Eight square miles of dense woods, silent jungle pathways, and occasional mists, is what Matheran is all about.
Situated on top of the Western Ghats, near the tinsel town of Mumbai, it holds a navel shape lake on its belly-like structure.
To make this grandeur of silvery haze, accessible to the people of Mumbai, Abdul Hussain Peerbhoy, son of businessman Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy of Mumbai, camped at Neral in 1900 to plan for a 0.6096 m narrow gauge railway line. The Matheran Steam Light Tramway Company was floated in 1904 and the railway line became a reality in March 1907. To run this journey of 21 kilometres, the earliest engines came from Orenstein & Koppel in 1905.
The Matheran Light Railway finally merged into the Central Railway along with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in November 1951.
This tiny mountain conqueror starts from Neral, which is well connected to Mumbai by suburban trains. It runs alongside the road till Hardal Hill, and then turns eastward. The rail and road play hide and seek with each other, meeting and disappearing again and again. Near Jummapatti station and next to the slope of Bhekra Khud, one can say hello to fellow trekkers on the road. The sight of a pony mounted by a big fat man, struggling to keep pace with other ponies carrying lesser burdens is quite amusing at such meeting points. The narrow stretch of level run after Bhekra Khud rises abruptly at Mount Barry. A horseshoe shaped embankment here is the forerunner of good luck to the couples traveling on the train. Minutes later the ‘One Kiss Tunnel’ sweetens the journey, if only for a few fleeting moments.
At Waterpipe, so named, as the steam engines used to take water there, one can step outside and feel the atmosphere lighten around him. Aman Lodge is a breaking point before Matheran engulfs one with its magic.
