Matheran, picture-perfect

Maharashtra's tiniest, yet one of the most popular hill stations ,Matheran in the district of Raigad,is a perfect getaway for the tourists from the neighbouring metros, Mumbai and Pune.

                

Nestled in the beautiful Sahyadri hills in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra lies this world's only Automobile-Free hill station.

It has also been declared an Eco-Sensitive region by India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

              The forests of Matheran 

Due to its elevation of 26,000 feet above sea level , the climate here is cool , mild and pleasant making it one of the most popular hill-stations in Maharashtra.

The local language of communication is predominantly Marathi with Hindi & English also being much in use due to it being a very popular tourist destination.

It's average temperature range is 32 ℃ to 16 ℃.

It's at a distance of 90 km from Mumbai and 120 km from Pune.

One can reach by road only upto Dhindi point and then walk or choose horse-riding, hand-pulled rickshaws the rest of the way. 

 

The walk is only about a 30 minutes trek through beautiful forests with a Red Laterite mud road that looks amazingly beautiful, and get everywhere on the feet and clothes…!! 

The railway options are

• getting a local train from CST- Karjat  that stops at Neral.

• The Deccan Express from Mumbai to Neral 

• The Sahyadri Express from Pune to Neral 

Neral being the closest station to Matheran  and then traveling the rest of the way in the utterly unique & immensely enjoyable Toy-Train as it's popularly called.It meanders through hills, Ghats & even a tunnel adding to the feeling of fun & adventure.

            The popular Toy-Train 

Matheran has a surreal beauty due to the colonial style architecture, old style Parsi bungalows, cottages, beautiful resorts ,hotels , boarding lodges.

It's scenic beauty is unparalleled with it being constructed by clearing off the forests by the British who wanted a cool getaway during India's hot summer months.

Not surprisingly most of the tourist spots are named after the British explorers who reached or discovered it the first time.

Matheran is a textbook perfect hill station with beautiful views of the mountains, forests, forts , valleys , trekking routes, nature walks , rivers, lakes, parks , water falls, adventure sports ,rock-climbing ,camping.

It is also the most preferred spot for honeymooners, families, trekking- groups, adventure lovers due to its 38 beautiful tourist spots to visit and enjoy.

This Matheran-Darshan can take 2-3 days if one prefers walking / trekking whereas choosing horse - riding can cut it short into a one day adventure trip. 

In fact, the majority of tourists from the surrounding towns , cities do prefer one-day picnics to a stay-over due to budget or time constraints. 

The walking trails

List of the Tourist Places in Matheran

1. Alexander point

2. Ambarnath Shiv Temple

3. Big Chowk point

4. Belvedere point

5. Celia point

6. Chanderi caves

7. Charlotte lake

8. Dodhani WaterFalls

9. Echo Point

10. Honeymoon point

11. Hart point

12. Irshalgad Fort

13. King George point

14. Khandala point

15. Kalavantin Pinnacle

16. Little Chowk point

17. Louisa point

18. Lord point

19. Mt Barry

20. Monkey point

21. Malang point

22. Madhavji garden and point

23. Matheran Railway station

24. Matheran Shiv Mandir

25. Mayra point

26. Market 

27. One tree point

28. Olympia Race Course

29. Porcupine point ( Sunset point )

30. Panorama point ( Sunrise point )

31. Prabal Fort

32. Paymaster park

33. Pisharnath Madhav Mandir

34. Panther's caves

35. Rambag point

36. Shivaji's ladder

37. Toy Train

38. Vikatgad peb Fort Trek

                     Charlotte lake 

( source of pics  - wikipedia )

 

Kalka Shimla Toy Train - The Himalayan Queen

The Kalka-Shimla Railway is a narrow guage railway in North-West India travelling mostly in the

mountain route from Kalka to Shimla. The view all through the journey is enthralling. The city of Shimla was a summer settlement for Britishers and it also became their summer capital. The Kalka-Shimla railway route winds from Sivalik foot hills of Kalka to Shimla on hill top. Enroute it crosses the stations of Dharampur, Solan, Kandaghat, Taradevi, Barog, Salogra, Totu and Summerhill.

