Toy Railway

Once Ooty had been established as a desirable Hill Station, it was time to improve access by building a railway. As some gradients were steep the Abt Rack and Pinion system was selected, together with a "narrow gauge"; namely 1M or 3 ft 3 3/8 in.) And the 'X' Class steam rack locomotives were procured from Switzerland; but more of that later.

But firstly, some more of those great signs that Ooty provided. All of these are from the Ooty railway station.

Naturally I think that all Engineering staff should have a rest room.

We were booked to travel by rail from Ooty to Coonoor. When the train arrived there was a scramble by local tourists to full all available seats in the carriages. This was closely followed by our trusty 'Mr P' ejecting those who had claimed our reserved seats. This was followed 5 minutes later by a railway employee examining tickets and then ejecting most other occupants from the reserved seat carriage.

The trip from Ooty to Coonoor used a small diesel loco, which is then replaced by one of the few remaining serviceable 'X' class locos for the balance of the trip to Mettupalayam. I wonder how long they will be able to keep these aged locos operating?

On of the many interesting towns we passed thru was Wellington.
The town has a long association with the military and is currently the Regimental Centre for the Madras Regiment and the Indian Army Staff College.

Like Ooty it also has a deep colonial background.

On the outskirts of Coonoor is a large and aged factory establish by British to produce cordite when it appeared as a replacement for gunpowder in the late 19th C.