GREAT RAILWAY JOURNEYS OF THE WORLD
Colombo to Badulla on the Udarata Menike Express
Why
do you need to buy a newspaper before travelling on this train?
by
Gyan
C. A. Fernando
This
article is about train travel in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and was first published
in Crazylanka.com in 2001. As such, it needs to be considered a historical article.
Revised slightly and re-formatted 2012
Revised slightly and re-formatted 2012
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he railway line from Colombo to Badulla is a spectacular railway line which, over a distance of 180 miles, ascends from sea level to 6500 feet and then descends in to the Uva valley (or Uva Basin as it is usually called) to terminate at Badulla at 2000 feet.
The
railway was built by the British in the latter part of the 19th century
primarily for freight. (Guage: 5ft6in, 1676mm) Since then very little has been
changed.
The gradients are steep and the tight curves
prevent the use of modern rolling stock. Because of the rugged terrain
earthslips are common. There are 43 tunnels on this line and one complete
spiral (at Demodera).
There are only two trains in any one direction each day which run the whole distance. One is the Night Mail Train the other is the "Udarata Menike" (Hill Country Lass). The Udarata Menike takes at least 9 hours to do the journey (on a good day!) and the Night Mail takes near 12 hours!
There are only two trains in any one direction each day which run the whole distance. One is the Night Mail Train the other is the "Udarata Menike" (Hill Country Lass). The Udarata Menike takes at least 9 hours to do the journey (on a good day!) and the Night Mail takes near 12 hours!
Locomotives
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n
the sixties and seventies the trains on this route were hauled by EMD G12 locos,
the so called "Canadian Engines". Rear "helper" locos were
needed for the Night Mail on certain sections, notably at Watawela and Rozella
and after Nanu-Oya. Later the Henschel locos were introduced but they proved to
be unreliable and certainly appeared to lack the kick of the EMD G12s.
Before
the advent of the G12s, Garratt articulated (steam) locos built by Beyer
Peacock were used on this line.
The
Journey Begins
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he only way to travel on the Udarata
Menike in relative comfort is to get a seat in the only first class carriage,
the Observation Car, which is the last carriage of the train. As
Government Servants we were entitled to three journeys a year in the
observation coach or the Sleeper of the night mail. The rest of the time we
travelled third class.
The train starts off from the Colombo
Fort Railway Station at approx. 9 o'clock in the morning.
By the time the train arrives at the
platform, the platform is usually heaving with passengers. A mad scramble
ensues and often passengers climb in through the windows!
If you are unlucky and do not find a
seat you can lay down your newspaper on the dirty floor and sit down (Remember
the journey lasts for at least 9 hours!) There is a buffet car at the rear of
the train (close to the observation car) but if you are in third class you may
not be able to get there if your carriage doesn't have a connecting vestibule.
In any case the food consists of
stale sandwiches and rolls which seem to have done the journey from Colombo to
Badulla and back many times and it is probably best to bring your own food. By
the way toilets are pretty filthy and lack loo paper and that's where the
newspaper comes handy again.
After the usual distorted
announcements over the public address system (in three languages by the same
bloke!) and considerable flag waving and whistle blowing by the Station Master
(followed by a similar performance by the guard), a rousing fanfare is let off
from the triple air horns of the loco. Vacuum brakes hiss. The loco thunders
and struggles a bit, wheels slip and thick black smoke emerges from the
exhaust.
Late passengers rush down the
platform and jump on the moving train. Guard blows whistle and gesticulates at
the idiots who try to scramble aboard. Passengers who just miss the train hurl
insults at the guard.
The train moves slowly through Maradana
Railway Station and the Dematagoda Railway Yard through what used to
be called Loco Junction.....Rusting relics of old steam locos, some
sprouting vegetation from smoke stacks, pass by...... This is the Dematagoda Yard.
Very soon you are rattling merrily on the non-welded track, clackity clacking
to the words of "Udarata Meniketa Pata Kuda Dheka Dheka"
(Sorry, not easy to translate!). Frequent Country 'n' Western style blasts
emerge from the loco horns to warn cattle and humans walking on the track.
Inside the crowded carriages sweaty
bodies are in abundance. It is hot. Usually it is above 30 degrees celsius.
Passengers manoeuvre
for position. There is gentle and polite pushing followed by apologies.
