International Railroad Discussion > Khyber Pass, Pakistan - this can't be real, right?

I'm researching the Khyber Pass Railway from Peshawar, Pakistan towards the Afghan Border. From satellite images the engineering looks stunning, with some loops and/or switchbacks (hard to tell exactly.) Seems like every few years Pakistan talks about reopening it, including just last week when a "high level delegation" visiting and said shopkeepers had one week to clear the line so it could be rebuilt. That said, without a line into Afghanistan it is hard to imagine a commercial purpose. Military and political purposes maybe make sense.

Anyway, while looking up photos, I came across this one on an article. This can't be real, right? The track in the foreground would need to be a cog railway. I wonder if this is some very weird photoshop work.

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Then again, I just found this photo on another site that credits it as being from 1996, taken by Roland Ziegler

http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Foreign/KhyberRailway/khyber-railway-reversing-station.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

Maybe this is the worlds steepest non-rack grade and/or switchback? Note that a two car passenger train has two steam engines. I see references to the grade being "1 in 25"

It is most likely a runaway track.

Southern Railway used them on Saluda Mountain. If a train ran too quickly trough a timing section, it was considered to be out of control (runaway) and was routed onto the siding and up the steep grade such as this one. The intent is to slow it down and derail it in order to prevent it from gaining any more speed.

I notice that it is protected by a signal and a power switch. I'm sure it is a runaway track.

RRBadTrack Wrote:
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> I notice that it is protected by a signal and a
> power switch. I'm sure it is a runaway track.

Ah, that makes much more sense.

Charter excursions ran on the line until ? The 1996 photo has to be near the end of such things. As I recall, the usual power was 2-8-0s.

I suspect there’s a bit of telephoto compression involved also.

Runaway track at Saluda.

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