BBC Four - Indian Hill Railways (Episode 2/3) - The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (IRFCA)

from the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiri 's in the south for a century little trains have climbed through the clouds into the world of the indian hill railways this is one of the last coal powered steam railways in the world every day the Nilgiri Mountain Railway carries passengers into the Blue Hills of South India this is his centenary year this line is powered not just by steel but by love and devotion as well many classic many beauties is electric we're a beauty but just as the other I love the stream you have all my family when I first came here this is a different world here small trends and their people have only the people in art nihari time is not a factor any key transfer go to item purchased alum at Raymond Ohana in the poetics feeling free Becca flipper angry in German oh hello I'll apply some despite huge losses coal shortages and monsoon landslides this little railway struggles on fondly known as the toy train it plays a huge part in many lives this is the story of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway the British built this Hill Railway arn others in North India to escape the dust and the heat and the responsibilities of empire the Nilgiri Mountain Railway goes to dagger mandalam in South India more commonly known as booty today the 26 mile journey takes five hours but the line took 17 hard years to build India's Hill railways are engineering marvels now recognized by UNESCO as world heritage railways these tracks are the steepest in all Asia with a gradient of one in 12 this train crosses 250 bridges and runs through 16 tunnels taking tourists from India and across the globe to another world ivenn Baxter is today's guard and he's found his perfect job here in the hills our job is interesting we love our job so thrilling passengers are all happy people come all over the world ivan is one of a shrinking number of mixed-race anglo-indians whom the British favored to operate their railways and working the railway is still a privilege and a way of life of Ivan our ancestors we're British they were visually brought this here the effect the diagonals could do a lot for the regulars my father worked for 33 years but he died in service he did not retire then my brother joined the railways he worked for 30 years I joined the railways I'm no 32 years running now so it's near the century we are in the hundred years blood is in the rain senior loco driver Hassan Sharif grew up watching this line he's a third-generation nilgiri real women PB dunya me Keith Urban is a railway yet Salonika I implore gotta miss another car that if some element the auto breaks meant a sectional mirror Papa Beto feet off a section Mooji be shot III by neck ban ban Chopra well it's shorter but Ranse Mara did not agree but sponsor Melia both expression engine cabaret me codes first one in 12 gray area and the coal-fired engine in the rack and pinion system as it's so steep this railway has a dedicated mountain-climbing third rail pinion wheels under the steam local and carriages bite into the notch track rail and stop the train from slipping back with 5,000 gallons of water and five tons of coal needed daily to make the steam these engines are expensive to run but no diesel is light enough and strong enough to beat steam power on this jungle climb Diesel's is used for the final run into T but this stretch of track is just too stupid before the coming of the railway this jungle was pristine and as this section sees just two trains a day local animals have not been driven away with wildlife and the railway protected by the state animals feel safe here even exploiting railway facilities to their own advantage wild elephants need about 20 gallons of water a day to stay healthy the Train takes on a thousand gallons at each and every station Hillgrove is the main jungle halt and twice a day the train passengers and the animals can find refreshment local bonnet macaque monkeys have long familiarize themselves with the timetable they know the train only stops here for eight minutes so they waste no time filling up on tourist generosity Hillgrove won't see another train for eight hours until then the jungle rediscovers a tranquility that's rare in a country of a billion people the lines so steep that Hasan's train covers just three miles in the course of the next hour then the loco has to fill up again Runnymede is now just a water halt but he used to be a station serving tea pickers local entrepreneur Cana Trajan once it reopened steam trains are his passion Natraj and runs the station buffet in Ooty we're only diesel trains are used so he regularly comes to Runnymede for a steam fix and to get away from it all under the bridge this is the rock if I close my eyes to beat the birds voice and this lush green trees the fruit is natural free charging to body no disturbance no pollution no dust I can feel totally relaxed the Trajan wants Runnymede reopen to share the joy he finds here with some of the two million tourists who holiday in the nilgiris each year but his dream this is beloved steam train running right to the top of the line to tea for the last 15 years the steam train has only run up to the next stop ku door where romantic steam gives way to more prosaic diesel a where jungle peace gives way to the bustle of modern India Coonoor is the midpoint and the heart of the Nilgiri mountain railway the Kuna loco shed is home here these vintage engines are rested refueled and lovingly maintained and this yard is also home to modern diesel engines that run the rest of the way up to UT most of the railways 387 employees livia home is the Kuna railway colony its terraces line the hill above the station the nilgiris are a romance destination ever more popular with honeymooning couples 28 years ago guard Ivan Baxter and his wife Monica were among them so Ivan was delighted to get a second honeymoon when he was transferred to cone or five years ago from the baking hot planes