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| - Fact Check: Dreamy video of steam train moving through snow is NOT from Himachal Pradesh - it's from Germany
A video has been shared with a claim that it shows a steam train travelling through a snow-packed area in Himachal Pradesh.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is neither from Himachal Pradesh nor from India. It is from Germany’s Harz region.
A train merrily sailing through the snow with white frosty trees on either side and steam billowing from its engine — truly a video that would make any Harry Potter fan think of the magical Hogwarts Express. But this beautiful sight, if social media users are to be believed, was not from the journey to Hogwarts, but rather from India’s Himachal Pradesh.
Siddharth Bakaria, an environmentalist and entrepreneur, shared this video on Twitter claiming that it is from the scenic mountain state.
Erik Solheim, the former Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway, also shared the video writing: “Incredible India. Fairyland Himachal.” Archives of this and other similar posts can be found here and here.
AFWA found that this video of the steam locomotive was not from Himachal Pradesh. It’s from Germany.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to a different video on Pinterest, featuring a similar train moving through snow-capped trees. This video was linked to an Instagram reel shared by a photographer from Germany. This hinted that the video might not be from Himachal Pradesh or even India at all.
Further searches, with “Germany” in the query, led us to another video of a train in Germany shared by Tom Juenemann, a German travel photographer. When we compared this video, an Instagram Reel, with the viral one, we found that they were the same.
We noticed that this Reel was shared along with the hashtag “Harz Mountains”, a highland area in northern Germany. With the help of this clue, we found a February 2023 Guardian report about the 125th anniversary of the steam trains operating in the Harz Mountains of Germany. Per the report, the “Brocken line” is part of a wide network of narrow-gauge railways that operate in the eastern half of the Harz region. Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz mountains at 1,142 metres above sea level. The report also carried a photo of the maroon-yellow train that looked similar to the one in the viral video.
We also found a video of the Brockenbahn, a steam train in Harz, that also had the same colour combination. Moreover, at the back of the train, one can see the term “Nichtraucher” (a non-smoking compartment on a train) which is also partly visible in the viral video.
Other reports about Germany’s Harz railway also featured photos and videos of trains that looked similar to the one in the viral video.
While Himachal Pradesh has its fair share of picturesque train journeys through the snow-clad hills the viral video is from Germany.
(Written by Sanjana Saxena)
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