Nilgiri Mountain Railways is a human Marvel which we decided to capture as one of the last standing Steam hauled sections in India. We covered what we could in one day but returned with a promise to come back again for some more treasure from this Chest
Early morning and we arrived Mettupallayam to be greeted with such a serene setup, a sleepy Meter Gauge cum Broad Gauge station saying Welcome to the Nilgiri Mountain Railways (Trayambak Ojha)
The train immediately set it's course through the dense jungle and as chugging hard and initially our car struggled to keep pace with the rushing train (Trayambak Ojha)
We waited patiently at a small viaduct in the ghats when suddenly it was decided that we explore the area and this beautiful section was appropriate for a shot (Trayambak Ojha)
This small viaduct was located at a beautiful garden and surrounded by Tea Gardens at Hillgrove (Trayambak Ojha)
As we reached Conoor, we were greeted by many YDM4's a stark contrast from the priceless steam locos seen here profile of two parallel locos and one of them gearing to climb the Ghats towards Ooty (Trayambak Ojha)
Steam Locomotives have always had special place in my heart. A Steam loco is reversing back to the platforms from the shed for an MG train headed towards Mettupallayam. An old YDM4 is also behind the rake while the staff is working hard for a smooth oper
After some stomach filling we moved on to Ketti and it is the most tranquil Railway Station I have ever known, this place is perfect for spending a peaceful afternoon (Trayambak Ojha)
As the train towards Ooty Exits Ketti, the serene atmosphere just did not end anywhere and the Semaphores everywhere was treat to watch (Trayambak Ojha)
We rushed quickly towards Wellington station which despite of being right inside the town was away from the chaos and crowd (Trayambak Ojha)
After this again we had a prolonged break for refreshments and then that epic viaduct at Wellington was our target next as the train towards Coonoor from Ooty negotiates the viaduct through the thick vegetation (Trayambak Ojha)
At Coonoor the steam was regearing for the evening service back to Mettupallayam from ooty as the Diesels run only between Coonoor-Ooty (Trayambak Ojha)
So the descent of the train from Conoor to Mettupallayam begins as a minor up-gradient is negotiated gracefully (Trayambak Ojha)
The Hillgrove viaduct from a Bird's eye view (Trayambak Ojha)
We returned to Coonoor for capturing the service back to ooty (Trayambak Ojha)
The layout of Coonoor is unique as the train to Ooty has to reverse at the Yard and the train is pushed up from the rear end by the YDM4 (Trayambak Ojha)