Let me take you today on a funicular railway line built by the British located in Himachal Pradesh. This railway track is situated at an altitude of 8000 feet near Joginder Nagar, whose height is 2541 meters (8337 feet) above sea level. Although only a few railway tracks have been built in the Himalayas, the name of “Winch Camp” is also included and this funicular railway track is the highest railway track in India. This track is in the foothills of Dhauladhar mountain range, from here one can get a wonderful 360 degree view along with sunset and sunrise. Haulage Trolley in Himachal Pradesh is the highest funicular railway track in India in which people ride. Due to the geographical and technical challenges involved in building the haulage-way trolley at Jogindernagar, it is one of the few funicular railways in the world and can be called an engineering marvel of the 20th century.
This means that building a railway tram at a height of 2541 meters is no joke. Salute to the hard work of everyone from engineers to labourers. It is said that the foundation of this track was laid in 1928 by Colonel B.C Batty, working in the British Army. Since snow falls in the Barot valley and this was the only way to reach there, the Colonel connected Jogindernagar valley to Barot so that electricity could be generated by building a dam on the Uhal river there and daily goods could be supplied to the local people.
From Winch Camp, mountains and places are visible for many kilometers, especially the Beas River, the hills of Mandi district, the borders of the famous Kangra district and Hamirpur districts. Due to its height, this mountain receives snowfall of one and a half to two feet. When it snows here, the view here starts looking like heaven, it is a different matter that till date I have not been able to go there in winter.
On the other side of Winch Camp, there is a haulage way station named Headgear and the altitude here is 2529 meters (8300 feet). The route from the headgear to the haulage vehicle goes down a steep slope, which gives the impression of how a tram would run here. This place is known as Khooni Ghati (i.e. Hill of Death) because according to the local people, many accidents have happened on this route and many people have also lost their lives while making this track.
So let me stop the series of information and start telling about the journey. While staying in Bir, I had heard a lot about Winch Camp, so I decided to go here. Gaurav also made a plan to accompany me. We reached Joginder Nagar by 7 am bus from Bir, from where we come to a place called 'Brij Mandi', from there the railway track to Winch Camp starts and our plan is to reach the peak by walking on this track and then descend to Barot. is where this track ends.
There is a climb as soon as the track starts, there is no other route around this railway track that can take us to Winch Camp, so we start climbing slowly with the help of the track. I am surprised that the British defied both gravity and mountains to build this track. Don't know how the iron tracks and other items would have been transported up the mountain at that time. We are slowly climbing up, sometimes stopping, sometimes drinking water and sometimes looking back to see Joginder Nagar valley. Gaurav is in front and I am behind as usual.
We reach Winch Camp in about an hour and 40 minutes and in this track we got an elevation gain of 1465 meters (4806 feet) in a distance of 6 km. This climb had made us very tired, so we took rest for half an hour at the winch camp. Even today, a tram runs occasionally at Winch Camp, the operator of which we saw here. We met this gentleman and he told us “I have been operating the tram at Winch Camp here for 18 years”.
Uncle further explains that earlier this tram used to run several times a day but gradually the number of people started decreasing due to which the running of the tram also reduced and now it runs only once a week. Uncle lives there in a place ‘Diana Park’. After having fun and giving rest to the body, we set out for Barot. The further route is also this railway track which goes till Barot village. When I start walking, my body is now responding well and I am not as tired as before. And now the pain in the calf is also gone.
The walk to Barot is about 5.7 km from here and is a very steep descent. Due to the fear of slipping while descending, we are walking holding the railway tracks. The branches of the Dhauladhar mountain range situated above Barot village are visible in front of us. Our problems increase further as we enter the forest, there are pine trees here and leaves broken from them are scattered on the ground. Let me tell you that pine leaves contain oil so they are very slippery. Many times both of us were saved from slipping. To tell you the truth, if any one of us slips, who knows what accident may happen to him.
Well we reach Barot in three hours and 52 minutes. After finishing this track, both of us take a sigh of relief. We have lunch at the restaurant Hum Hum in Barot and return to Bir by bus from here. Of course, I have been to this track only once but I will go here again and will try to go in winter so that there is snow on this track. I hope you liked this historical track of Winch Camp.
Disclaimer: All above photos have been clicked with Canon 77d (55-250mm), photos have been edited in Lightroom. The content of this post is originally written in Hindi, to convert it into English I have taken the help of Google Translator.