The Little Train That Could...Be a World Heritage Site

Officials from UNESCO were recently in Matheran, a hill station outside of Mumbai, to consider one of India's latest nominees to the World Heritage list. Operating for over a century, save for yearly pauses during monsoon season, the Matheran Light Railway (MLR) runs only a short distance--approximately 12 miles--but has the kind of history and character to qualify for the UNESCO list.

Known to locals as the "toy train," the MLR seems to be conjured from a child's imagination. The train chugs along on a tiny track only two-feet-wide at speeds between five and 10 miles per hour. On its twice-daily journey up and down the mountain between Neral and Matheran Stations, the train passes by 121 bridges, a tunnel, and 221 curves. One of the curves features signage that says "Ah, what a sharp curve!" the type of blithe statement you could imagine a citizen of the British Raj voicing as he took the train for the first time in 1907.

Matheran sits at the top of a misty, tree-lined mountain in the Western Ghats and provides a cool retreat for visitors wishing to escape the heat and hurry of Mumbai. The resort doesn't have much in the way of activities - save for trekking, horseback riding, and monkey watching - but it does have a few hotels for travelers wanting more than a day trip. The best time to visit Matheran is in the months after monsoon season has ended (October to December) in order to enjoy the lush greenery of the forests and mossy hillsides. The monkeys are a little more relaxed then, too!

The Mountain Railways of India, a group consisting of the rail lines of Darjeeling, Nilgiri, and Kalka Shimla, gained World Heritage Site status in 1999. The MLR, as well as the Kangra Valley Railway (in Himachal Pradesh), is seeking singular status apart from the Railways of India. The World Heritage Committee will make its decision about Matheran's toy train at its 34th session in June/July 2010.

Photo: Himanshu Sarpotdar via Flickr