Everyday Heroes: The veterans of the Indian Railways

Ganey Khawas worked in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's Tin Dharia workshop for 35 long years. He was 85 years old at the time of his retirement in 1985. He has been drawing pension for the past 32 years.

Khawas now lives with his daughter, Mamata, who has kept proofs of his stint in the British Army and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway tucked away in a safe.

Ganey Khawas is the oldest living ex-worker of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. At 102, he is hard of hearing and his memory is not as sharp as it used to.

But talk to him about the steam locomotives and the glint in his eyes return. He rattles details about the engine boiler and the cooper lining within. "It is important to keep them in shape to keep glitches away", he says.

"All my friends have died. I am like a child now. My memory is very poor," Khawas says. He credits the British for building the infrastructure in Darjeeling. "We have failed to build on what they left us," he says.

In 1968, Majhi lost of two of his colleagues when a landslide swept a train they were shepherding to Rongtong station off the tracks, killing the pilot, Mane Gurung, and fireman Keshav Singh Gurung.

Speaking of the steam engine he prefers over the train's diesel variant, Majhi shows a photo of a steam loco at a water pump between Rongtong and Tin Dharia stations

Majhi used to sport dreadlocks when he was younger. Seventy-six years old now, Majhi turns misty-eyed when he goes through his family album.

Das maintained broad-gauge and medium-gauge locomotives that would be frequently hired by steam engine aficionados such as former India cricketer Farokh Engineer and Peter Jordan, a railway enthusiast from the UK. "Eventually the BG loco returned to Rewari, where it runs as the famous Palace On Wheels," he says. "The MG loco, which was taken over by other railway, suffered a blast in its boiler and had to be retired. I then joined the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as a senior section engineer in Darjeeling."

Retied now, Das remembers his days spent with the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in Darjeeling with fondness. "Sometimes the staff would come up to me claiming a certain problem with the engine could not be solved. "'Hundaina, sir (not possible, sir),' they would tell me," he recollects. "I would tell them 'there is nothing called impossible; just tell me what you need to correct the problem. We have the Tin Dharia workshop supporting us. If it can't be done, it can be renovated and brought in two days later."

Engine maintenance in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway involves two key functions, according to Das. "Valve setting and motion components...these are two most important elements in maintenance," he says. "If their is a problem with either rises, the engine's hauling power suffers."

By 2015, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's performance was at a peak, Das says. "We would run six joy rides," he adds. "It used to get overcrowded sometimes. Most people preferred to travel by steam engine. We have run six joy rides in one day on a single line. Can you imagine!"