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Ooty Train - Nilgiri Mountain Railway
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Ooty Train called as "Toy Train" with blue & cream colour with steam engine is very familiar in tourist people. The ‘Nilgiris toy train' connect Ooty to mettupalayam, at the foot of the Nilgiris. It was in 1854 that the first plans were drawn to build a mountain railway from mettupalayam to Ooty. This railway is widely regarded as a marvel of engineering. The train itself is a charming blue and cream colours with wooden coaches and has large windows. It is hauled up hills by stream engines, designed and built by the Swiss Locomotive Works. Twelve of such locomotive engines survive even today. |
The train travels near 46 km to Ooty approximately in five hours. There are five stations between Mettupalayam and Coonoor - Kallar, Adderley, Hill Grove, Runnymede and Kateri – and, at one time, there were five between Coonoor and Ooty too. Through Wellington, Aruvankadu, Ketti, and Lovedale are still functional, Fren Hill, the last one, was closed down a few years ago.
The train, for obvious safety reasons, averages around 10 km/hour and it is the slowest in India.
Built in the late 19th century, the track rises at a gradient of 1 in 12 and has 208 curves and 13 tunnels.
The train departure from Mettupalayam (Foot of Nilgiris hills) at 7.45 am and reaches Ooty at noon.
You must enjoy this journey. Awesome views of great blue mountain hills. You will love it.
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