below these temperate Hills are where Ivan and Monica worked out the requirements for a lifetime of wedded bliss you have to sacrifice matters is live if you want to get married you should learn to suffer something you must lose something you can't have both that is the forties what a lady needs from the husband the forties trust but you'd have to touch her talk to a plenty talking and time spend time with her they say marriages are hidden everything so it's God who come by in decibel Ivan's forties of happy marriage quickly produced a daughter Diana who lives on the plains and she is now expecting a baby Ivan's first grandchild but as a responsible train guard Ivan cares as much for his train as his own family and like all railway men he lives in fear of running late his might be the last generation of Anglo Indian railway men but Ivan's happily continuing a tradition of absolute devotion to his job when we do our work then we are serving others we get a great satisfaction long winded he was the computing while the section of duty driver Hasan switches to diesel power these diesel trains are faster than the pre-war steam locos steam may be glorious but it's not cheap the second class fare said at 10 pence so this railway loses a million pounds a year an hour up from Coonoor is the final approach to the hill station that was once Utica moon is now food Agra mandolin and will always be known as booty yuichi is the end of the line it lies over 2,200 metres above sea level trains have arrived here from Coonoor and the plains below for exactly a hundred years bringing visitors to the hill station of their dreams this is a town designed by the Raj to fulfill their longing for a home half a world away colonial Brits adore duty making it a home County in the hills they built institutions that reminded them of home making it feel a little English even today for a privileged few the games of Empire are still played out here the billiard room are the UT club is hallowed on this table the rules of snooker were first laid down and this gentlemen's club is the heart of what was known as snooty UT holiday destination for India's colonial elite former President Viktor day this club historian being snowed UT right it was at one time the only the there the very affluent who could come and afford to to enjoy booty and all that it had to offer they could get away from the natives and be themselves we still jealously guard all the old values and traditions because after all there's history in these walls it is now in everybody's rasp to come and holiday up here you've got these little lodges and hotels which have mushroomed all over the place and a small the whole ambience of booty ìin for something that was and can't be any anymore but booty was a very very beautiful town at one time victor zue tea hasn't entirely disappeared the booty hunt may be the last in Asia but it flourishes even though like their British counterparts Indians are banned from actually hunting but it doesn't stop the club from riding out in full fig every month to enjoy the hills elsewhere today's ot has outgrown its colonial origins Indians have reclaimed it enjoying their newfound economic freedom and the Indian lovers drawn here in their Millions are inspired by a very Indian institution romantic cinema booty is the location for some of India's best love movies for this Bollywood blockbuster the art department has built an entire town on a windswept hillside but no one can recreate the hill railway so the railway takes the opportunity to claw back a little of his losses by renting out their trains with OTO and his toy train immortalized in so many films any traveler can fulfill their cinematic dreams a duty station steam laverna Trajan sees diesel trains come and go from his restaurant window he dreams only of steam trains returning to t he so determined his dream will become reality he paid for a water crane to be installed here just in case but for now the only steam train annuity is nitrogen's good luck charm which typical design weighs between so it is a little baby packet it is made of silver I'm happy to have it with me a recipe Jenny Gregory was posted here 18 months ago and with protective arms like Ivan's around him he's now part of the hill railway family employed as a ticket examiner Jenny includes tourist information for free but Jenny's a long way from his home village on India's southwest coast and he still misses it however he's adapting well to life in the Hills there's something intoxicating about this mountain air in this climate everyone is cool and some are camped under also your walking is also verified is like a romantic dream at Coonoor there's a lunch break and jenny has time to nip home Jenny's still a bachelor although he's been given a colony house big enough for a family he lives alone disorder mechanical life when we are a bachelor means everyday will be fully free it's like a life of bird away from home surrounded by railway families in the colony and honeymooning couples on the train Jenny can sometimes feel isolated sometimes our mood will be changed and we feel loneliness that I think even in the family life also you have to face such moods Sloman well order a glass of coffee displaying were to blame Jenny's always welcoming Ivan and Monica's home over the past year they've become friends on their morning walks to work Ivan often teases Jenny about his solitary life and expose the joys of marriage then how about a relief yeah Wendy's yeah happy day coming a happy day marriage day sure we will come and sing songs why every day is it early when you go for any function not first thing they ask if there is a way where is it children just down from the colony and station is the loco shed what a hundred skilled workers keep the old engines going new parts are forged turned and fitted with precision and skills that are disappearing in the modern world but here those skills are being passed down to a new generation of Indian workers Shivani was posted here by the railways just six months ago she's a trained