Peninsula tour- Chasing trains in Nilambur

It was a short overnight stay at Nilambur- a small sleepy municipality close to the Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats.  To chase trains and walk in a beautiful teak forest.

The British constructed a metre guage line  to move teak logs from Nilambur to Shornur and from thereon to UK via Kozhikode. This has since been converted to a broad gauge line. Deemed to be one of the most beautiful railway lines of India, it runs past timber forests, dense vegetation and alongside and across rivers during its short journey of about 65 km.

Thick vegetation grows close to the track and extends into the station platforms. The platforms are low and covered by tree canopies and often have columnar roots from neighbouring trees overhanging into the station.

The sight of a train emerging from within the canopy of trees and pulling into and away from the station is simply superb!

Our strategy was to chase trains and be sufficiently ahead to photograph the train as it pulled into or left the station.  We managed this over 3 stations.

The best time of the year to photograph the stations  is probably just after the monsoons in Kerala, when it is green and overgrown and everything looks newly washed. We should have postponed this for later in the year.

Nilambur has also one of the oldest teak plantations in the world and the oldest living teak tree.

Jayant took this pic- us, in one of the forests at Nilambur. :).

There are tall trees that flank a dirt road and the floor of the forest is green and dappled in the sunlight. Teeming with birds, Malabar squirrels and other fauna, it is filled with sounds of bird and animal calls. The only other sound is the rustling of leaves and there is an incredible sense of peace in the forest. Numbered  and neatly arranged logs are in one corner of the forest and further on is a river, beyond which entry is restricted. Plastic is not allowed in the forest and there is not a bit of garbage in sight. The forest guards that we met, are truly proud of their environs and make sure that there is no littering.

I am attaching a short clip of our drive through this forest.

During this peninsula tour, we have driven through many forests. Nothing compares to this one! We have to do this again. We will be back!

Here’s the link to the photographs – https://photos.app.goo.gl/2N95BeWaB6m1RQ9D8