Nilgiri Mountain Railway
| Mountain Railways of India | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
 |
|
| Location |
Tamil Nadu, India Length: 46 km (29 mi) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv |
| Reference | 944 |
| UNESCO region | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1999 (23rd Session) |
| Extensions | 2005; 2008 |
| Nilgiri Mountain Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908, and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. The railway relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. NMR comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Division.
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" after it satisfied the necessary criteria, thus forcing abandonment of the modernisation plans.
For the past several years diesel locomotives have taken over from steam on the section between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam. Local people and tourists have led a demand for steam locomotives to once again haul this section.
The NMR track is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge and the railway is isolated from other metre gauge lines.
Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient. On this rack section trains are operated by 'X' Class steam rack locomotives manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur in Switzerland.
...
Wikipedia