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I'd an unforgettable Ooty-Mettupalayam mountain rail journey last month.

As I couldn't take up the rail trip on my last visit--earlier this Jun--, I decided to visit Ooty again,just for this train trip.

Sharing few of the snaps with everyone.

While going through the Nilgiri mountain rail related travelogues here,I found out that most of them are covering only Ooty-Coonoor part and missing the real beauty of the trip.

I did bookings through IRCTC website and started to Ooty from Bangalore,trhough Mysore--Bandipur-Masinagudi-Mudumalai tiger reserve road.


Stayed at Lakeview hotel,which I found out to be VFM option.


Visited the railway station on next morning and Ooty-Coonoor passenger was ready to leave.







This train leaves Ooty by 9:15 AM ,reaches Coonoor by 10:25 AM,and returns to Ooty from Coonoor by 3:00PM and reaches Ooty by 4:00PM.

The longer one, leaves Mettupplayalam by 7:00 AM and returns from Ooty by 2:00 PM.









Came back to station by 1:30 and lots of people were waiting for the train.

The train comes in reverse mode and have 4 coaches, 2 reserved and 2 non-reserved.

I couldn't find any difference between the 2 reserved coaches. May be due to non-availability ,they used same coach.(the travel fare is 24/- for one type and 124/- for first class!)





Once train stopped,the doors are open and ready for us:




Ticket examiner verifying tickets:



Liver controlling rack and pinion system of mountain rail:





Beautiful landscapes were waiting for us:

For people still wondering ,what's the difference between Ooty-Coonoor and Coonoor-Mettuppalayam trip,here's the major difference.






Attachment 476460


Will post the rest of pics soon. :)

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I have always been fascinated by the mountain railways. Hope to have a ride soon.

P.S: Whats the use of "Liver controlling rack and pinion system of mountain rail:" Is it used for braking?

Great pics Mykal and thanks for sharing them! Never been to Ooty and I am tempted to visit this place sometime this year.

yeah - waiting for Lovedale, Arvangadu, Wellington and Coonoor :)

when the toy train is on steep inclines, this system of rack-n-pinion lowers a set of cogs which latch on to the grooves in the middle of the track. this give grip to the train; the train's engine isn't very powerful and this system helps the train to not roll back on an steep incline (between Metupalayam and Coonoor).

Great one there! If you are also like trains and tracks, I would recommend the book "Branch Line to Eternity" by Bill Aitken.

Awaiting scenic views thru your lense.

Thanks milecruncher,superslick,ampere,ironhawk,mohsin for your replies.

@Milecruncher:-

Here are some close up shots of rack rail system.

Details on rack and pinion rail system:

Cog railway

The Wikipedia article on Nilgiri rail also explains that system:
Nilgiri Mountain Railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Image courtsey: Wikimedia

The train runs at a speed of 10-15KMPH.
It takes 3.5 hours to cover around 40 KMs.



An old railway signal:



Coonoor station is the main station on midway.
Here railways have wagon repairing shops and other facilities.

Some more history:

http://www.nilgiris.tn.nic.in/newpag...iv_sr_comm.pdf
BBC - BBC Four Programmes - Indian Hill Railways, The Nilgiri Mountain Railway



Few snaps from Coonoor.

You can see old coaches and various coal engines lying there.

If you notice closely, you can see one big pillar with pipe on engine position on all stations.

This is used to refill water on the coal engine.

Track Adhesion would be the right word!. As even the powerful YDM4 (diesel one) does not have the adhesion capacity on rails which have gradient of 1:12 and so needs a rack to latch on to, else there would be wheel slip.

The Rack railway is the reason NMR (Nilgiri Mountain Railway) is unable to replace the Steam (now oil fired instead of inferior Indian Coal) Engine with the Diesel one, as only the Steam engine has the cogs fitted to run on the rack between Coonoor and Kallar.

After our train gets the Steam engine, the entire look of the train changes.
The way it crowls through the beautiful Nolgiri mountains ,is marvellous.

The deep valley at one side:



And the beautiful train:





The steam and antique look ,creates a wonderful painting image.






Clouds,tea estates,water falls.There were non-stop supply of nature for our eyes.

This amazing rail journey passes through 250 bridges,16 tunnels and 208 curves. You may run out of film on this route, but scenic beauty will not run short of, in this 46 KM journey.


Few snaps from Those tunnels:

As there are numerous bridges and curves, you will get beautiful shots on every now and then, if you get a good window seat in the last coach.