Feet smell. Strong body odour emanates
from the men. The faint smell of sandlewood from the young women. People fart
silently. Some chew Betel leaf and spit out of the windows. Others smoke. Some
clear their nasal passages and sinuses or decide that it is a good time to
clear their bronchi. Violent bouts of coughing follow. Both processes involve
spitting. Some decide to have their breakfast. Body odour and the smell of
curry blend.
Some discuss politics. Others play
cards.
The Climb
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he
first part of the journey is on good double track with color light signals and
on the level. The train does a good 60 miles or so per hour. The train passes
through Gampaha, Mirigama, Alawwa and Polgahawela. Eventually the double track
ends and and the first climb begins from about Rambukkana.
The
train slows down and the loco struggles a bit. Wheels slip. The passing scenery
becomes interesting. Men working in paddy fields, women bathing in rivers,
muddy fast flowing rivers....The train passes through the spectacular Balane
Pass and Kadugannawa and eventually arrives at Peradeniya Junction. Passengers
open lunch packets. Local hawkers sell stale food. Beggars appear and beg for
food.
The
train has climbed to 1500 ft. From here on it is the plateau again but single
track. The train clacks on at a reasonable 30mph to Nawalapitiya, a railway
town. It is noticeably cooler...Bodies don't sweat anymore....Body odour seems
to be more tolerable...
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he
climb then begins in earnest over 1 in 44 gradients through Watawela, Rozella
and Hatton through to Talawakele. It takes a long, long time. The train travels
at 10 miles per hour.....couplings creak......
Barking,
excited dogs run after the train and overtake the train... occasionally
stopping to scratch themselves or investigate interesting trackside features
....resume chase.....catch up with train...stop... pant...tongues hang
out...decide too long away from home...stop.....wait for down train?
Passengers
are now more relaxed! Tea plantations all around...soothing effect on the
senses...Tamil plantation women toiling away...
Soon
after leaving Talawakele two spectacular waterfalls come into view: The high
and narrow St Clair Falls and the short and wide Devon Falls.
An
almost complete spiral/zig zag follows as the train struggles to ascend to
Nanu-Oya. There is the usual stop at Nanu-Oya (and there is now probably a
mandatory check of the train brakes following a very minor disaster in 1977).
There was once a narrow gauge railway from Nanu-Oya to Nuwara Eliya and beyond
to Uda Pussellawa..on very severe gradients.
On
our way again...The countryside is now rugged but green and the train is at
over 5000 ft. Elgin Falls appears on the right side in a near inaccessible
gorge.
By the time the train arrives at Pattipola,
the highest railway station in Srilanka, it is over 6000ft and the station is
usually surrounded in mist (low clouds actually). By Srilankan standards it is
quite cold. The crowded carriages are no longer a bother. It doesn’t seem to
smell anymore although the carriage windows are now closed. The train is less
crowded now.
By
this stage you have spoken to a few fellow passengers and become friends.
Platform
staff and locals wear coats and turbans. It usually rains. The vegetation is different.
Not a coconut tree in site. No paddy fields. Mostly Cypress and Eucalyptus forests
(Gum) forests.
The
Summit
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short distance from Pattipola station the
train enters the Summit Tunnel and a little further on, at 6226ft the highest
point on the railway. In passing through the tunnel the train has passed from
the "wet zone" of the country into the "dry zone". This is
quite obvious when you emerge from the tunnel. No rain!
The
loco suddenly goes quiet and the brakes come into action for the steep descent
which follows. The train now descends with a spectacular screeching of brakes
and sparks from the wheels. An acrid smell comes from the train wheels and
probably from the dynamic brake of the loco.
Tall
pine and gum forests on all sides...no signs of human habitation apart from the
lone track man (wearing heavy clothes) blowing his whistle and waving the green
flag.....No earth slips!......Thank you!....
More
blasts from the loco airhorn.....sound reverbs around the mountains...We move
on....
The
Uva Basin now comes into view, the train emerges from one tunnel and enters
another...clouds float below. The main peak of the 6600ft high Namunukula (lit:
"Nine Peaks") range is visible in the far distance...Nothing matters
anymore.. You are in God's own country. The sun is now low in the sky but there
is more to come!
