Shoghi railway station

Shoghi railway station, perched on the winding Kalka–Shimla line just beyond the bustle of Shimla’s Ridge, is a tiny, often overlooked waypoint that rewards a slow‑train mindset. The platform, flanked by weathered pine‑sheathed sheds and a lone tea stall serving steaming masala chai with a dollop of butter, feels like a relic of the colonial narrow‑gauge age; the ticket window still stamps paper by hand, and a rusty wooden sign reads “Shoghi – 1 km to Shimla”. Arrive on the early‑morning DHR service from Kalka (the 06:45 am departure) to watch mist rise from the valley and the Himalayan foothills flash past the low arches. If you time it right, the train whistles past the abandoned “Shoghi Chimney” – a vestigial coal‑smoke stack that adds an industrial‑romantic backdrop to the otherwise pastoral scene. For a genuine slice of Himachali life, alight here, wander down the gravel lane to the tea garden of Choti Badi Chowk, and sample a piping hot “chhaach” (buttermilk) with a side of “gullak” (deep‑fried gram flour fritters). Stay the night in the modest guesthouse on Bypass Road, as the nearest hotels on Mall Road are a noisy 15‑minute taxi ride away. Skip the tourist‑packed Shimla–Kalka toy train experience if you can spare an extra hour; the real charm lies in the unhurried, single‑track rhythm of Shoghi, best visited between October and March when the snowfall is a crisp white rather than a slushy mess.

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