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THE AUTHOR
 

The Story behind Watagoda Rail Loop

There is an interesting story behind the Watagoda Rail Loop.

A casual traveler may wonder why the train takes a turn to the left, passes through a small tunnel and then turns right to form a complete circle before passing over the tunnel and over a bridge, when the line at this point could have taken a shorter cut.

This famous circle comes just after Talawakelle Station.

Here is the story that goes on in this part of the world.

The famous loop goes through the Upper Division of West Holyrood which is a division of Holyrood Estate, Talawakelle.

When the Railway engineers constructing the line came up to this particular area, they had to seek permission from the estate owner to proceed with their work. That meant the estate would be losing some valuable tea areas for the purpose. The owner had vehemently denied access to his property, so the Railway authorities had appealed to the then British colonial government and obtained the necessary approval.

Now that the Railway engineers got the government approval, they wanted to “teach” the estate owner a bitter lesson. That resulted in the idea of taking the maximum extent of land from the estate, thus destroying thousands of tea bushes to pave way for the tracks.

WATAGODA RAIL LOOP - Back to Tea Trail