Any tourist who comes to visit Ooty wants to travel by this train. This train has an interesting history apart from the vintage charm that it exudes. The ?Nilgiris toy train? connects Ooty to Mettupalyam at the foot of the Nilgiris. The Nilgiri Hill railway, blue and cream with wooden coaches and large windows are widely regarded as a marvel of engineering. The first train steamed out in the year 1899 and it boasts of being designed and built by the Swiss locomotive works. The train covers a distance of 46 kms between Mettupalyam and Ooty in four and a half hours. There are five stations between Mettupalyam and Coonor namely Kallar, Adderley, Hill Grove, Runnymede and Kateri. This train averages at 10.4 km per hour and is probably the slowest train in India. It leaves Mettupalyam at 7.45 a.m. and reaches Ooty by 12 noon.
The train must reverse a short distance before climbing up the hills to Ooty. This is for the locomotive to be changed here with diesel traction, normal for all trains to Ooty. Therefore it stops at Conoor, another tourist destination. The Nilgiris toy train leaves from Coonor station at these timings 7:45 a. m. 10:30 a.m. 1.30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. respectively. The fares of the tickets are Rs. 6 for adults and Rs. 4 for children in second class and Rs. 76 for adults in first class.
It takes you one hour 30 minutes to reach Ooty station which is a distance of 16 km by road. The stations you would see are Wellington, Aruvangadu, Ketti and Lovedale. The journey is absolutely delightful and children enjoy it the most. There are many tunnels along the way and one is sure to hear the deafening screams and whistles. If you enjoy taking pictures, keep your camera ready for a few memorable shots of the valley, plains and picturesque landscapes. The train journey may seem painfully slow for people who are used to fast pace of today. But this is indeed an experience of a lifetime!
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