STEAM LOCO SHED, METTUPALAYAM
Some things in life are priceless and i would put this journey in that list. The last time i heard a steam whistle was way back in 2003 during the 150th Celebration of Indian railways. well, i am going to tell you about my experience on Nilgiri mountain railway behind a steam Loco so here it goes.
6:15 am - Home signal cleared and we started moving towards Metupalayam station. My eyes started searching for the meter gauge tracks and the train. The Steam beauty along with the train was ready on the platform. I was bit disappointed as i had wished to see the loco coupling process. Nevertheless seeing a live steam loco after a long time was a blessing. I started roaming around the station and i
6:15 am - Home signal cleared and we started moving towards Metupalayam station. My eyes started searching for the meter gauge tracks and the train. The Steam beauty along with the train was ready on the platform. I was bit disappointed as i had wished to see the loco coupling process. Nevertheless seeing a live steam loco after a long time was a blessing. I started roaming around the station and i
ended up next to the steam loco shed, only one loco was present. Exactly an hour after i arrived at Mettupalayam, we departed towards Ooty with a short whistle by the Steam loco. As we started gaining some speed, a cow made us to stop all of a sudden. As we slowly neared the cow, the cow started moving along the tracks causing further delay. After 2 minutes of walking next to tracks the cow finally decided to change its course allowing us to pick up speed again. The station on the route, Kallar was reached. The Loco started drinking its water while passengers started their photo shoots.The rack and pinon system starts from here which helps the train have a extra grip as it starts to
climb the hills. I will let the videos and pictures speak for the rest
of the trip. It was just music for the ears as the steam loco chugged up
the grade. Coonor was reached 15 minutes before time.
There is traction change here from Steam to Diesel.
There is traction change here from Steam to Diesel.
To be continued....
Wiki info - Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (Tamil: நீலகிரி மலை ரயில்) is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908,[1] and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. The railway still relies on its fleet of steam locomotives.[2] NMR comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Division. In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the site then became known as "Mountain Railways of India." After it satisfied the necessary criteria, thus forcing abandonment of
the modernisation plans. For the past several years diesel locomotives
have taken over from steam on the section between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam. Local people and tourists have led a demand for steam locos to once again haul this section.
