django
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Tps43
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I really hope Pdf's account becomes active again but unfortunately I can't see that happening.
django
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You are probably right bro, we would have heard something positive by now.Kudos
Tps43
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Exactly and probably for gop this ain't a big issue unfortunately.
doorstar
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I never knew that railway tracks could be on such steep gradients looks impossible, have never seen it nietherKhyber train safari
frightening, looks like a roller coaster to me
Nilgiri
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It was my first thought too. I think its optical illusion because of camera perspective. It may also not be a locomotive friendly siding (if it is just a siding), but just for wagons and shunting duties.
ghazi52
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Nilgiri
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What is gradient on it, you know?
Nilgiri
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@ghazi52 here is interesting picture:
Caption from Wiki says:
A charter train is about to depart from Shahgai and descend out of the Khyber Pass back to Jamrud, near Peshawar. The local tribesmen are asserting their right to free travel on the trains, a condition of the railway being built through their land.
ghazi52
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Yes, pleasure/adventure type once a week.
Reversing Stations and Catch sidings
Reversing stations are an important feature of Khyber Railways. Since it is not easy to bend a train here due to tight space, trains switch tracks and engines change direction at the reversing station. The Khyber Railways is the last of the great railway constructions undertaken on the frontier during the British Raj. Besides reversing stations, track at numerous places is also provided with the runway train catch sidings. One such catch siding is shown in the photo above.
From 1947 onwards, Pakistan Railway has continued a weekly passenger service through Khyber Pass. The service runs free of charge simply as a gesture to prove to the fiercely independent tribesmen that the line, in-spite of them, is open and the Pakistan Government is the boss. The regular service in Khyber Pass stopped in 1982 due to the lack of commercial patronage.
Nilgiri
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Yay! I guessed correctly!
ghazi52
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Tracing the Tracks of Misadventures
British in view of the building threat from the Russians, laid a 42 kilometres long Khyber Railway track in 1920s from Peshawar to Landi Kotal at an enormous cost of Rupees 6 million. The train coaches are pulled and pushed by two 1920s vintage oil fired steam engines ( HGS 2-8-OS ) - one in the rear and one up front, to climb 1200 meters through 34 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts. At one point the track climbs to 130 meters after a journey of 1.4 kilometres, by means of the famous Shagai Spur, a section of the track shaped like a “W†with two reversing stations. A section of the track is shaped like a W and the train has to move in changing directions. The tribes people travel free as part of the contract agreed upon when they allowed the British to build the railway through their territory and this rule is still honoured. As can be seen from the sketch above, the railway track twists over the Kyber Pass with gradients as steep as 1 in 33 near the summit at Landi Kotal. And the steam engine really has to pull hard to take the coaches atop the summit as seen below (below).
The North West Frontier Province of Pakistan abounds relics of history from time immemorial to invasion of the Alexander the Great, then a chain of Muslim warriors and finally the British in their quest to subjugate Afghanistan and make it part of their Indian empire. After three Afghan Wars and loss of countless natives and the British, they finally decided to leave Afghanistan and much of the tribal area of present day Pakistan at its own. The railway line from Peshawar to just short of Landi Kotal near Pak-Afghan border is the last remembrance of the British. A road or railroad journey on this avenue reminds one with those grim days in the form of small, medium and large size forts, and the logos of British army regiments on blind turnings.
Those interested in history could not have had access to this difficult terrain but for the road and the innovative "Khyber Steam Safari" that not only has attraction for tourists but historians all over the world to see the once bloody battle grounds. This site is all about the Steam Safari, which is one of the most historical and interesting train journeys in the world today.
To keep the interest of the tourists alive, on each stop, the tour operator arranges band displays (bandsmen wearing British Raj day uniforms), the traditional "Khattak Dance", group photos and perhaps hands shake with poor children anxiously gathered to see people from another world.
The best time to travel in this train is usually between the end of summers till October. The train leaves Peshawar at 0730 hours in the morning and brings back its load by 1700 hours in the evening. The package includes round trip train ride, refreshments en' route, picnic lunch at Landikotal, sightseeing tour to Michni Check Post near Torkham viewpoint for the Pak-Afghan Border and all necessary permissions for traveling in the Tribal Territory.
