A STUCK CLOCK AND A MISSING GRAVE

As the Himalayan Queen trundles down the 96 km Kalka-Shimla track, it stops at quaint stations stuck in time and coos through 102 tunnels, s...

As the Himalayan Queen trundles down the 96 km Kalka-Shimla track, it stops at quaint stations stuck in time and coos through 102 tunnels, some with deeply buried secrets. A journey to track down these mysteries:

The clock
The clock had struck thirteen in George Orwell8217;s Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is 2007 and the clock at the Dharampur railway station along the Kalka-Shimla track is also stuck8212;but at quarter past three.
A team of UNESCO observers found the vintage clock at the warehouse of the station, lying in a heap of junk. The team, which was here in September to assess claims for UNESCO heritage status to the Shimla-Kalka track, wasn8217;t impressed with the way heritage property was being handled. Heritage status wasn8217;t only for the track, they reminded sternly, but also for the equipment, benches and telephones8212;some of which are still being used. The team went back and the clock went up the wall of the station master8217;s room, its needles still stuck.
Nobody knows how long the clock has stayed stuck. It was made in 1903, a JW Benson, London, make. But now, everyone8217;s scrambling to get it repaired. C.B. Singh, the station master at Dharampur, said, 8220;We are trying our best to get it repaired. No body knows how to do it in this region. Now our top bosses have directed that it be taken to some bigger city for repairs.8221;

The grave
Of the 102 tunnels built between 1900 and 1903 on this track, the longest, Tunnel no. 33, is near Barog station. Barog town has been named after Colonel Barog, a British engineer who was assigned the task of making this tunnel. An error in judgment led to wrong alignment and the two ends of the tunnel couldn8217;t meet. As punishment, Col Barog was asked to pay a fine of Re 1. The officer felt so humiliated that during one of his strolls, he shot himself. He was reportedly buried near the tunnel. But now, nobody seems to know where the grave is. But Barog8217;s unfinished tunnel is still there, used as a water reservoir. After Barog8217;s death, the new tunnel was constructed with the help of a local ascetic, Bhalku, who was given a turban in appreciation of his work. The UNESCO team also insisted that an effort be made to find the missing grave.

Ajit Butail, a leading hotelier in Shimla and one of those who have been campaigning for heritage status to this track, said, 8220;It is not only about the grave and the clock. There are so many things that people have never bothered about. Apart from a few people, most officials have merely paid lip service to the track8217;s upkeep. Not many people know there is a Scout Hostel near the Taradevi tunnel. Or that there is a particular room, which at one time belonged to A.O. Hume.8221;
Butail, who as part of his heritage campaign, once walked down the entire 96 km track, says ignorance is just one of the obstacles to the track getting a UNESCO heritage status. 8220;The stretch near Parwanoo is filled with filth. The industries nearby call themselves ISO-certified but their workers live in shanties near the track,8221; he said.
UNESCO is expected to give its decision on the track8217;s heritage status by May 2008. If it decides in its favour, then it will be the fourth railway property in India to get the UNESCO World Heritage status. The other three: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, CS Terminus formally Victoria Terminus and Nilgiri mountain railway.