Ooty: A Swiss made, coal fired steam locomotive on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), a world heritage site, has turned 100 years now. NMR aficionados want the government to organise a function to celebrate the role of the coal-fired, steam locomotive in the genesis of the mountain railway. The heritage steam locomotive No. 37384 is one among the first batches of X-class locomotives built in 1914 though it joined duty in the early 1920s in NMR.
Mr K. Natarajan, founder of the Heritage Steam Chariot Trust (HSCT), an organisation of NMR lovers, said the locomotive is a link between the 20th and the 21th century and carries the story of the mountain railway service in the hills here. “The X-class steam locomotives were specially designed to haul the train on the challenging NMR route which is racked between Mettupalayam and Coonoor,” he said. To commemorate its centenary, the Centre should take steps to organise a function to signify its importance and service in the NMR. Since the recently-inducted, four indigenous, oil-fired steam locomotives are unable to haul more than three coaches, the Swiss made, coal-fired locomotives proved that they are a class apart in NMR service as they haul up to five coaches.
Hence, the Centre should come forward to import such locomotives from Switzerland to commemorate the centenary of this X-class locomotive's manufacture, he said. Mr R. Harbajan Meena, station master at Coonoor, said the heritage steam locomotive, which was built in 1914 in Switzerland, is now being used to haul goods trains on the NMR line.
