Friday, November 25 2005 15:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Udagamandalam (Tamil Nadu): While rest of the Railways is on a path of modernisation, the century-old Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is striving to maintain its antiquity.

A train comprising four coaches and pushed by a steam engine hardly appears as a 'bold, ingenious engineering solution' as described by the UNESCO, which recently inducted it into the World Heritage Site list.

But the 45.88 km Nilgiri Mountain Railway track, completed in 1908, is the only metre gauge 'Rack and Pinion Mountain Railway' in the world and almost unmatched in ruling gradient.

Climbing the Nilgiris, with a gradient of 1 in 12 between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the NMR negotiates 208 sharp curves, passes through 16 tunnels and crosses 250 bridges, all of which are engineering and masonry marvels.

Running the one of a kind railway, which perhaps provides one of the most romantic and thrilling travelling experiences, has been as much a challenge as building it.

The failure of NMR to make itself sustainable and the passengers preferring to travel on bus from Mettupalayam to Ooty, as it takes much lesser time, has led to demands that the train be 'modernised.'

The NMR, a British legacy, has been incurring a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh daily amounting to Rs 5.5 crore annually and the train takes around 4.5 hours for its journey uphill.

But officials say Heritage Site status given by UNESCO to NMR, a recognition of its 'immense impact on economic and social life' of the region as well as its 'outstanding technological ensemble,' will allow the train to maintain its identity.

"This recognition was long due as the Railway is an example of unique and remarkable engineering. The train is part of our heritage and should be sustained so that the future generations don't lose out on it," says R R Bhandari, member of the Railway Board (Mechanical) who has extensively studied the NMR.

Maintaining antiquity and authenticity of the Railway has been the prime concern of the authorities. Original buildings have been maintained in eight of the 10 stations along the route.

At Hillgrove stations, 3,580 ft above sea level, you can get a glimpse of the original records handled by officials.

"We are using an audit book since 1899, when the NMR started operating. The petty notebook and the brake repair notebook which we are using are from 1940 and 1938 respectively," says C Thaingavel, a station master in his 20's who is now manning the building built in 1910.

Ensuring safety of passengers has also been a formidable task for the NMR. Frequent landslides along the route disrupt the service and the precariously perched bridges make it imperative for workers to carry out thorough security checks but the NMR boasts of almost a spotless safety record.