A Colonel who committed suicide, two unmet ends of a tunnel, a shepherd with a vision.
Story of Barog Tunnel (named after British Colonel S.Barog) in a thread.
Colonel Barog was the in-charge of construction of tunnel no. 33 on Kalka-Shimla Railway. Tunnel no. 33 was to be the longest tunnel on Kalka-Shimla Railway and Colonel Barog instructed his colleagues and workers to dig from both ends of the tunnel to save time.
Even though he was an experienced British engineer he failed miserably and both ends of tunnel did not meet as they should according to his calculations. His colleague started to question his ability and British officers fined his 1 rupees for wasting resources of Government.
Colonel Barog was so embarrassed by this that he committed suicide after shooting his dog. And his body was buried in from of the unfinished tunnel. This place is considered haunted and people believe that his ghost is still roaming here.
When his successor Chief Engineer HS Harrington started to make the same mistakes a local Shepherd Baba Bhalku Ram of Chail came forward to help him.
Legend has it that Bhalku would tap the walls of the mountain listening to the sounds,he would then instruct the workers to dig.
Under his guidance HS Harrington completed the 1143 meters long tunnel in 1903
For his service the British Viceroy presented Bhalku Ram with a medal and turban that are still treasured by his family. Shimla's rail museum is also named after Baba Bhalku.
Source: The Hindu, The Tribune, Mysterious Himachal, The Better India, Amar Ujala
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