Bhor Ghat - Reversing Station

My love for history didn't start from childhood when we studied the subject in our school. Rather, it was the other way around. Sometimes it used to be difficult to remember those dates or arrange events chronologically. But gradually as I started reading more of Non-Fiction I started learing or exploring so many different versions of even Truth, for that matter. So this hunger always keeps me asking questions in my mind. When I see a particular monument or road or anything, my eyes ask a question to them, "How was it her before a century or millenium or even before mankind?" Whilst my ears stay wide open to listen if the passing wind or the rolling stones answer my questions. 

So this same hunger made me stuck on the captioned topic. Since childhood, I use to only hear stories of Khandala Ghat. "How steep the old Mumbai-Pune highway is? How much traffic there always is in the ghat section?" Then few years later, after the turn of century when the construction of Mumbai - Pune expressway was done, the new stories started coming in about how the journey has become comfortable now and how the gradient of old Khandala Ghat has become far easier than it's earlier version on the old road. Since my native was Kokan, so the expressway never came in our route. Hence I only knew the stories. And that was the age when Landline was also a luxurious thing. So internet was a still a far fetched dream, that I can sit down and research about them 

Circa 2020. In Covid - 19 lockdown, Internet was a big saviour for everyone. So in this period I came across a terminology of Reversing Station. Railways always invites curiosity, by default, in my case. So I started checking out, what exactly this term is? Initially I thought, it may not be in our country. But to my surprise, one such thing is still active today on the route of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This train uses a 'Z' technique to make the train climb the mountains. You can refer the route in the below link of how the "z" works:

https://youtu.be/YDhcgUOTIqQ

Indeed, I was fascinated by this technique. But in my mind I wasn't sure when I will be able to experience this, since it is in West Bengal. However my fascination reached it's peak when I came across a reversing station just in my neighbourhood i.e. Khandala Reversing Station. It surely was in the past and now doesn't exist. But if that old path is somehow accessible, I surely can drop a visit as it isn't much far away.

I started searching what was it or how did it work or how the train took that U turn? After lot of research in an amateur way, ofcourse, I finally came across certain things which I will be noting down here. But an important Disclaimer, I am not 100% sure if the technique I will be mentioning here was the same as it was back then, 100-150 year ago. But this is how much I was able to find at my level. 

The first thing you will find on the net when you start searching about Bhor Ghat is the number of deaths. This was back in the 18th Century. The Britishers surely weren't considerate enough to us as they felt they owned us. Some articles will say 20000 or 30000 dead. Some will say around 45000 were employed. So we will never know on how many coffins does the current Mumbai - Pune route passes. A newspaper in Bengaluru had printed an article about this route wherein it was mentioned that, "To be put in perspective, Suez Canal required less number of people for construction than Bhor Ghat."  So with that imagination, let us get started with it.

What was the basic requirement for this route? In British times. Bombay was the most important port for taking out goods and products from the country to Europe, Middle East or Americas. But there wasn't any direct route to reach Bombay. What we call today Mumbai, isn't exactly the Bombay of 18th Century. The city of 7 islands, all separated and independent. Each having their own forts to guard their boundaries. The Bombay island was given as a gift to British East India Company by the Portuguese in one royal marriage. But that will be another story. 

Basically, the transport link was missing to connect Deccan to Kokan. The railways had started in the country. With rapid progress, the train reached from Thane to Khopoli on the Bombay side while the train had also reached from Poona to Khandala from the Deccan side. Now to complete the link between Bombay and Poona or to be exact between Karjat/Khopoli and Khandala, the train was supposed to pass through the Bhor Ghat of the Sahyadri Range. This 21 Km distance was earlier covered by walking or by bullock carts as there was no other means of transport.

The then engineers of British faced the mammoth task of laying the tracks in this 21 km ghat section in such a way that the route should not cross the maximum gradient limit. So after conducting their surveys, the task of laying the tracks had begun. The British had employed all Indian labours to carry out this task. A work force of upto 45000 (again, no exact figures available) was put on work for this decade long project. The entire route consists of many tunnels and viaducts (the reverse U shaped bridges). 

The highest section of the mountain reached at an height of around 600-700 meters above sea level. And this was the section were the work was halted/stuck for a longer period of time. The reason behind it was; the track which came from Bombay had to make a full round of the steepest mountain in the range in order to proceed towards Poona. That was impossible considering the gradient and steep height of the mountain. So the link between Monkey Hill and Khandala seemed to be in dark for sometime. 

