Finally, the view you are all waiting for – cannot see much, but the depth is obvious.

We walk further on the mountain towards the Rajmachi point – the dilapidated building in this picture is probably the Convalescent home (near tunnel 2 i.e tunnel 25 of today) seen in this map of 1929. http://tinyurl.com/ybwuqg

We wait for a long time for a train to come from the portals of the tunnel 25 – finally a pair of WCG 2 bankers emerge on the mid-line.

It is raining bankers ! Two more beasts arrive on the Up line chasing the mid-liners.

In case you do not know, the majestic peak in the background is the Duke’s Nose.

The bankers on the bi-directional mid-line arrive at the Tata bridge, the up-liners maintain similar speed.

Mid-line traffic at the Tata bridge.

The Up-line bankers at the Tata bridge – this was the only descending traffic we saw after we settled down on this hill at this spot. Soon it was time to go back and get a ride on the 1029 Koyna Express which is one of the few trains that stop at Khanda

The Up-line bankers entering the Tunnel 24 showing the usual janata hanging on the rear buffer beam for a free ride in the ghats.

On the trek back to the Khandala station, we walk along the Walvan dam water pipes to reach the top of the KAD catch sidings. Ashish talks to Gowrisankar of the IRFCA Chennai chapter.

The catch sidings have a lot of population pressure to deal with – it is visible at places, else it is buried under roads and other constructions. The gauge looks too wide to be 5’6”, so these might be the check rails outside the regular tracks.

Khandala is the preferred resort getaway for the affluent Mumbaikars – the catch siding visible at some places near the top.

A view of the first catch siding from the top – the down line emerging from the Tunnel 25C can also be seen.

How old would you like the cast iron chairs on the catch siding to be ? 1915 ?

How about 1903 ?