In 1878 from Calcutta to Siliguri, the Himalayan base a railway line was laid and the tonga service carried the travelers to the hill journey. Tonga’s ascent led to discontent and the idea of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling emerged.

The tonga service served the travelers for more than ten years, but the disadvantages as a means of communication coerced the inception of laying a steam tramway. The Darjeeling hill way was tough with the tongas and the need of the toy train in Darjeeling became prominent..

The Darjeeling hill way was laid, but it was evident that some grades were very steeper that the locomotives had to manage with great difficulty. This is one of the reasons that travelers find the train leaves the road completely and at times accomplishes different alignment with the help of loops and reverses.

The engine employed originally was small enough to draw only 7 tons load. Later this toy train in Darjeeling was improved to draw 35 tons load. Similarly, the original train was a small four wheeled trolley, but few years later, new bogies were introduced and everything functioned perfectly.