Rail museum gets Swiss made loco

It was in operation in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway section.

A Swiss made steam locomotive will soon become an added attraction at the Rail Museum in the city. The over 50-year-old coal-fired loco was once in operation in the picturesque Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) section, declared a World Heritage Site.

Belonging to the “X-class”, the metre gauge locomotive was declared non-operational after chugging for several years in the hilly terrain and was sent to the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here.

Railway officials said the old loco was being cleaned up without disturbing its heritage look. The old components would be retained after cleaning the loco and its exterior would be given a fresh coat of painting to make it attractive. The metre gauge loco would be kept as an exhibit at the Tiruchi Rail Museum which houses several heritage equipment used by the railways during the colonial era. The officials said the exhibit loco was expected to be ready by January. The Tiruchi rail museum has a rich collection of vintage equipment including old lamps, various types of clocks used in stations, different types of rails and fittings, rare photographs and old gazettes besides railway manuals used during the erstwhile South Indian Railway. A vintage fire fighting vehicle and a toy train are the added attractions in the museum that was thrown open to visitors in February.

Over 27,000 visitors had visited the museum since its opening, officials said adding that the revenue generated was about Rs. 2.45 lakh.