diesel technician now she's learning to work with steam locos too five squats of math leave them so happy now inaudible squat on the side Rada indicate the battery job category on each popular I children and reading butchers more but Nintendo government job la indica Rica for the but although this is a highly valued job and Siobhan is the first female diesel technician they've ever had here it's a hardship posting Shivani is alone 300 miles from a home and her baby in a palpable not one vehicle ionica one week baby and papa Giovanni's husband and his mother look after the baby while she's in Kuhn or every time we it up from marae in a car not even be one Doron Angela leave early today how could he have a pet animal a Roomba a little overdramatic the opposite of a girl Shivani can only get home to her baby once a fortnight the sacrifice and commitment is typical the railway demands it of their workers and they demanded of themselves up and down the Nilgiri Mountain Railway dedicated workers check every nut bolt and rail daily to keep the line safe and secure section engineer sanjay kumar makes use of a special inspection trolley to reach the remote stretches of track to maintain the track it is less challenging then to reach near the track so to go up to daytime so much energy you will lose that you required minimum one hour to recover you have to become expert to a quick decision this job is good for a younger person up to 40 years this job is good there on top of a century of wear and tear the tracks regularly battered by falling rocks and landslides caused by heavy rain so Sanjay is busy round-the-clock this natural calamities can be a book lien tactics just seven years ago a 200-meter section was washed away overnight it took three months to rebuild every time under cyclonic rain that track is coming under the problem of national calamity suddenly some bridge will collapse you have a challenging task cyclonic rain is forecast for tonight so the railway is on Red Alert the Nilgiri czar always greener more lush and much wetter than the plains but this year the winter cyclones are early and they're bringing the heaviest rain for years it rains for more than a week so far the trains and the tourists are still getting through but this morning there's a problem a boulder is blocking the line is engineer Sanjay's responsibility to deal with it the solution a bag full of dynamite from the stores it is some tough but you have to keep your mind alert you are keeping your mind alert then good there and your luck should favorite.we environment is there proud proud also can feel yes when people is asking where are you working then I am telling that I am seeing engineering section of increment amount and deliver that time I am filling promptness each morning uniqueness there plane is not likely it's the engineers job to maintain the line delaying a train can cost a railway employee his job and that means house and pension too Sanjay's men bore a hole for the explosives it's a race against time blasting first blasting we are doing first blasting heat blasting successful missile posture trainer bad weather won't stop Jenny the ticket examiner planed the happy host in his big house he needs company friends to keep loneliness at bay and like all-male parties can do it gets a little body as the night wears on Jenny enjoys his parties but especially on a cold and wet Coonoor morning he misses karana and his old life by the sea and though he hasn't told his friend Ivan he secretly hopes his days as a bachelor unnumbered rain continues to lash the hills until the nilgiris are soaked through at times like this the fabric of the line is in danger as well as the trains and their passengers the situation is so dangerous Sanjay wants the line to be closed that border can come and national either half also can cut it but it will become dangerous are the one big country new rain was there so wooden sleepers are sinking down the delta pension dutton from 66:1 closing the line on any Indian Railway is a big decision but as things stand with more rain expected Sanjay thinks is the safest option Sanjay and his men and women now have three days to make the lines safe just down from Kunal under a bend on the National Highway is one of the reasons Sanjay's taken such drastic action Affeldt realize right over the track below it a massive Boulder it felt as part of a land slip that undercut the road the bonus got to go but any disturbance could bring the traffic down on Sanjay's men using dynamite might cause a further land slip and damage the precious tribe not able to push this Boulder technically with the help of crowbar say eventually with help from Kuno fire brigade the boulder is round away this would come away from this record it is dangerous play the forecast is improving but to dry out the land and make safe the line the only traffic for three days is pedestrian dry weather and good drainage off the hills sees the line reopen on time after just 72 hours and with trains running again Ivan can share his happiness with the passengers even on his day off but there's an unexpected halt near Hillgrove station the two big beasts of this jungle faced one another down eventually the old bull elephant lets the train pass without a fuss age before beauty this year the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is celebrating an unbroken century of service the high point of the centenary is the Black Beauty competition when experienced judges will pick the finest engine on the line Hassan who's a stickler for detail has been supervising the preparation of his mill Geary erratum loco pre incision capper pure decoration knoweth other good sahaja corporate a thermal engine building or painting or garrovick about the chata black with red border Siobhan is been part of the team working flat out to make Hassan's engine look its best it's not just a look at the engine it's the skill of the driver that the judges are scrutinizing which bodes Eric Duan I have my how discoveries links on different types are my the cottage I