Nilgiri Mountain Railway

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR, Nilgiri Mountain Railway ) connects the town of Mettupalayam with the hill station Ootacamund, in the Nilgiri Mountains in South India. Both towns are located in Tamil Nadu. It is the only Indian cog railway. The railway used 2 - slat racks after the Abbot system by Swiss engineer novel Dept.

NMR has a track gauge of 1000 mm, but no connection to other narrow gauge railways.

History

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the oldest mountain railways in India. It was already planned since 1845 and completed in 1899 by the British after plans by the Swiss Niklaus Riggenbach. It was originally administered by the Madras Railway Company.

The track is one of only a few steam-powered locomotives railroads today. The district Palghat the Indian Railways, which is responsible for the NMR continues today, an annual loss of 40 million rupees. During the celebrations of the centenary of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in 1999, the then railway minister Nitish Kumar announced that the track would soon be electrified. In July 2005, UNESCO adopted the NMR as part of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India on the list of world cultural heritage on after they met the requirements. Therefore, the improvement plans were abandoned.

Operation

On the rack sections below Coonoor ( Kunnur ) trains steam locomotives of the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works will be pushed up the hill from Winterthur to overcome the adhesion line for a considerable slope. The average gradient is 1:24.5 ( 40.8 ‰ ), the maximum slope of 1:8.3 (120 ‰). The Zahnradlokomotiven have separate drives for the Adhäsionräder and for the traction gears, so that they can operate without a rack.

2007 runs daily just a train on the rack section in each direction. It starts early in the morning in Mettupalayam and returns in the early evening back then.

Between Coonoor and Udagamandalam come YDM4 ordinary diesel locomotives are used, which use the conventional rail adhesion. On this route the locomotive is always docked on the Coonoor - side of the train. The slope of 1:25 (40 ‰) is significant, but not so strong that a gear drive would be necessary. It reversed in 2005 four daily trains in each direction.

The diesel locomotives can only be used in the upper section. Most repairs can be carried out in the shed of Coonoor, steam locomotives, however, be revised in the Golden Rock workshop. Minor repairs to the car done in Mettupalayam, larger in one of the large workshops.

The route

The train covers a distance of 46 km ( 28 miles), but he goes through 208 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges. The ascent takes about 290 minutes, the descent 215

  • Mettupalayam: 0km, 350m above the sea - connecting the broad gauge to and from Coimbatore. Passengers cross the platform to the Nilgiri train. There is a small roundhouse and car repair shops on line. Between Mettupalayum Kallar and the section will be operated in a conventional manner. She even drops to a short distance before they crossed the river Bhavani and merges into a gentle slope.
  • Kallar: 8km, 413m - No more passenger station, here's the gear portion begins. At the beginning of the section the slope is 1:12.
  • Adderly: 13km, 784m - No more passenger station, stop for water supply.
  • Hillgrove: 18km, 1175m - intermediate stop, stop for water supply and food for the passengers.
  • Runneymede: 21km, 1513m - No more passenger station, stop for water supply
  • Kateri Road: 25km, 1663m - No more passenger station, no stop.
  • Coonoor: 28km, 1843m - the most important station on the line. Here at the end of the gear portion are the workshops for locomotives. The trains need to reset a small piece before they can continue the journey towards Udagamandalam. Usually, the steam locomotives are replaced here for the onward journey by diesel locomotives.
  • Wellington: 29km, 1904m
  • Aruvankadu: 32km, 2015 m
  • Ketti: 38km, 2252m
  • Lovedale: 42km, 2524m
  • Udagamandalam: 46km, 2371m

Gallery

The Wellington Railway Station

A train on the largest viaduct in the distance

Nilgiri train in the station of Udagamandalam

Film

  • Alexander Schweitzer: by train through India ... Blue Mountains. Germany, SWR, 2009, 43 min
Metre gauge Grade (slope) Mettupalayam, Coimbatore Carl Roman Abt Electrification Kalka–Shimla Railway
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