India Railways - Nilgiri Mountain Railway - NMR 2-4-0T rack steam locomotive and train on Kullar Bridge (Beyer Peacock Locomotive Works, Manchester Gorton 3875-7, 3925 / 1897)
Illustration from The Engineer 31 March 1899
THE NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY
This meter gauge line starts from the Mettripalaiyam terminus of the Madras Railway at the foot of the Nilgiri Hills, and, after a gentle slope of about five miles, rises in the next twenty miles to the present terminal station of Coonoor, which is at an elevation of 5613 ft above the sea level, by means of a continuous rack ascent on the Abt system. The mean gradient is about 1 in 14, but the slopes vary a great deal, there being nearly seven miles of 1 in 12, or eight percent; about nine miles consist of curves, and five miles of these curves have a radius of only 328 ft. Through the greater part of the ascent the work is of a very heavy character, the railway clinging to the precipitous side of the same valley by which for many years past the Nilgiris have been ascended by means of an excellent metal road. Coonoor, the terminus, is a thriving European hill station with a native settlement, and adjoining it is the Wellington Cantonment, an important military sanitorium and depot; it is intended to extend the line to Ootacamand, a very large town, and seat of the Madras Government during the hot season, the elevation being 7500 ft
The numerous streams are crossed by steel box girder bridges, designed in accordance with the Government of India's conditions. The only exception is the 100 ft girders of Bhavani Bridge, which were designed for a dead and non-doubled moving load, with a unit stress intensity of 6 tons instead of 9 ton
Pictured above is a train on the Kullar Bridge. The permanent way consists of rails 50 lb. steel, held down by single spiking except at joints, where the outer spikes are double. The sleepers are Pyngadu, a bard wood imported from Burma, which is found to resist the attacks of white ants. The rack is a double plate Abt steel rack, weighing 90 lb. per yard, breaking joint and held by cast iron chairs. There is no rack on the short piece of level at the two intermediate short stations or watering places
The rolling stock at present consists of the following:
Four locomotives, six-wheeled, two pair coupled, having four cylinders each, two for ordinary adhesion, and two for the rack driving. Four first class cars, carrying 27 passengers each; four composite, carrying 11 second-class and 36 third class passengers; also there are sixteen low sided wagons, which carry a paying load of 22 tons each. The engines, manufactured by Messrs. Beyer and Peacock should have been designed with larger heating surface to suit the fuel, which deteriorates from storage in the hot Indian climate. On a gradient of 8 percent, the speed does not exceed four miles per hour, with a train weighing in all 67 tons, or with the engine, about 100 tons, and firing must be carried on skillfully, or there will be a tendency to lose steam.
Great attention has been paid to the brakes and stopping arrangements, a necessary precaution in a mountain line, which is liable to falls of rock in the monsoon season. The whole of the rolling stock is therefore braked in such an efficient manner that an emergency stop with a descending train, at a speed of four miles per hour, was made in 30 ft, and at eight miles per hour in 120 ft. The rack pinions of the engines are powerfully braked by a band, and the engine adhesion wheels are fitted with two ordinary hand brakes. On the descent the driver and his mate have a full view of the road from the footplate of the engine, while the guard and the brakesman equally get a good view on the ascent
India Railways - Nilgiri Mountain Railway - NMR 2-4-0T rack steam locomotive and train on Kullar Bridge (Beyer Peacock Locomotive Works, Manchester Gorton 3875-7, 3925 / 1897)
Illustration from The Engineer 31 March 1899
THE NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY
This meter gauge line starts from the Mettripalaiyam terminus of the Madras Railway at the foot of the Nilgiri Hills, and, after a gentle slope of about five miles, rises in the next twenty miles to the present terminal station of Coonoor, which is at an elevation of 5613 ft above the sea level, by means of a continuous rack ascent on the Abt system. The mean gradient is about 1 in 14, but the slopes vary a great deal, there being nearly seven miles of 1 in 12, or eight percent; about nine miles consist of curves, and five miles of these curves have a radius of only 328 ft. Through the greater part of the ascent the work is of a very heavy character, the railway clinging to the precipitous side of the same valley by which for many years past the Nilgiris have been ascended by means of an excellent metal road. Coonoor, the terminus, is a thriving European hill station with a native settlement, and adjoining it is the Wellington Cantonment, an important military sanitorium and depot; it is intended to extend the line to Ootacamand, a very large town, and seat of the Madras Government during the hot season, the elevation being 7500 ft
The numerous streams are crossed by steel box girder bridges, designed in accordance with the Government of India's conditions. The only exception is the 100 ft girders of Bhavani Bridge, which were designed for a dead and non-doubled moving load, with a unit stress intensity of 6 tons instead of 9 ton
Pictured above is a train on the Kullar Bridge. The permanent way consists of rails 50 lb. steel, held down by single spiking except at joints, where the outer spikes are double. The sleepers are Pyngadu, a bard wood imported from Burma, which is found to resist the attacks of white ants. The rack is a double plate Abt steel rack, weighing 90 lb. per yard, breaking joint and held by cast iron chairs. There is no rack on the short piece of level at the two intermediate short stations or watering places
The rolling stock at present consists of the following:
Four locomotives, six-wheeled, two pair coupled, having four cylinders each, two for ordinary adhesion, and two for the rack driving. Four first class cars, carrying 27 passengers each; four composite, carrying 11 second-class and 36 third class passengers; also there are sixteen low sided wagons, which carry a paying load of 22 tons each. The engines, manufactured by Messrs. Beyer and Peacock should have been designed with larger heating surface to suit the fuel, which deteriorates from storage in the hot Indian climate. On a gradient of 8 percent, the speed does not exceed four miles per hour, with a train weighing in all 67 tons, or with the engine, about 100 tons, and firing must be carried on skillfully, or there will be a tendency to lose steam.
Great attention has been paid to the brakes and stopping arrangements, a necessary precaution in a mountain line, which is liable to falls of rock in the monsoon season. The whole of the rolling stock is therefore braked in such an efficient manner that an emergency stop with a descending train, at a speed of four miles per hour, was made in 30 ft, and at eight miles per hour in 120 ft. The rack pinions of the engines are powerfully braked by a band, and the engine adhesion wheels are fitted with two ordinary hand brakes. On the descent the driver and his mate have a full view of the road from the footplate of the engine, while the guard and the brakesman equally get a good view on the ascent