# Ramesh Kumar Velamunda
ThaIt’s been 115 years since a train sprang up from the streams to the heights of the Nilgiris. A century ago, everyone who heard it repeated that it was impossible. But he had no doubt. The man who said my car would run through all this without even a scratch is gone. But now, looking at the blue valley, you must be saying, ‘This is the mountain train I told you about’. The mountain train continues to run undeterred. From the top of Udakamandalam, it is an endless journey, beating time.
An autumn in 1882. Arthur Riggenbach, a Swiss engineer, was invited by British India to Ooty. Udakamandal, the seat of the Madras government, isolated from the outside world, needed a railway. This was the need. It was also a mission to dominate that beautiful country with a climate equal to that of Europe. After this engineer prepared a project for the railway, this mountainside started waiting for the whistle of the train. The Nilgiri Riggy Rail Company was thus established. But the hopes of Nilgiris, stuck in red tapes, took time to bloom again. Railway work resumed in 1891 as part of efforts by Sir Arthur Laily, Baron Wenlock and Beilby Laily. Eight years later, the Mettupalayam-Coonoor road was completed. In 1903, the government took over this line from the company. The road from Coonoor to Udakamandal also became a reality. The Madras Railway Company was in charge at this time. On October 15, 1908, the then Governor of Madras, Sir Arthur Leyley, officially opened the route, and the relentless journeys of the mountain carriage began. Dreams that have been stuck in red tape for forty-five years are finally coming true.
Continue on mathrubhumi.com
