Nilgiri passenger-The World Heritage

The Nilgiris mountains are on western ghats of south India. This mountain is famous for peaks, valleys and caves. Ooty, also known as the Queen of Hills, is located in this mountain range. One of the very popular tourist place in India. Nilgiri passenger train is the main attraction in Ooty for tourists. While traveling in the mountains, the valleys and caves will be pleasant to see.

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The meter gauge railway built by British from Ooty to Mettupalayam along the mountains connecting three cities and 12 villages passing through many tunnels and bridges.
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO announced the train is one of the world heritage for its uniqueness.

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THE HISTORY...

From the year 1854 onwards, various proposals were mooted to build a mountain railway from Mettupalayam to the Nilgiri Plateau. All the proposals had either a technical or financial problem. One of the early proposals even suggested the use of heavy water carriers to counter the weight of the train on the slope, and another suggested a ropeway in the steeper part of the terra in.

Finally it was a Swiss Engineer named N. Riggenbach who thought of rack rail system at an estimated cost of 1 ,32,000 pounds, which was considered too costly and dropped. Meanwhile, the Madras Railway Company opened the Madras-Coimbatore-Beypoor (Calicut) railway line for traffic in 1862. And in 1873, opened the 26 mile Long Branch line between Podanur and Mettupalayam, which made Mettupalayam the foot hill point for any body going to the hills.

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The train moves on the rack with gear wheels called Rack and pinion system that avoids skid downwards or slide, this system is found only here in Indian Railways.