Nilgiri Blue Mountain train to the Hill Station of Ooty -- the oldest railroad (planned: 1854; finished: 1899) and the only steam-powered engines still operating in South India. It uses a combination of narrow gauge track (less excavation along the mountains and smaller tunnels -- 16 of them) and cog wheels on very steep grades (1:23) to climb from 330 meters above sea level to 2,637 meters. It was organized by the British to take tea from the highland to market.

The one-way trip starts in Mettupalayam and ends 8 hours later in Ooty -- a total of only 46 kilometers!