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Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Hill
Trains in Tamilnadu India
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Travel Destinations of India » Hill Trains in India »
Nilgiri Mountain Railway |
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Hill Train in Nilgiri Tamil Nadu India - The Nilgiri Mountain
Railway offers
complete information on Nilgiri hill railways, Nilgiri hill
trains, and some other related information onNilgiri hill
railways.
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Nilgiri
Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a 46 Km long 1000
mm gauge railway connecting Mettupalayam (1069 ft) to
Ooty (7228 ft). Its first section upto Coonoor was
completed in 1899 by the Nilgiri Railway Company and was
extended to Ooty in 1903. In those days it served as a
popular getaway from the sweltering heat of the plains
for the British in India. Even today it is a popular
hill resort attracting hoards of tourists.
Nilgiri Mountail Railway is the steepest one in Asia (
the steepest gradient is about 1in12). In combination
with this gradient there are curves as sharp as 18
degrees! To overcome this incline it uses a unique
ABT(Alternate Biting System) commonly known as `rack and
pinion' rail system and curiously the name of the
inventor is also Michael Abt! 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 & coaches 'climb' in a similar manner as a person
climbing a ladder using his feet alternately.Against the
convention of the engine leading the train on level
lines, here the engine is pushing the train from behind
when ascending and is in front stopping it from running
amuck when going downhill. 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 (this section is now worked
by YDM4 diesel locos).
Steam locomotives have been the motive power here since
the inception of the line in 1899. Presently all traffic
on the rack section is in the able hands of eight X
class locomotives built by SLM of Switzerland.These are
compound locomotives having four cylinders instead of
the conventional two. The main cylinders use
high-pressure steam and drive the wheels of the loco
whereas the smaller cylinders using low-pressure steam
drive the rack system. The youngest X class loco is over
50 years old and the oldest is 80 years old against the
average of 25 years working life of a steam loco.
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