World’s newest steam locomotive set for debut
THE world's newest steam locomotive is now being trialled on southern India's metre-gauge Nilgiri Mountain Railway for imminent entry to passenger service.
The Southern Railway's Golden Rock Railway Workshop recently unveiled the first-ever coal-fired X class 0-8-2T to be built in the country.
Trials for No. X-37400, which is equipped with dynamic, band brake and vacuum brake systems, have been successfully completed at the workshop, and the Ministry of Railways said: “The ‘Black Beauty' will soon be inducted into service in the UNESCO-listed Nilgiri Mountain Railway.”
Rack and pinion
X class locomotives are used on the 17-mile section between Coonoor and Mettupalayam, where the steepest gradient is 1-in-12.5 and where the Abt rack-and-pinion system is used.
They were first acquired to replace the line's original Beyer Peacock 2-4-0T rack locomotives, which were not powerful enough to handle the traffic.
The first batch of 12 X class locomotives was built by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur and delivered between 1914 and 1925, and the second batch of five arrived in 1952. Four more members of the class were built in India between 2011 and 2014, but these were all oil-fired. Golden Rock began work on building one coalfired and one oil-fired X class in 2020, but construction was hampered by Covid-19.
The 29-mile railway from Mettupalayam to Ooty in the Nilgiri Hills is world-famous for its scenic views.