Changa Manga .... Hand made forest
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Changa Manga Tourist Resorts are famous for its forest, wildlife and Joy ride on the Tram. In addition to the train trip from Lahore to Changa Manga Railtourism has now combined all these festivities in one package. There may be other value added services like camping, gaming, funfairs etc. The small Steam locomotives and Diesel locomotives have been refurbished to attract tourists from the fun loving city of Lahore. Rail Tourism now offers a combined package wherein the visitors have now an easy access to the forest resorts.History of Changa MangaChanga Manga plantation was started in 1866. The first working plan for the plantation was drawn up by Mr. B. Ribbentrop in 1871-72. The mature forest started harvesting by 1881-82. In 1888, Sheesham Wood (called Tahli in Punjabi) and with the botanical name “Dalbergia sissoo” was planted at large area of the forest.The early steam locomotives used to be wood-burners. An incident that hastened the conversion of engines from wood-burning type to coal-fired type occured when burning wood from an engine also set fire to a van and a buggy. The Railways had to pay Rs 3000 in compensation and engines were soon fitted with huge American-style spark arresting chimneys (See photo to the left above). After coal fields became accessible in East of India, the locomotives also changed to become coal-fired instead of wood-burning. The demand of wood from Changa Manga forest however, remained steady as it started supplying to timber market of India. By early 1900s, almost 200ha (500 acres) of forest was being harvested annually at Changa Manga. As of 2007, Changa Manga forest is now spread over approximately 4860ha (12000 acres). Changa Manga Tramway consists of 600mm (2ft) wide Narrow Gauge track, which is 10 km in length.
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