We awake to the sound of drill commands in the courtyard outside our hotel. "Right Turn!" followed by some admonishment that we couldn't make out, then "Stand at Ease!" and some more admonishment. We can see some figures under the trees but we can't can't make out who they are. We think they may be hotel staff being taken for some early morning drill by the doorman with the scary moustache and top hat. As we leave our hotel in the bus the answer becomes clear; this is Republic Day, and everyone from the Indian Army to the local branch of the Pekinese Dog Appreciation Society is marching on the nearby sports ground for a parade.

For us though today is the highlight of our tour as far as trainspotters are concerned, which is most of us. We're riding the Nilgiri Mountain Railway from Mettupalaiyam to Ooty which is still steam operated for most of the way. If you're not a train spotter, skip the next bit.

Clive - The line is metre-gauge and for the lower half as far as Coonoor is uses a rack-and-pinion system. This section is still entirely operated by X class 0-8-2T coal-fired compounds which have an adhesion engine and a rack engine operated from the same regulator valve. The rack engine can be cut in and out as required. As is usual with this type of system the loco pushes from the downhill end of the train. The main shed and works is at Coonoor, half way along the line. From Coonoor to Ooty the gradients are less steep and it's adhesion only. Nowadays this part of the line is normally diesel operated. The line has six steam and two diesel locos.

Non-train spotters can resume here.

We've chartered our own train, steam-hauled all the way. Most of us pile into the front carriage for an uninterruped view of the line ahead. Footplate rides are available and we all get chatting to the crew.

Clive - There have recently been some derailments on the line. I mention this to one of the staff on the train. "Oh yes" he says, "There's been much friction." "What, rail friction on the curves?" I ask. "Oh no," he replies, "friction between the loco and track engineers as to who is to blame."

The journey up to Coonoor is spectacular, both from a railway point of view and from a scenery point of view. At Coonoor we have a loco change, and it's at this point we realise that our expectations may not be met. It seems that although there's a steam loco ready to take us on to Ooty, the senior official of the day wants the train to go on with diesel, as is the usual practice. He's unwilling to change this unless he gets specific instructions from "higher authority". Of course, being Republic Day there is no higher authority available, and after a considerable delay whilst heated negotiations take place, the train finally continues behind diesel. Despite some disappointment, the onward journey is very pleasant, although not as spectacular as the rack section.

We arrive in Ooty at 5.15, just in time to get a glimpse of the town before we book into the Taj Savoy hotel. Ooty was one of the major British Hill Stations of the Raj, and it's worth including just a few words about the hotel. It was first opened in 1841 as Dawson's Hotel and is one of the oldest buildings in Ooty today. The beams for the main building were dragged all the way up the hill by elephant. It's been the subject of a number of novels, travelogues, magazine and newspaper articles, including a BBC feature called "Snooty Ooty". The accommodation cottages are set out around the main buildings in some lovely gardens, where you can take tea on the lawns and pretend the Empire still exists.

Exhilaration at our arrival in Ooty is dampened by the realisation that because this is Republic Day, everywhere is "dry", and the bar is closed. However Fuzz, our intrepid tour leader, obtains 30 bottles of Kingfisher and a room to drink them in before and after dinner! This went down a treat and so did the beer after a long day.