NILGIRI MOUNTAIN TRAIN ENGINE CONNECTING with the BOGIES
NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY
Steam Engine Connecting with the Bogies
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a 1,000 mm metre gauge railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908. The Railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India.
The railway relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. For the past several years, NMR has used diesel locomotives instead of steam locomotives on the section between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam. Local people and tourists have led a campaign to return to the use of steam locomotives in this section.
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.
Rolling Stock
NMR uses 'X' Class steam rack locomotives, manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur in Switzerland, on the rack and pinion section of its tracks. The X Class locomotives are six to eight decades old. These locomotives have given NMR a distinct charm, taking scores of passengers to Coonoor and Udhagamandalam, covering 45.8 kilometres (28 mi), 108 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges.
The steam locomotives can be used on any part of the line (either with or without the rack section), but the new diesel locomotives can operate only on the section between Coonoor and Udagamandalam. This signals the beginning of the process to phase out the coal-fired Swiss engines.
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