Nilgiri Mountain Railway - Mettupalayam to Conoor

Date: 2007-05-20
Owner: Zubin J Dotivala
Size: 39 items
Mshed

The Steam loco shed at Metupalayam. Coal is being loaded in the locos. There are three locos 37393,37389 and 37392. The locos are all coal fired. But than why can one see a huge oil tank in the background?

IMG_1054

A close up of the slide valve control gear. There are two cylinders on each side. The upper one runs the pinion and the lower one the wheels. The upper cylinder can rotate the rack even when the loco is stationed on a track without the rack.

IMG_1052

The Mtr guage side of Metupalayam. The other side is BG.

Khalwat

The first stop after Metupalayam is Khallar. The Rack starts just after Khallar. The loco has two water tanks and one of them is being filled at Khallar. The tank on the other side of the loco will be topped up at the next station. The watering stands are

Metupallayam

The Mtr guage side of Metupalayam. The other side is BG.

Water at Khallar

The first stop after Metupalayam is Khallar. The Rack starts just after Khallar. The loco has two water tanks and one of them is being filled at Khallar. The tank on the other side of the loco will be topped up at the next station. The watering stands are

Khallar Starter and home

The Starter and the home share the same signal post at almost all the stations.

welcome

"The Nilgiri Mountain railway welcomes you " Discarded racks at Khallar and if you zoom in tje pic you can see the steep gradient.

locpin

The 37393 has two steam cylinders on each side. One turns the wheels while the other one turns the pinion. Before the main run the locos are warmed up by running the pinion on a track without the rack.

Nil

The gradient is one in 12.4 from Metupalaym to coonoor. And one in thirty from Coonoor to Ooty. The Steam pushes from Metupalayam to Coonor and a Bio diesel YDM 4 takes over at coonoor and pushes upto Ooty.

Rack starts after Khallar

The Rack starts just after Khallar. It is clamped / bolted on to the sleepers. The sleepers are of Mild steel. A few wooden ones can be found here and there.

Rack

A close up of the rack. One side has been hammered by the pinion and we can see the "homes". The rack seems to have been cut up from mild steel plates and than machined.

A Gradient after Khallar

1 in 12.4 gradient after Khallar. Plenty od curves on the way and very good scenery too.

37393 smokes and fumes

37393 fuming with steam and smoke puts up tremondous effort to push the train up. The boiler was continuosly fired and stroked all along. Dampers opened for full draft and water injected in the boiler almost all the time. Both the men and machine had to e

Over hang

A over hang. Water was flowing down from it.

Comments
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Dear Zubin,

A few of the locos are coal-fired and a few are oil-fired.

It is understood action is being taken to convert the "coal-fired" locos into "oil-fired" ones which job has been entrusted to GOC.

Dear VSP
Posted by V. Srinavasa Prasad on 2007 May 21 14:07:22 +0100
Brilliant album Zubin. Keep up the good work.
Posted by Siddhartha Ganesh on 2007 May 21 05:42:06 +0100