Batasia, 5 km from Darjeeling
Below Ghum, the Darjeeling railway runs a full spiral over its own track. Inside the garden it encloses stands a memorial, and on a clear day, Kanchenjunga.
Photo: Soumya Banerjee / Unsplash
Built in 1919
The loop lets the line drop height by circling over itself instead of steepening the climb. On track just 610 mm (2 ft) wide, the whole train swings back into view beside you.
Photo: Unsplash
Inside the loop
In the middle stands the memorial to the Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army. Kanchenjunga rises behind it most mornings from October to December; by mid-morning in spring, haze often hides it.
Photo: Soumyadip Maity / Pexels
On the joy ride
The steam joy ride from Darjeeling halts here for ten minutes, then spends thirty at Ghum before heading back. It is how most visitors meet the loop, elbow to elbow with a full coach.
Photo: Avijeet Ghosh / Pexels
On a charter
On the Toy Train Weekend, a chartered steam engine halts inside the loop, and we ask the crew for a run-past: you stand on the grass while she rounds the spiral again under steam. It is a request, not a promise.
Photo: kabita Darlami
Practical
The steam engines burn coal, and the smuts settle on anyone who leans out at the loop. Anyone who would rather not walk the garden can wait on the benches.
Photo: Hrishikesh More / Unsplash
When to go
October to December gives the loop its mountain most often. From mid June to mid September, landslides suspend services and the ridge sits in cloud. Tell us your dates and we will match the ride to them.
Photo: Mosharraf Hossain / Unsplash