The Final Call

The morning passenger from Mettupalayam to Ooty leaves its doors open and a final call to the passengers to board the train for 5 hours of breathtaking and beautiful scenery.

The Final Call
The Final Call

Thats My Crown

The X Series proudly displays its title, “NILGIRI QUEEN” . Oh Yes sure you are !!!.

Thats My Crown
The NILGIRI QUEEN

The Photogenic Beauty

Photographers, amateurs and hobbyists line up to click this Mountain Queen from all angles. Getting a shot with no or little presence of humans by itself is an achievement.

The Photogenic beauty
The Photogenic Beauty

Oil Lit Lamp Post

I do not know what this is, but must be something special as it has a platform and preserved like a king. Will update once I find out what exactly is this one.

Oil Lit Lamp Post ?
Oil Lit Lamp Post ?

Shunting Practice

Mettupalayam decided to play Shunting Practice with the WAP7 which got the blue here. Seen here is the P7 ready to shunt the Blue to the yard for cleaning and maintenance .

WAP7 Shunting
Shunting Practice

Final Checks

As the dawn breaks, all checked and ready to reverse and get coupled to the NMR toy train for an enjoyable ride in the Nilgiris.

Final Checks
Final Checks

Freshening Up

The Nilgiri Special Queen performing her morning duties preparing for an arduous climb in a while.

Freshening Up
Freshening Up

Red Leads Blue

Around 2, our connection to Mettupalayam, The Nilgiri express, popularly called as Blue arrived at Salem with a red beast at its helm.

Red Leads Blue
Red Leads Blue

The Wait

It was around 00:30 when we reached Salem and our connection was around 2 AM in the morning. We had some time to kill and a stomach to fill. The lonely unnamed rake composition demanded our attention which it duly received.

The Wait
The Wait

The Legend

We waited for close to 15 minutes until we could see the distant headlights and high pitched whine of the Legendary TVC mail and it overtook us in a hurry. The very fact that we had to wait close to 15 mins for this overtake vouches for the thrilling run upto Tirupattur.

Here comes the Legend
A Legendary Overtake