 5:44

Hi Farhat,
Thans for great introduction note. I like your composition with steaming locomotive and white mountains behind. The people around add some nice life feeling. Excellent capture and presentation. Have a great rest of the week.

holmertz (102650) 2012-11-12 7:34

Hello Farhat,
This is a wonderful picture of the famous train going through what looks like a garden, with the peaks of the Himalayas forming a great background. Possibly this is one of the prettiest and most idyllc views that could possibly be found anywhere in India. With a bit better sharpness this would have been perfect.
Kind regards,
Gert

s_lush (16602) 2012-11-12 13:03

Hello Farhat,
This nostalgic transportation looks beautiful between the flowering foreground and the magnificent mountainous background. A great composition, wonderful colors and perfect quality of the picture!
Best regards,
Sergiy

adramad (72970) 2012-11-12 15:58

Hello Farhat.
Very interesting to note that introduces us to this wonderful composition that features this charming little train, a really fabulous scenery, these beautiful flowers in the foreground, and impressive high mountains background.
Very well done.
Have a nice day.
Best regards.
Luis.

aliabazari (22127) 2012-11-12 18:57

प्रिय नमस्ते फरहत
देखें बहुत ही सुंदर और आकर्षक है. बहुत अच्छा और प्यारा शांतिपूर्ण वातावरण. मेरा बहुत अच्छा दोस्त है.

सम्मान के साथ

Vague (307) 2012-11-12 22:14

Hello Farhat,
A good, balanced photo, rich in colours. Perhaps I'd zoom out a bit more to have the entire tree on the left and a bit more of the train smoke.

Best
Vangelis

abmdsudi (95869) 2012-11-13 6:53

Hi Farhat
A fine shot with the toy train being the main focal superbly shaded by the backdrop snow peaks. Good crop in excellent clarity and coloring. Excellent shot, TFS.
Best regards

raszid62 (18457) 2012-11-13 10:03

Hello
Beautiful and funny little steam locomotive. In the foreground is a wonderful, colorful carpet of flowers, in the background sky-high, covered with snows of the Himalayas. The wonderful colors of the image.
Yours
Joseph

गुड आफ़्टरनून. सुंदर और अजीब सा भाप इंजन. अग्रभूमि में एक अद्भुत, आकाश उच्च हिमालय की बर्फ के साथ कवर पृष्ठभूमि में फूलों की रंगीन कालीन है. छवि के अद्भुत रंग. तुम्हारा.

jemaflor (147076) 2012-11-13 12:45

Hi F,
Nice composition with flowers and in the bg these snowy mountains, good panoramic format, interesting subject and presentation with the railway.

mkamionka (74351) 2012-11-14 12:42

Hi Farhat,
very picturesque scene. I like very much the composition with the train passing between the spectacular mountain range and the colorful lovely garden.
Very well captured,
M

ACL1978 (7511) 2012-11-14 17:34

Lots to look at here, Farhat - nicely composed. The bright colors of the train and the flowers mesh well with the more muted mountains and palms, while the people at work on the locomotive add a nice human element. Nice shot!

Andrew

TopGeo (38220) 2012-11-14 23:44

Hello Farhat A lovely composition with well saturated colours and good contrasts. The composition is wonderful with the flowers in the FG, and I think the very neat details of train and BG of mountains are also fascinating to watch.
Kind regards,
Geo..

gildasjan (43826) 2012-11-15 0:41

Bonjour Farhat
Tr鑚 belle image de cette vieille locomotive encore en service.Le premier plan fleuri donne une bonne compl駑entarit� des couleurs.
Bonne journ馥
Amicalement
gildas

eldancer1 (36343) 2012-11-15 9:26

Wow! Beautiful scene with steam locomotive and the beautiful mountain range in the distance. Good lighting and dof with nice details. Love the colors. Well done, tfs.

