Many of the small hill trains in India have a huge heritage legacy; some have even made it to the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. This is a fun experience. One can sit for a short distance and see how these trains chugs onto the sinuous tracks along the hills. In Darjeeling, the experience is something like – The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the “Toy Train”, is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling covering a distance of 88 kms. The miniature but fascinating narrow gauge steam engine train still operates with the original steam engine. The loops and the zigzags along the route are remarkable feats of engineering. A short journey from Darjeeling town to Ghoom (the nearest station), offers a great ride. On the way the train passes through Batasia Loop, considered as one of the greatest engineering feats of its time and where a memorial for the Gorkha soldiers was built. From here you can get a spectacular view of Darjeeling town with the Kanchenjunga and other mountains. A similar experience awaits in Shimla and Ooty as well.