Construction of the Da Lat–Thap Cham Railway began in 1908, a decade after it had first been proposed by Paul Doumer, then Governor General of French Indochina, and proceeded in stages. Due to the difficulty of the mountainous terrain west of Song Pha - where the Ngoan Muc Pass rose into the Central Highlands - construction proceeded slowly, requiring several rack railway sections and tunnels to be built. The railway was 84 km long, and rose almost 1,400 meters along a winding route with three rack rail sections and five tunnels.

Da Lat, or Dalat, is the capital of Lâm Đồng Provincein Vietnam. The city is located 1500 m above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau in the southern parts of the Central Highlands. In Vietnam, Đà Lạt is a popular tourist destination. Đà Lạt's specific sights are pine wood (forming the name: "City of thousands of pine trees") with twisting roads and tree marigold (Vietnamese: dã quỳ) blossom in the winter. This city has a unique temperate weather in Vietnam's otherwise tropical climate. Mist covering the valleys almost year-round leads to its name "City of eternal spring."