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Had it not been for the indigenous engineering skills of a simple village labourer, Bhalku, the Kalka-Shimla rail line, which has been bestowed with the UNESCO heritage status, would not have seen the light of day. The museum set up by the Railways in the erstwhile summer capital of the British is truly a rich tribute to the skills of the man, whose contribution even the British recognised. It was only recently that Baba Bhalku Rail Museum was inaugurated near the main bus stand as a tribute to the man who, through his supernatural powers and instinct, guided the construction of the rail line. The museum has a bust of Bhalku with rich tributes paid by the Deputy Commissioner, Hill States, inscribed on it. Dated March 2, 1862, and written at Sabasthu, the high- ranking British officer termed Bhalku as "an industrious single-minded and honest man I have rarely met in any grade." He went to the extent of stating that he could not have left the hills of Shimla without testifying the contribution of his friend, Bhalku. Bhalku worked as a labourer on the rail line, and when there were problems in getting the right alignment of the track, he just guided the engineers and marched ahead of them. In fact, H.S. Harington, the agent of the Railways, highly appreciated the supernatural powers of the man and the rail line took exactly the path shown by Bhalku, which made the project possible. The museum has some very interesting excerpts from the pages of history in the form of a 1930 lost property register. The register has details of the lost properties like bags, umbrellas, caps and coats left in the waiting rooms of the station or the train. In one interesting lost property mention, there is a letter written by one Mumtaz Begum on her letter head which describes her as the "songstress of Punjab." She made a request to the Station Master, Kandaghat, that the Turkish cap of her father that she left behind may kindly be parcelled to her address in Amritsar. The letter is dated August 8, 1930, and written in a beautiful hand with a blue fountain pen. The museum also has on display several items and parts used in the trains dating back to early 20th century. An interesting collection of cutlery and fine glassware, including wine glasses and vases, are also on display. There are nice wooden easy chairs, which were put in the rest rooms at the various stations, and wall clocks made in England. Looking at the various articles on display in the museum, one can get a faint idea of the cushy and comfortable travel that the elite during those days must have enjoyed on the Shimla-Kalka rail line. The route witnessed a flurry of memsahibs and sahibs moving up to the cool climes of the Shimla hills to escape the hot and humid summers of the plains, and later scurry back to avoid being caught in the heavy snow of the Queen of Hills. The museum also showcases some of the seals and labels worn by porters and other staff. There are also steam locomotive headlights, brass lamps, lanterns and ticket punching machines. A rail liner used on the track and dated 1899 is amongst the oldest object in the museum. There are also some very rare old photographs of the rail line, stations and the tunnels en-route. "Since not too many people know about the museum, there are very few visitors," says the manager, Ishwar Lall. He hopes that with publicity, more locals as well as tourists would visit the museum, which gives a good insight into the making and running of one of the oldest rail lines of India.
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