APR 26, 13 .. THE TOY-TRAIN RIDE FROM OOTY TO COONOOR

Until last Wednesday while I was on-the-tour to the Tea Plantation and to the city of Coonoor .. I had completely forgotten that there is a famous Toy Train that runs between Ooty and Coonoor.

Yesterday I walked to the Ooty Train Station and purchased a ticket for the train today.  I paid 135 Rs Indian or $2.70 US Dollars to get a numbered reserved seat in the first class coach of the train.  The other coaches cost only 5 Rs fare per-person but do not have reserved seats so the passengers jam together pretty uncomfortably.

Here we go.  First let's have a look at the Ooty (UDHAGAMANDALAM) railway station.

A close-up look at the sign above on the far right in English.  I treat this word like I treat German words that consist of several separate words within the same word. UD-HAGA-MAN-DALAM.  It could be a German derivative.

In other places within the railway station .. the above correct and proper name for 'Ooty' is spelled differently! This is not unusual here in India!  Below is the official station sign out by the railway tracks.  The third letter H is missing from the the proper spelling of the name UDHAGAMANDALAM.

The same H missing in the below schedule board.

A closer look below at the above schedule board.

And yet to-the-right of the above schedule board is another schedule board with it spelled cleanly and crisply and correctly!

OK let me take you back outside to The Railway Garden.  So nice!  So touching! Another of my India-is-really-trying examples.

 

Isn't this just beautiful!

 

I wonder if he or if she has a name.

So there we have the beautiful Railway Garden.  Such a garden is usually the inspiration of a single person who presses forward with a dream!

Time to show you the engines that pull the toy train.  The two below photos were snapped in the Coonoor station after we had arrived.

First a real .. honest-to-goodness .. steam engine.  What a treat to see him!

Today my train was pulled by the below more modern diesel engine.  On the left below is the 'back-side' of the steam engine.

Now a look at the coach that I rode in.  I was in the only first-class reserved-seat coach on the train.  I was extremely lucky in that I got the very last seat (number 16) of 16 seats on the first-class coach yesterday morning.

The photo below shows the first-class coach (the one closest to us in the photo) very cleanly.

Below a photo of the first-class coach loading in Ooty.

The first-class coach was at the end-of-the-train.

A little peek-inside.  Four people sat in each seat. Luckily I had the window-seat on the VIEW SIDE of the train!

This was too-funny.  Because of the experience I gained on my bus ride to Coonoor yesterday .. I KNEW that going-to-Coonoor you wanted to be on the right-side of the bus or the train coach.

When I got to the train to board the first-class coach .. seven Indian tourists had already occupied the coach. An elderly senior gentleman was IN my seat number 16 located on (what I thought was going to be) the left side of the coach.  So I politely said to him .. I will take this seat open here on the right side of the coach.  Knowing / Thinking that I was gaining a real advantage.  

When the train pulled out for Coonoor it did NOT go in the direction I thought it was going to go.  So I was on the left side of the coach in seat 13.  At that point I 'pulled-rank' and asked the senior gentleman IF I could have my numbered seat 16.  He smiled and moved out of my seat.

And below are some views that I photographed on-the-way to Coonoor.  We start-out with a view of a tea plantation.

      

The train left Ooty at 9:15AM sharp and arived into Coonoor on-time at 10:15AM.

 

The crowd waiting to return to Ooty after we leave the train.

 

The train appeared to have been filled-to-capacity.

 

The below engine is on-view outside of the Coonoor Station.

 

And we will now say good-bye to the Coonoor Station and to our wonderful trip on the toy train!

I feel humble being able to share-with-you a train ride that perhaps most-of-you will never experience!

I feel humble being able to experience it myself!

And I thank my web mistress Gullible for showing-me-the-way .. by her example .. of putting up rather-lengthy posts.  Without her example I don't think I would have the courage to post these really lengthy posts.

So here's a 'tip-of-my-cap' with gratitude to you Gullible .. And always, in all ways, to Patti back home who helps me proof read all of these posts. 

Cap