Out of the 107 tunnels built on the track 102 remain still in use. The longest tunnel at Barog. The line crosses over 864 bridges too. The first locomotives used in the train was class B coaches from Darjeeling Himalayan Railway but was converted to suit the tracks of this railway. The first diesel locomotive was introduced in the year

1955. But the current line is operated with ZDM-3 diesel hydraulic locomotives which was built in 1970 to 1982 at Chittaranjan Locomotive works. The current engine was built to climb the 916 curves and to climb from an altitude of 656 mts to 2076 mts on the mountain slope. 

Toy Train from Neral to Matheran

Toy Train from Neral to Matheran is a toy train laid by Abdul Hussain, son of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy of Mumbai. The narrow guage railway line to Matheran was constructed between 1904 and 1907.

Train timings of the toy train:

Neral -> Matheran:
depart 0730, arrive 0930
depart 0850, arrive 1110
depart 1015, arrive 1210
depart 1215, arrive 1405
depart 1705, arrive 1900

Matheran -> Neral:
depart 0700, arrive 0840
depart 0945, arrive 1125
depart 1340, arrive 1520
depart 1445, arrive 1625
depart 1625, arrive 1810

The train commences its journey from Neral and the travel timing is about 90 minutes. The train starts its ascent after crossing Hardar Hills and reach the Jamnapatti station where the rail and road run parallel to each other. Then the train runs through a tunnel and zig zags forward and backward. Before the train reaches the tunnel it crosses the Bhera Kund and the Horseshoe embarkment near Mount Barry. After the tunnel, the train crosses the Panorama Point and the Simpson Tank and reaches the Matheran Bazaar. The railway line is 12 1/2 miles long and the speed is limited to 12 miles per hour only.

Toy Trains of India

There are 4 toy trains running. All the trains still run on steam engine giving the travelers a great insight of how the trains would have been in the past.

The train in the north run from Kalka to Shimla. The train in the south runs from Mettupalayam to Ooty. The train in the east runs from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeling. The train in the west runs between Neral and Matheran. Visiting these hill stations of Shimla, Ooty, Darjelling and Matheran is always a entrhrilling experience. The trains chugg through fields, goes through tunels, runs over bridges and helps the traveller breathe the hilly air. 

 
The toy train to Shimla - The toy train that runs between Kalka and Shimla is a six hour journey. The entire stretch have 107 tunnels. There are 4 stations enroute - Dharmpore, Taksal, Gamma and Solan. 

The toy train to Ooty (Udhagamandalam) - One can reach Mettupalayam by Nilgiri Express and Chennai Daily. From there one can take up The Nilgiri Mountain Railway train. The entire journey is 46 km long and the train ascends slowly in twists and turns. The train runs in narrow gauge and it runs at a speed of 33kms per hour. The entire journey runs through plains, plantations and forest clad hills. There are 16 tunnels and tall bridges all along. 

 


The toy train to Darjeeling - The famous hill station Darjeeling have its own toy train. This guage is a 2ft wide one and is the narrowest hill train guage. The engine is quite tiny and is a century old and it is worth seeing and taking a snap in front of it. The entire stretch is 86 kms and the traveler can view the breath taking view of the Himalayas all through the 7 1/2 hour ride. The Himalayan mountain in this stretch is a delight to see. New Jalpaiguri have trains connecting it with Kolkatta(Calcutta). This is the most famous of the 4 toy trains of India.

Toy train to Matheran - This is a 77 year old line connecting Matheran with Neral (the main line of Central Railway). The scenic beauty of the hils and the plains below gives a wonderful traveling experience. The travel to Matheran and stay at Matheran is definitely a peaceful one. The travel time is 1 and a half hours. Neral is a station in the Mumbai-Pune line

Journey from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling by Toy Train

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - is one of the four Toy Trains of India. It is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway that runs between Siliguri and Darjelling run by the Indian Railways. The 86 kms ride starts from the plains and move towards the hills. The journey starts with a warmer climate and moves to a chill and cold climate. So while travelling in the Darjeeling toy train one need to keep warm clothes handy.