clic (76) 2012-11-15 11:49

Hello Farhat
That's a cute little train indeed that appers to be working so hard to push the wagons, according to the large smoke puff!
Passengers can enjoy a fabulous landscape on both sides of narrow track, especially the snowy mountain top.
Quite an exotic poster you show today!
Cheers.
Robert

ourania (51103) 2012-11-16 13:41

Hello Farhat,
a lovely and interesting presentation of the Darjeeling toy train. I like very much the format of the picture, the foreground covered with brightly coloured flowers and the background with the magnificent mountain peaks shining in the sunlight. It's interesting that from the train we can only see the engine as the wagons are hidden behind trees. I also love seeing the people working on the engine and the smoke that's so effective. The light is superb. A delightful description of the natural scenery and great information in your notes. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a lovely weekend,
Ourania

Didi (61589) 2012-11-17 4:25

Salam Farhat
Very interesting local scene
Very nice colour ambiance with the mountain on background
Best regards

SWEETFREEDOM (24623) 2012-11-17 4:28

Hi Farhat,
nice compo with very good contrast of colors and details.
regards
Alessandro

josepmarin (59385) 2012-11-18 10:07

Namaste Farhat,
I like the combination of the old steam train, with its smoking chimney, and the magnificent landscape of mountains covered with snow in background, with a splendid graphical and chromatic contrast.
A clever composition, executed-well.
Best regards,
Josep

Bluejeans (64251) 2012-11-21 11:04

Ola Farhat ,
Que bela vis縊 deste comboio a vapor a passar junto deste jardim cheio de flores , lindas as montanhas de fundo com neve no topo , parab駭s!!
Um abra輟 Gon軋lo

COSTANTINO (116421) 2012-11-22 5:23

Hello
original version indeed
different capture from the
usuas,old train in the
foreground,I like this
kind of shot,greetings
Costantino

thebest (4276) 2012-12-01 22:09

Hello Farhat,

Lovely image of this train & the colours in your photo are so nice all working well together - the pretty flowers in the forefront & the dark grey smoke against the soft blue sky & white snowcapped mountains looks really great.
Excellent capture...well done.

Kindest regards,
Dawn.

PaulVDV (62880) 2013-01-15 18:38

Hello Farhat,
I have heard of that Toy Train but never seen a picture of it before.
Here you present it really nice between a coloured foreground of flowers and palm trees and the background with the awesome snowcapped mountain range.
Nice strong black & white contrast on top of the picture.
Best regards, Paul

olive224 (2719) 2013-01-17 23:58

The image lacks of sharpness but it's a beautiful every day life scenary
The composition is great and the colors too

Well captured ;)
Cheers
Olivier

fritzi007 (14698) 2013-02-08 13:41

Hi Farhat,
beautiful landscape and very good information!
Greetings
Wolfgang

fds (9963) 2013-05-07 9:25

caro amico indiano molto bella questa tua immagine di vita reale con i campi in primo piano il treno nel mezzo e le montagne la in fondo
belli i colori e tutta l'immagine
caro amico complimenti per il tuo buonissimo italiano

adidas5nb (5743) 2013-06-05 3:24

thats a classical darjeeling pic.nicely done with the toy train and the kanchenjunga.
regards
dwaipayan

GiovanniG (3914) 2013-07-09 9:01

Hello Mr. Farhat,
Fantastic capture of this iconic rail line with it's steam engine. It has a wonderful pov with flowers and mountains all in full detail and color.
Very well done sir and thank you for your kind comments.
Warm regards,
GiovanniG

maloutim (13617) 2013-07-31 19:53

Hi Fahrat,
Ha here is the train again ! I am glad to see it in a slightly different setting and in colour !
I like to see the men busy working the train, the bright flowered foreground and the beautiful mountain range in the background.
I suppose the train and railway were built by the Brits. There is the same craze in Britain about old steam trains.
Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards.
Marie-Louise.

No_One (4) 2013-08-10 5:34

hi Farhat,
Little I can say that has not been said in the many deserved comments on this photo, but still, I would like to say well done. Brilliant image :)
All the best
Noel