Route: Mettupalayam - Coonoor - Ooty
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 46 Km long and runs on 1000 mm gauge
railway. It connects Mettupalayam to
Ooty.
The first section of the Nilgiri Railway up to Coonoor was completed in
1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was extended to Ooty in 1903.
This Nilgiri rail system is unique as it is the steepest one in Asia.
In combination with this gradient there are many curves. To overcome
this incline the Nilgiri Railway uses a unique `rack and pinion' rail
system. In this system, between the two conventional rails, there are
two rack bars, out of step with each other, on which the pinions of the
locos and coaches 'climb' in a similar manner as a person climbing a
ladder using his feet alternately.
It is interesting to note that the engine pushes the train from behind
when ascending the hills and is in front, while going downhill so that
the train does not run amuck. The main incline between Mettupalayam to
Coonoor is a continuous gradient where the rack system is used. After
Coonoor until Ooty the gradient is relatively eased.
Presently all traffic on the rack section is ably handled by the eight
X class locomotives built by SLM of Switzerland. These locomotives have
four cylinders instead of the conventional two. The main cylinders of
the locomotive use high-pressure steam and drive the wheels of the loco
while the smaller cylinders using low-pressure steam drive the rack
system of the Nilgiri Railway system. Another interesting thing
associated with the Nilgiri Railway is that the youngest X class loco is
over 50 years old and the oldest is 80 years old!
