204 x 151 mm. A view looking down onto a partially constructed stepped culvert on the Taiping-Kuala Kangsar line, with earth works and boulders in the background. A note on the reverse reads: 'There are three culverts in the ravine. The man sitting on the boulder gives an idea of the size of things'. Railway extensions from Taiping eastwards to Kuala Kangsar were contemplated as early as 1888, the Resident Engineer reporting that "while such a line might not prove immediately remunerative - it would not be an expensive line to construct, there being no heavy work except at the 'Pass'. One of the advantages immediately following would be the reduction on carriage of goods to about one half of the present rates, and Kuala Kangsar would be brought within 1 1/2 hours of Taiping". The first surveys were made in 1891, and a more detailed proposal for a route over the pass prepared in 1897. Of the 20 mile line between the two towns, the gunon Pondok Pass occupied 9 miles 9 chains. The Perak Annual Report (1897) stated that in this area, the work is heavy as the country is very broken and rough, and it is anticipated that the majority of the cuttings will be in rock. Three tunnels (totalling 600 yards) would be needed (four were eventually built with a total of 900 yards) and the work was expected to be completed in 1902. In 1899 slow progress with the tunnelling and a shortage of sleepers (2, 000 per mile were required) slowed the pace, but number 3 tunnel was completed the following year and the others were progressing satisfactorily. Excessive rainfall in October and November 1902 again set back the schedule, with labourers unable to work, and a number of slips in banks and cuttings and the line was finally opened in 1903.