😍Exploring the 'BETA QUEEN" from my Hometown | NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY | UNESCO World Heritage Site скачать в хорошем качестве

😍Exploring the 'BETA QUEEN" from my Hometown | NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY | UNESCO World Heritage Site

♻Subscribe my channel if you love Trains♻ HISTORY : The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908.[1] The railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India. The railway relies on its fleet of steam locomotives.NMR switched to diesel locomotives on the section between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam. Local people and visitors led a campaign to return to steam locomotives in this section. In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.The site then became known as Mountain Railways of India. 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.[6] 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 Udagmandalam. These extensions from Coonoor on the same gauge over a distance of 11 3⁄4 miles (18.91 km) were done at a cost of Rs. 24,40,000/-. Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient. The NMR is the only rack railway in India. ROLLING STOCK : NMR uses 'X' Class steam rack locomotives, 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 six to eight decades old. These locomotives give NMR a distinct charm, taking scores of passengers to Coonoor and Udhagamandalam, crossing 45.8 kilometres (28 mi), 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. 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 : The uphill journey takes around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours). It has the steepest track in Asia with a maximum gradient of 8.33%.[3] As of 2007, a daily train crosses the rack section, which starts from Mettupalayam at 07:10 and reaches Udhagamandalam at noon. The return train starts from Udhagamandalam at 14:00, and reaches at 17:35. The train is scheduled to connect to the Nilgiri Express, which travels from Mettupalayam to Chennai via Coimbatore. A summer special service runs in April and May, starting from Mettupalayam at 09:30 (AM) and from Udhagamandalam at 12:15 (PM). Between Coonoor and Udagamandalam, four daily trains run each way. VISTADOME COACHES FOR NMR : Vistadome coaches have been designed to provide panoramic view to the passengers while enhancing their travelling comfort on these routes. These coaches have large windows on the sides and glass panels on the roof to provide better viewing experience. 2 Vistadome coaches (one AC and one Non-AC coach) made by Central Workshop - Golden Rock of Southern Railway. These coaches will be shortly used on the Nilgiris Mountain Railway section between Mettuppalayam and Udhagamandalam. The salient features of the above VISTADOME coaches are: Vistadome roof, provision of AC with cooling/heating facility, reclining UDAY type seats, stainless steel floor level luggage rack, Aesthetic vinyl wrapping inside and exterior of the coaches., renewed flooring and LED lights. Earlier, GOC workshop carried out upgradation in two Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) coaches with similar special features which were widely appreciated by the passengers. Thank you for watching Like ,comment share and Subscribe!!!! stay tuned for more updates ©Gibbson M #Indianrailways #Southernrailways #Nilgirimountainrailway #SteamEngine #Ootyengine #WorldHeritagesite #UNESCO #Bluemountain #Nilgiriexpress