Tracing the roots of the railway….
It was in 1602 when Jacome Ferrieri, a Syrian Christian priest first stumbled upon the wild forest areas of the Nilgiri Mountains.It was the first time that the beauty of the blue mountains was discovered by the outside world. But the tiresome climb to the mountains prevented people from visiting it till mid 1800s. It was left to the then District Engineer of Nilgiris, Mr.J.L.L.Morrant, to conceptualise a mountain Railway.
It was in 1854 when proposals were first mooted by the British to build a railway up the hills from Mettupalayam. After several proposals and attempts by various companies to start the line, it was finally left to M.Riggenback, the Swiss inventor of the Rigi system, who gave final shape to Nilgiri Mountain Railway in 1880s. Work on the Mettupalayam – Coonoor line started in 1891. By the time the section from Mettupalayam to Coonoor was officially opened by the Governor of Madras on August 11, 1898, the line had already changed hands thrice, each time a new company being formed due to the liquidation of the earlier one. The Mettupalaiyam – Coonoor section was thrown open to public traffic on June 15, 1899 and on January 1, 1903 the line was taken over by the Indian Government. The Coonoor – Fernhill section was opened on 15-9-1908, and the Coonoor - Ooty section was opened on 15-10-1908.
Geography of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway line
Situated between 8° 5' North and 13° 35' North and between 76° 15' East and 80° 20' East, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 45.88 km stretch from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam. Udagamandalam which is also known as Ooty is at an elevation of 2200 metres above Mean Sea Level. Coonoor which is between Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam, is 6000 feet above the Sea at the South East Corner of the Nilgiri Plateau, and at the head of the principal pass from the plains. The 45.88 km long Railway line from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam lies partly in Coimbatore District and partly in Nilgiri District of Tamil Nadu, on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. The line passes through eight stations namely Mettupalayam, Hillgrove, Coonnor, Wellington, Aravankadu, Ketti, Lovedale and Udagamandalam.