The initial site seeing from Peshawar railway station onwards may not be heartening since area around the railway track is used as dumping ground for rubbish because of its inactivity. However, as soon as the train leaves the urban surroundings, an aroma of fresh air and lush green landscape captivates the tourists. The first stop at Jamrud brings bagpipers in view. Thereafter the train takes the tourists to the famous "Khyber Rifles" officers' mess. The mess is a living legend of famous 19 and 20th century paintings, photographs and relics.
And the journey continues for five hours till the train reaches Landi Kotal, the end point of railway network.
The Pakistan Railways and the private travel enterprise operated the KSS successfully till May 14, 2007. This last train had 15 ambassadors and high commissioners of European Union countries onboard, who enjoyed its journey through Khyber Agency. Ever since the KSS has not been in operation, a powerful flood has washed away its track at several places, as well as damaged several bridges that it used to cross on its way. Pakistan Railways authorities, unfortunately, have so far not been able to restore the damaged track. As of now, this dream safari is dysfunctional, which once attracted tourists from all over the world.
British in view of the building threat from the Russians, laid a 42 kilometres long Khyber Railway track in 1920s from Peshawar to Landi Kotal at an enormous cost of Rupees 6 million. The train coaches are pulled and pushed by two 1920s vintage oil fired steam engines ( HGS 2-8-OS ) - one in the rear and one up front, to climb 1200 meters through 34 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts. At one point the track climbs to 130 meters after a journey of 1.4 kilometres, by means of the famous Shagai Spur, a section of the track shaped like a “W†with two reversing stations. A section of the track is shaped like a W and the train has to move in changing directions. The tribes people travel free as part of the contract agreed upon when they allowed the British to build the railway through their territory and this rule is still honoured. As can be seen from the sketch above, the railway track twists over the Kyber Pass with gradients as steep as 1 in 33 near the summit at Landi Kotal. And the steam engine really has to pull hard to take the coaches atop the summit as seen below (below).
The North West Frontier Province of Pakistan abounds relics of history from time immemorial to invasion of the Alexander the Great, then a chain of Muslim warriors and finally the British in their quest to subjugate Afghanistan and make it part of their Indian empire. After three Afghan Wars and loss of countless natives and the British, they finally decided to leave Afghanistan and much of the tribal area of present day Pakistan at its own. The railway line from Peshawar to just short of Landi Kotal near Pak-Afghan border is the last remembrance of the British. A road or railroad journey on this avenue reminds one with those grim days in the form of small, medium and large size forts, and the logos of British army regiments on blind turnings.
Those interested in history could not have had access to this difficult terrain but for the road and the innovative "Khyber Steam Safari" that not only has attraction for tourists but historians all over the world to see the once bloody battle grounds. This site is all about the Steam Safari, which is one of the most historical and interesting train journeys in the world today.
To keep the interest of the tourists alive, on each stop, the tour operator arranges band displays (bandsmen wearing British Raj day uniforms), the traditional "Khattak Dance", group photos and perhaps hands shake with poor children anxiously gathered to see people from another world.
The best time to travel in this train is usually between the end of summers till October. The train leaves Peshawar at 0730 hours in the morning and brings back its load by 1700 hours in the evening. The package includes round trip train ride, refreshments en' route, picnic lunch at Landikotal, sightseeing tour to Michni Check Post near Torkham viewpoint for the Pak-Afghan Border and all necessary permissions for traveling in the Tribal Territory.
The initial site seeing from Peshawar railway station onwards may not be heartening since area around the railway track is used as dumping ground for rubbish because of its inactivity. However, as soon as the train leaves the urban surroundings, an aroma of fresh air and lush green landscape captivates the tourists. The first stop at Jamrud brings bagpipers in view. Thereafter the train takes the tourists to the famous "Khyber Rifles" officers' mess. The mess is a living legend of famous 19 and 20th century paintings, photographs and relics.
And the journey continues for five hours till the train reaches Landi Kotal, the end point of railway network.
The Pakistan Railways and the private travel enterprise operated the KSS successfully till May 14, 2007. This last train had 15 ambassadors and high commissioners of European Union countries onboard, who enjoyed its journey through Khyber Agency. Ever since the KSS has not been in operation, a powerful flood has washed away its track at several places, as well as damaged several bridges that it used to cross on its way. Pakistan Railways authorities, unfortunately, have so far not been able to restore the damaged track. As of now, this dream safari is dysfunctional, which once attracted tourists from all over the world.
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