It’s not easy for a wheelchair bound to board a train and traveling in a mountain railway is
out of dreams but I always wish to visit at least a railway station of the
century old Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Many movies have captured the beauty of
the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and its picture postcard railway stations and smoky
stream engines chugging out of the stations and making journeys through scenic
mountains. Lovedale is a popular location for the climax scene in Tamil hit
film Moonram Pirai. Last time when I visit Nilgiris in April 2017, I was intent
to check any of the railway stations of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and
Lovedale was my prior.
 |
| How appropriate to name alike? I simply Love this place... |
As I took an
unusual road to Ooty, I passed Lovedale before entering the town and found it
wasn’t far away from the town, so we passed without stopped there with a plan
to return later leisure. Making it certain, the cottage we stayed was close to
the Lovedale and opposite to the road leading there from the Ooty-Coonoor main
road. We stayed at a place called Fun City, on the outskirt of Ooty and it is a
place formerly seems to be an amusement park which later turned into property
development and many cottages and homestay keeps emerging out there. Lovedale is
just 6 minute drive from there and it was almost afternoon when we checked the
lovely (Lovedale) railway station.
 |
| Yours truly waiting for his train haha.. |
I had no idea
about the timing of the train’s arrival and passing the station but we learned
only after we reached there that this was the time of the arrival of a diesel
engine with passengers from Ooty. Actually we packed the lunch when moved out
of the homestay and wanted to make to the railway station after having the
lunch, when we already parked at the station parking. It was 1.30 pm and the
station guard told the train will arrive in 10 minutes, so we postponed the
lunch and waited for the train. Meanwhile I took some lovely photos around the
station where we are the only visitors and various aspects of the station attracted
me.
 |
| The pretty blue lovedale railway station |
Lovedale, like
all other Nilgiri railway stations, continue to operate from its original
structure and it shares similar architecture as well. Coonoon being the
junction railway station and Ooty as important and final destination on the
mountain journey comes up with big operation rooms and passenger hub. But
Lovedale is a passing railway station and only local people seems to board on
and off and sometime tourist get down and take some snaps while the train halt
for few minutes there. I actually thought the entire Nilgiri mountain railway
(runs for 46 km) has turned into diesel locomotive but what I really don’t know
was the stream engines are in continuous operation between Mettupalayam and
Coonoor and only further upstream to Ooty (18km) is operated on diesel.
The train
entered the station at 1.50 pm and moved exactly after 2 minutes halt and the
train was fully loaded with passengers. As I was excited taking photos on the
emerging/halted train, the passengers were curious watching me, taking photos
from the wheelchair. When the train enters the platform the station guard exchange
the rings (which looked like a wireless tennis bat) with the driver, which I
Google to know is a “railway signalling process and the ring is a token, a
locomotive driver is required to have or see before entering onto a particular
section of single track”. In the picture above u could see the guards ready to
exchange the rings, but the driver dropped the ring on the platform and took
the ring from the station guard and it’s perhaps due to the speed.
As soon the
train moved out of the station, the guard went up a small platform on the
opposite side and changed the track gear. In short time it started to drizzle
and the entire ambiance turn wonderful and much lovely and I really enjoyed the
moment from the station porch, where I found couple of house sparrows making
way through the portico. Though I hesitate to look into the station master
room, through the open door I able to capture the token instrument placed on
the table along an old telephone. The Nilgiri mountain railway began its
construction in 1886 completed in 1908 with the building of track between
Coonoor and Ooty, where Lovedale is interlinked.
 |
| The old token instrument and dial phone, the wooden ticket counter in booking room & hanging clock from the porch roof of the railway station. |
