Matheran Hill Railway

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neral-Matheran
Train at Jammu Patti station
Train at Jammu Patti station
Route length: 20 km
Gauge : 610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Top speed: 16 km / h
Legend
End station - start of the route
 0.0 Neral (since 1962) 41m
Station, station
 ? Jumma Patti 245m
Tunnel - if there are several tunnels in a row
 14.0 One kiss tunnel 400m
Station, station
 ? Water pipe 550m
Station, station
 ? Aman Lodge 700m
End station - end of the line
 20.0 Matheran 760m

The Matheran Hill Railway (also Matheran Light Railway ) is a narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 610 mm (2 feet ) in the Indian state of Maharashtra , which runs from Neral , between Mumbai (Bombay) and Pune (Poona), to the climatic health resort of Matheran . Today it is operated by the Indian State Railways, Central Railway (CR) department. The first train ran in March 1907.

description

The railway line to "Table Mountain" was built between 1904 and 1907 as a private railway by the Indian millionaire Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy and later sold to the state. It overcomes a difference in altitude of 719 m over a length of around 20 km, no other Indian train does this without a rack on such a short distance. The attempt to get by with few engineering structures required a winding route on the slope, the smallest curve radii are less than 30 meters. Between 2005 and 2007 the route was not used after flood damage.

traffic

Matheran is a popular destination for the people of Mumbai. Every year around 700,000 tourists visit the city with its 5,000 inhabitants, where motorized traffic is prohibited.

The average speed uphill and downhill is 10 km / h, the maximum speed is 16 km / h. The train takes just under 2 hours as scheduled, stops at Jumma Patti, Water Pipe and Aman Lodge.

vehicles

The steam locomotives used until 1982 were made in Germany by Orenstein & Koppel . Five diesel locomotives are currently in use, one of which (No. 600) was built in India and four at Jung in Germany. A steam locomotive (No. 4, Orenstein & Koppel, built in 1905) is being refurbished for tourist traffic.

Trivia

  • Like other Indian narrow-gauge railways, the Matheran Hill Railway is also known as the 'Toy Train'.
  • The 40 meter long only tunnel bears the joking name 'One Kiss Tunnel'.
  • The train is on the candidate list as a world cultural heritage of UNESCO

Picture gallery

  • Jung locomotive on the Matheran Hill Railway

  • Train with locomotive No. 603 in Neral station

  • The 'Toy Train' on the move (Jung's locomotive)

  • View from the train

  • Matheran Railway Station

  • Steam locomotive No. 3 ( O&K ) on the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway in England

See also

Web links

Commons : Matheran Hill Railway  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence