Route- Neral-Matheran-Neral
Matheran Railway has an interesting story behind it. Abdul Hussein, son
of the business tycoon, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy of Mumbai, was a regular
visitor to Matheran and he developed a fascination for the area. After
having obtained a reluctant consent from his father, young Abdul Hussain
camped at Neral in 1900 AD to plan for a narrow gauge railway line to
Matheran. The construction started in 1904 and the two feet gauge line
finally opened to traffic in 1907.
Neral, the starting station of this line, falls nearly midway on the
Mumbai-Pune route of the central railway. Starting from Neral, the
narrow gauge two feet line runs parallel to the main broad gauge line
leaving the road to the west of Hardal hill, then turning sharply east.
The ascent commences and road and rail meet at the end of the third mile
near Jummapatti station. They part company again to meet a mile further
just beyond the steep slope of Bhekra Khud.
A narrow stretch of level ground terminates in the abrupt rise
underlying Mount Barry. To avoid a reversion station, a large horseshoe
embankment was constructed. Round this the line runs for a mile in the
north direction till it turns back through the only tunnel on the route.
'One Kiss Tunnel' gives a couple times just sufficient for a kiss!
The line now lies under Mount Barry, and to negotiate the rise here,
the line zigzags sharply backwards and forwards twice passing through
two deep cuttings. The line pursues its may more decorously and reaches
out more or less straight for panorama point after skirting it and then
returns by Simpson's tank and terminates close to the Matheran Bazaar.
The railway is 12-1/2 miles long and has a gauge of only two feet. The
permanent way originally consisted of rail 30 lb to a yard with a ruling
gradient of 1 in 20. Speed is limited to 12 miles per hour only.
Construction of line was done by local labor though occasionally help
was sought from the 'Pioneer regiments'.
