Nilgiri Mountain Railway X class

what is it?

The X class is a metre gauge 0-8-2RT rack and pinion compound locomotive used by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India. They are used on the 28-kilometre-long (17 mi) section between Coonoor and Mettupalayam, where the line reaches a gradient of 8%. The railway uses the Abt system on these steep sections.

who runs it

Southern RailwaySISouth Indian Railway Company

base stats

• speed 30 km/htop speed
• power 671 kWpower output
• weight 50 tin working order
• built 21made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

• 🎂First built 112 years ago, in 1914.
• 🚗671 kW is about 8 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 8 African elephants (~6 t each).

steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.

spec sheet

built

1914–2022

in service from

1914

number built

21

kind

Steam

traction

steam

origin

🇮🇳 India

builders

Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Golden Rock Railway Workshop

operators

Southern Railway, South Indian Railway Company

top speed

30 km/h

power

671 kW

gauge

1,000 mm metre gauge

wheel arrangement

0-8-2

weight

50 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.