just imminent are simply matter will be both sensitive for Hasan victory is sweet being the driver of India's best steam loco is everything he ever wanted Paula Deen martoma of Purim Aram is driving gambeson fulfill Aloha diesel engine is common hot scholar Gujarati Indian this range in River or AC engine driver yeah both another marathon become a stimulant salami Shivani was in Hassan's winning team but instead of celebrating all she wants to do is get home to her baby the Express from Mehta pallium is packed everyone is traveling for the annual Diwali holiday is the Hindu New Year and Shivani is in no mood for pushy men this is the longest shivani's ever been away from her baby and Diwali is the time for families to be together Diane Macedo but in the power button on a tired libido okay I'm moment Savannah's husband always comes to meet her from the Train day or night but with his wife away holding down a full-time job and looking after their baby it's a very stressful life good enough let me stop God for does a BA MA I don't feel the target they're following us we're a little posting balloon or somebody could come down on us and look at my vehicle Shivani will have to work at Coonoor for at least three years until she's eligible for a transfer closer to her family Jenny wants this to be his last Diwali alone even though he hasn't told anyone in Coonoor he's ready to marry and start a family but I know someone be Arianna oh darling Jesus in my heart what have I Ivan's daughter diana is here for the holidays and she's heavily pregnant she won't be able to come to the hills again before the birth this is the last time Ivan and Monica will see her before they become grandparents they can't be with their daughter for the birth so they want the priests blessing before she returns home to the plains you just let me know when your baby is going to be born which date and on I'm so sad that you're leaving has been great really sad duty always comes first for Ivan he manages to snatch a brief goodbye as Diana's train prepares to leave but Monica just couldn't bear to say goodbye so she's accompanying Diana on the Nilgiri railway to the bottom of the line 350 miles away in Kerala Jenny is in his home village church is the only place he's allowed to see his sweetheart Tina without their family's permission and I nobody water get a curling proved you are under Kenyan they around the individual is appalling it to boil too many kid without thinking to go on the inhale it's in the gambit maravilla separation is the norm here unmarried men and women are never allowed to be alone together Jenny and Tina must remain apart until their families agree emerge but after 14 years of love they know they want to be together forever they've asked the priest to see them today to help them correct having allowed the name of them but is it the light and who are the person I dunno Donny Luca potassium or the Polka Indian order calling all on the internal Conda who Bentham I south of my head / / Diana they won't mess me up they do - reloading Oshiro the young woman a la vida a swimsuit and everything with their priest and the church is blessing Jenny and Tina hope that no one will stand in the way of their engagement and sure enough that evening Tina's birthday their match is approved and they could go out alone for the first time being an outing eunuch Americanized little not really how does the placenta act like a lobster I don't know IBM would have believed in the first finger like a darling DNA Jenny and Tina planned to marry in six months by next Diwali they hope to be together in his railway house in Coonoor we want to be happy I'm good become a grandfather that is another big promotion for the biggest promotion my life is it that she's going to become a grandma I'm going to be a grandfather something wonderful by special dispensation a sans winning steam engine is to run up to you tea to celebrate a hundred years since a steam engine first did this run Natraj on has been dreaming of this moment for years I'm so happy and excited because steam engine is coming up - woody means it's the only one sent in the next centenary cannot be helped though it's a black participation is gold the trains arrival in Ooty will signal the fulfillment of another love affair it's unconventional the steam trains are nitrogen's true love is not a machine for me the living beings not able to express my feelings there's no words also a PE we have a PSE way with my girlfriend with the centenary train comes news Indian Railways will pay over five million pounds for four brand-new Indian built engines to replace these vintage locos they'll be steam powered but fueled by oil not cold I feel like a genie but it's Navi so big at 90 years old this prize-winning loco has more than done its bit in service to India and with retirement imminent that Rajan is savoring its presence for one last time but even as the old locos are readied to retire new blood is coming to the line Ivan has already introduced his granddaughter to the old steam train and Jenny and Tina are now happily married and living together in the Kunar railway colony for a century the Nilgiri Mountain Railway have been driven by steam and sustained by love and dedication and as long as this train runs to tea it will continue to win the hearts of all who ride it and we're back in India on Tuesday here on BBC four when Brian Cox travels to Calcutta on his jute journey that's at 8 coming up next tonight though it's a legend series profile of the great Sir John dank with you

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Keywords: IRFCA, Indian Railways, Trains, Railfanning, NDLS, New Delhi, Steam Locomotives, Engines, Locomotive, Shed, Indian, Local, India (Country), Railfan (Hobby), Station, Class, Express, Railroad, Travel, Tourism, Ooty, BBC, News, Nilgiri, Toy Train, Steam, Heritage, ISRS, Indian Steam Railway Society, Best Video, Train Videos, India, Asia, Steam Trains

Id: _-Rfd-D_r88

Length: 59min 1sec (3541 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 20 2016