These are images of the Neral Matheran Railway, taken in January 2003, when couple of friends had been to Matheran after our Sem I engineering exams...
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The NDM6 readies to start its downward journey from Matheran to Neral Junction at 1300 hrs

A friend stands by the door of a SC class bogie of the train.

Myself at the Matheran station, boarding the NDM6.

The end of the train: Shows the luggage / parcel van. The guy in the red is standing over what is used to apply the brakes. This train has no air / auto brakes, but they have to be manually applied. Railway people will board the spaces between the coaches and stand (put weight) on such apps to apply brakes, while the asst driver signals them when to do this.

Going down the ghats, MPS is 12 kmph.

One of the many steel curves, lined with such yellow boards. They detail the curve no, radius of curvature, degree of turn and the grade. Some curves are so extreme that MPS is reduced to 6-8 kmph.

This one was taken after I jumped off the train... It is very easy to outrun the train and get off and on... But beware, some places are very narrow, and the guard can really get pissed!

The same pic, with an oldie effect!

Another curve... If this were a road, one would need severe honking!

Another sharp pin bend. The lower pic shows the head of one of those railway guys who brake the train.

Going to the one kiss tunnel... A small and very curvy one!

Yet another turn.

At the end of the ride, at Neral Junction, the driver is seen alighting with the token loop (not very clear). The bogies will be manually reversed, while the engine reverses at a nearby triangle.

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This page was created on 8th August, 2003. All rights reserved.