Now there is record of a humorous conversation between the engineer and his wife which, literally, altered the course of history. This will also explain how a simple stone can turn tomorrow into an avalanche. As the final link from Monkey Hill to Khandala seemed to be stuck, the Chief engineer wrote a letter in frustration to his wife that 'I am stuck in planning this rail line and do not know how to go ahead.' The wife humorously replied back saying 'if you can't go ahead then come back.' Her intention was to tell her husband to come home. But somehow that reply generated an idea in his head. If we can't go ahead, we should come back. And that's how the reversing station was conceptualised.

This is how, as per what I read and saw, it use to work:

Reversing Station: WIKI

In the above picture the line on the right side is coming from Bombay, on the left is the line which goes to Poona. The third line which you can see going on top, the edge of the mountain, is the line in railway terminologies know as Catch Siding. This line is a precautionary one. In case, the engine brakes fail then the train is diverted to the catch siding line. It's main task is to slow down the train and bring it to a halt. (Remember the climax of movie, "The Burning Train".) And finally, the peak of the mountain on the far left is the Duke's nose, a very common spot among trekkers.

So the engineers planned a reversing station, which you can see in the middle-far left of the picture. The viaducts of the bridge that was made to connect two mountains is visible there. And those viaducts are of the same bridge which untill 2020 was popularly know as Amrutanjan Bridge. See the below rough map I came across while surfing:

Now referring the first picture again, the train coming from the Bombay line will go straight from that bridge where the reversing station was located ahead. Then the steam engine would be detached from the train and will be shifted to the turntable track. This is a track which can rotate 360°. So as soon as the engine is on that track, it would be turned 360° and then taken ahead to be reattached to the train on its back side. So the last bogie of the train while coming from Bombay will now become the first bogie of the train that will reach Poona. 

After the engine is attached, the train will now be shifted to the middle track (in the first picture) from where the train will now head towards Khandala station. See another view of the reversing station.

This reversing station was abandoned some 90 years ago, when a new third line was launched which reduces the travel time considerably. And the railway tracks in the first picture is the same location of current Mumbai-Pune express way. The below picture might help you in some comparison. 

Some say that few tracks of the old reversing station or the catch siding are still there. I came across the below picture which was considered as one of them. But since I have not been there with any expert, I cannot be 100% sure about it

Even today this ghat section is one of the tuffest task in every motorman's journey when his/her train passes through this route. So next time if you are planning to visit Pune and of course if you love history like I do then you surely can take note of these things to experience it. 

Every time when the train reaches the Karjat station, immediately two more engines are attached to the train from the back. These are called as bankers. Banker engines are supportive ones which provide the throttle for the train to climb the mountain and also helps in reducing the pace when the train is descending.

Now, not many will be knowing this but when the train leaves Karjat station to start the climb of Bhor Ghat, the front engine will not be pulling the train. Instead, the bankers will be pushing it from behind. After the train reaches a certain altitude, the front engine then starts to pull the train. So initially only two engine's push the train up and later one more engine will also pull the train up.

The four main station of Bhor Ghat are Palasdhari, Thakurwadi, Monkey Hill and Khandala. After crossing Palasdhari, the train takes a minor halt at Thakurwadi. Then moving ahead, the next halt is at Monkey Hill. This one is not for public but a technical halt for engines to check their brakes. After crossing this hill, the train finally reached Khandala. And not to miss mentioning the number of tunnels you will be going through before the train finally reaches Khandala. If one stands at the Khandala station and watches the train reaching the platform, one can easily make out the steep climb the train is making to reach their. It's like an roller coaster. 

Now, just to give a perspective of why this is an engineering marvel or why was it then compared to Suez Canal, just see the view of the railway from Khopoli city. The red dot on top is the Amrutanjan Bridge. So that is the point where the train has to reach in order to connect with the Deccan.

Mountain should always be respected and never taken for granted. It is really appreciable that Indian Railways have specific appointed motorman to work only on the banker engines. Because in cases of goods train, sometimes 5-6 bankers are needed to bring the train down to Karjat. Also, every train has to go through the brake check process at Monkey Hill halt. 

Such fascinating is history. Imagine what would have happened had that chief engineers wife wouldn't have had a lovely banter with her husband. May be India would have had to wait longer for the railway between the Bombay and Poona. So next time, do spare a thought when you pass through this route. I ain't sure if there is any monument in the memory of those workers who died during its construction. At the least we can say is a Thank You in the air and let them know that their death didn't go in vain.

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You.