There
is hardly a sound from the loco. The train is travelling fast, too
fast...brakes come on again...screech.....tunnel...another tunnel and another
tunnel..... screech... more tunnels...short, long, medium length......
Spectacular
view and drop on the right side now...change seats...plenty of seats available
now...not many people travel this far...
Clouds
float below in the Uva Valley. The train stops at Ohiya (the starting point for
Lady Horton's Plains and World's End) then at Idalgashinna and then on to
Haputale.
Haputale
is a pass and a real spectacular pass! On a clear day you would be able to see
as far as Badulla (and Namunukula) on one side and as far as the Indian Ocean
at Dondra Head (the southernmost point of Srilanka) on the other side!
The
final descent begins now...through Diyatalawa (lit:"water-logged
plains"), Bandarawela, Ella (another pass, this time towards the
south-east) and on to Demodera (lit:"two river mouths" or "where
two rivers meet").
At
Demodera there is the only complete spiral on the Srilankan railway system. Not
spectacular but interesting. (The locals refer to it as the Demodera Loop which
is incorrect. Technically, it is a spiral.)
More
tunnels and British style stone viaducts... brakes screech again....acrid
smell...It is almost sunset now.
Finally
Home!
The
railway line now follows the Badulu-Oya, a tributary of the Mahaweli River.
Tea
plantations. Nearly home.
Hali-Ela
and the last tunnel....We go through Tunnel No43 with Yelverton Ridge and
Elmshurst to the left. Namunukula range on the right.............sunset........final
screech of brakes ....and it is BADULLA!
Footnotes:
1.I
have travelled on this train and on this line in the seventies many more times
than I can remember. The above is a fairly accurate description of third class
travel on this line in the seventies...but I don't want to put anybody off
travelling on this line or on Srilankan railroads. I certainly enjoyed the
experience..! (First Class travel is reasonably comfortable and I would
recommend anyone visiting Srilanka to undertake this journey...at least to
Haputale. Things may have changed...Hopefully for the better)
2.On one memorable occasion when the Night Mail train arrived at Fort Station from the railway yard, to a waiting milling throng of passengers on the platform, I had to lift up and push my wife Ranji, then fortunately just a slip of a girl, into the carriage through the window because the doors of the carriage were locked. This of course was no mean feat as Ranji was wearing the traditional sari! An enduring memory!
2.On one memorable occasion when the Night Mail train arrived at Fort Station from the railway yard, to a waiting milling throng of passengers on the platform, I had to lift up and push my wife Ranji, then fortunately just a slip of a girl, into the carriage through the window because the doors of the carriage were locked. This of course was no mean feat as Ranji was wearing the traditional sari! An enduring memory!
She
and a fellow would-be passenger (a soldier) then helped me scramble in so we
could grab a third class seat for the 12 hour journey ahead... We struck up a
conversation with the soldier who helped us scramble on. He left the train at
Diyatalawa Station. Diyatalawa is a major army training camp in Srilanka.
3. Our son Sanjeeva's first experience of Srilankan Railroads was in 1977 when, at the age of 6 months, he travelled with us in the Sleeper of the Night Mail Train from Badulla to Colombo (to meet his grandparents) and then back to Badulla, also on the Night Mail.
3. Our son Sanjeeva's first experience of Srilankan Railroads was in 1977 when, at the age of 6 months, he travelled with us in the Sleeper of the Night Mail Train from Badulla to Colombo (to meet his grandparents) and then back to Badulla, also on the Night Mail.
"Montreal" negotiating the S curve downgrade from Rozelle |
Copyright: Text and photographs Gyan C A Fernando
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Thalaguli and Atropine Poisoning on the Night Mail Train
Atropine is an alkaloid from the Aththana plant
(Atropos belladonna).
Several people have been robbed on the Badulla Night Mail train by the
simple expedient of offering them Thalaguli containing the seeds of the plant
which is a common plant in Sri Lanka.
"Thalaguli" is of course a
Srilankan sweet consisting of toasted sesame seeds mixed with crude coconut
sugar ("hakuru"). The victims go into a state of confusion to wake up
later at the Badulla General Hospital.
I myself have seen one case. The symptoms have been
described as "Mad as a hare, hot as a hen, blind as a bat and dry as a
bone!"
(First published on the web in 2001)
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