Nearing Darjeeling town

The route stretch from Tindhara to Gayabari station is a scenic beauty of jagged rock faced mountains of Giddapahar through which the train passes through and reaches the Gayabari station at 3400 ft. The train stops at Pagla Jhora where it stops for water. Then the train reaches Mahanadi Bazar station which is at 4000ft and which is also close to the source of the Mahanadi river. From here the train reaches Kurseong station at 4864 ft travelling west. Kurseong a little hill station where one can see the culture and tradition of a hill town and hill people. From Kurseong the train crosses through the Kurseong bazar which gives a glimpse of the Tibetian prayer flags while crossing over Hussel and Khola. The train passes through the forests of maple, chestnut, pear, cherry and cardamom plants. The train then reaches Tung at 5656 ft.

Train going through cross roads

From Tung the train reaches Sonada at 6552 ft and passes through the Sonada bazar giving a glimpse of Tibetan Stupa. Before reaching Ghoom, the train passes through the Senchel Reserve forest. One can get to see bright blooms of rododendrons, cream magnolias and orchids during the spring. The Senchel Reserve forest region is a world wide bird watching centre and the top of the hill is the famous tourist spot Tiger hill which gives a different and unique view of Himalayas and one can watch sunrise from this point. The train then crosses the town of Jore bunglow where the roads are narrow and this is the place where the traffic in and out of Darjeeling crosses. The train stops here for a while till the traffic clears if one happens. After crossing this town the train reaches Ghoom at 7407 ft.

Inside DHR toy Train

From Ghoom the train moves towards Darjeeling pasing through Batasia Loop from where one can see a splendid view of the Darjeeling town and the Kanchenjunga peak. The train then reaches the Darjeeling Station. The total travel time all along the route is about 9 hours (which could extend an hour more too).

All along the route from Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, there are lots of road crossings and almost all through the journey the train runs quite parallel to road and one can see cars and other vehicles running very close. The famous song of Meri Sapnon ki Rani from the movie Aradana is shot in this train and all along the route.

Darjeeling Railway Station

Kangra Toy Train of India - Unesco Heritage

Kangra Toy Train links Pathankot and Joginder Nagar. The entire journey in this train is mostly through maze of hills and valleys and also through 2 tunnels. The 163km long route was opened to traffic in the year 1926. The entire journey takes about 9 hours.

The Kangra Toy Train starts from Pathankot a northeastern Punjab town which is at a height of 333 mts. The train passes through grider bridges that are constructed over beautiful rivers. After an hour the train reaches Nurpur Road at the height of 402 mts. From here the journey starts towards southeast where the train stops at Bharmar, Nadpur Bitali, Guler, Lunsu and Jwalamukhi road which is at 579 mts. Most of the stations are small ones and have simple buildings. These stations connect nearest tourist destinations.

From Jwalamukhi Road station, the train starts towards Kangra Station in the northern direction. The train crosses the Bathu bridge and crosses the Dhaundni tunnel (250 ft long) and Daulatpur tunnel (1070 ft long). The train reaches Kangra Station at about 686 mts. From here the train travels towards east and south and reaches the stations of Nagrota, Palampur before reaching Palampur, which is a tourist paradise during summer.

From Palampur the train starts its ascend and travels close to the Dhauladhar range and reaches Baijnath Paprola station which is at 943 mts. From here only 4 coaches start its journey further and so the train stops at this station for about 45 minutes. The train reaches Ahju station crossing the Bhir gorge at 1210 mts the highest point in the entire travel stretch. The train moves towards Joginder nagar the last stop which is at 1139 mts.

The entire journey is through meter guage. The passengers can view the snow capped Dhauladar hills. The valleys and rivers comes in the right side when travelling from Pathankot. One can get a picturesque view of the rivers and valleys if they get a seat in the right side of the compartment.

Charter Train from Pathankot to Palampur

One can avail of a one way charter train journey for family and friends. The journey can be availed from any station to any station between the Pathankot-Joginder Nagar toy train. The total cost of the exclusive train is Rs. 22206/= (source IRCTC website). The charter train feature is as follows:

There are 4 First Class coaches with a seating capacity of 18 each and also a SLR Guard Van. The train departs from Patankot at 8.30 am and reaches Palampur at 1.15 pm with just 3 stops in between. On the return journey the train departs from Palampur at 1.30pm and reaches Pathankot at 7.00pm.

For bookings and enquiries one can contact:
Deputy GM(Tourism)-IRCTC-New Delhi
Ph no. (011) 23235264
Fax no. (011) 23210321

email: tourismz@irctc.com