NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY, TOY TRAIN, NILGIRI MOUNTAIN TRAIN

THE NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY/ TOY TRAIN

    In 1854, plans were made to build a mountain railway from Mettupalayam to the Nilgiri Hills. However, it took the decision-makers 45 years to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and complete the construction. The line was completed and opened for traffic in June 1899. It was operated first by the Madras Railway under an agreement with the government.

The Madras Railway Company continued to manage the railway line on behalf of the government for a long time until the South Indian Railway company purchased it.

In 1907, the railway received four Double Fairlie locomotives to work the line. These were part of a batch built by the Avonside Engine Company in 1879 and 1880 for service in Afghanistan, but had been in store since 1887. The Fairlies continued in use until at least 1914.

Initially, Coonoor was the final station on the line. In September 1908, the line was extended to Fernhill. By 15 October 1908, it was extended to Udhagamandalam. These extensions from Coonoor on the same gauge over a distance of 18.91 km were done at a cost of ₹ 2,440,000.

        NMR uses 'X' Class steam rack locomotives, most manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur in Switzerland, on the rack and pinion section of its tracks. The X Class locomotives are up to eight decades old, but the newest was completed August 2021 at the Golden Rock workshops in India. These locomotives give NMR a distinct charm, taking scores of passengers to Coonoor and Udhagamandalam, crossing 45.8 kilometres ,108 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges.

The steam locomotives can be used on any part of the line, while the diesel locomotives can operate only on the section between Coonoor and Udagamandalam. Each diesel engine weighs a little over 50 tonnes and cost Rs. 10 crore. They have pilot and primary burners. Separate tanks hold about 850 litres of diesel and 2,250 litres of furnace oil. The hauling capacity of this new engine is 97.6 tonnes. It can run at a speed of 30 kilometres per hour on plains and at 15 kilometres  an hour climbing a gradient. The arrival of the new engines eliminated the disruptions in service that occurred frequently.

The steam locomotives are marshalled at the downhill (Mettupalayam) end of the train. The average gradient in this rack section is 1 in 24.5 (4.08%), with a maximum of 1 in 12 (8.33%). Between Coonoor and Udagamandalam, the train is operated by a YDM4 diesel locomotive using conventional rail adhesion principles. On this section, the locomotive is always at the Coonoor end of the train as although the line is not steep enough to need a rack rail, the ruling gradient out of Coonoor is steep at 1 in 25 (4%).

Southern Railway carries out the majority of the locomotive repairs at the Coonoor shed but has rebuilt many of the steam locomotives at the Golden Rock Workshops. Many carriage repairs take place at Mettupalayam. Like the locomotives, major work on the carriages takes place at one of the larger railway workshops.

 

ROUTE OF NILGIRIS TOY TRAIN:

• Ø METTUPALAYAM

• Ø KALLAR

• Ø  ADDERLY

• Ø  HILLGROVE

• Ø  RUNNEYMEDE

• Ø KATERI

• Ø  COONOOR

• Ø WELLINGTON

• Ø ARUVANGADU

• Ø KETTI

• Ø LOVEDALE

• Ø FERN HILL 

• Ø UDHAGAMANDALAM

OOTY TOY TRAIN TIMINGS

TOY TRAIN FROM METTUPALAYAM TO OOTY

Train No / Name	From	Dep	To	Arr	Duration
56136 / Mettupalayam-Ooty MG Passenger	Mettupalayam (MTP)	7:10	Ooty (UAM)	12:00	4h 50m / 46 km

 

TOY TRAIN FROM COONOOR TO OOTY

Train No / Name	From	Dep	To	Arr	Duration
56141 / Coonoor-Udagamandalam MG Passenger	Coonoor (ONR)	7:45	Ooty (UAM)	9:05	1h 20m / 19 km
56136 / Mettupalayam-Ooty MG Passenger	Coonoor (ONR)	10:40	Ooty (UAM)	12:00	1h 20m / 19 km
56143 / Coonoor-Udagamandalam MG Passenger	Coonoor (ONR)	12:35	Ooty (UAM)	13:50	1h 15m / 19 km
56138 / Coonoor-Udagamandalam MG Passenger	Coonoor (ONR)	16:30	Ooty (UAM)	17:45	1h 15m / 19 km

 

TOY TRAIN FOR RETURN JOURNEY

There are multiple toy trains from Ooty to Coonoor & Mettupalayam. As per Nilgiri train time table, the toy train from Ooty leaves at 14:00 hours and reaches Mettupalayam at 17:35 hours. Also there are 3 toy trains daily from Ooty to Coonoor, the first toy train from Ooty leaves at 09:15 hours and reaches Coonoor at 10:25 hours. Below is the list of trains and time table:

TOY TRAIN FROM OOTY TO METTUPALAYAM

Train No / Name	From	Dep	To	Arr	Duration
56137/ Ooty to Mettupalayam MG Passenger	Ooty (UAM)	14:00	Mettupalayam (MTP)	17:35	3h 35m (46 km)

 

TOY TRAIN FROM OOTY TO COONOOR

Train No / Name	From	Dep	To	Arr	Duration
56139/ Udagamandalam-Coonoor MG Passenger	Ooty (UAM)	9:15	Coonoor (ONR)	10:25	1h 10m (19 km)
56142/ Udagamandalam-Coonoor MG Passenger	Ooty (UAM)	12:15	Coonoor (ONR)	13:20	1h 05m (19 km)
56137/ Udagamandalam-Mettupalayam   MG Passenger	Ooty (UAM)	14:00	Coonoor (ONR)	15:05	1h 15m (19 km)
56140/ Udagamandalam-Coonoor MG Passenger	Ooty (UAM)	18:00	Coonoor (ONR)	19:10	1h 10m (19 km)

---

 

TOY TRAIN ROUTE FROM METTUPALAYAM TO OOTY (56136)

Station No.	Station Code	Station Name	Arrives	Departs	Halt	Km
1	MTP	Mettupalayam		7:10		0
2	ONR	Coonoor	10:30	10:40	10m	27.4
3	WEL	Wellington	10:47	10:48	1m	29
4	AVK	Aravankadu	10:59	11:00	1m	31.8
5	KXT	Ketti	11:19	11:20	1m	37.7
6	LOV	Lovedale	11:39	11:40	1m	42.2
7	UAM	Udagamandalam	12:00			46.3