30 Inches Apart - Kohat
After staying overnight in sleeping cars, our group had a special train on the 30 inch gauge line from Kohat to Thal which headed towards the border with Afghanistan. The line had been built in the early 1900s for strategic military purposes and was about 100 kms; in the early 1980s it had a mixed train which traversed the whole route. But we were only permitted to travel on our special as far as Hangu, 39 kms, the limit for foreigners. Locos on the line were all ZB 2-6-2s, three were in steam and we had two on our special. Two more ZB were stored. Security considerations dictacted that a bogie wagon was pushed ahead of the front loco.
With wagon at the front, 205 stands at Kohat with its water carrier and three carriages. The rear loco, 211, has not yet come off shed.
Out on the line with 211 at the rear.
Bridge over a dry river.
And a similar bridge.
211 gets the sun at a wayside station.
