Coorg Forest Tramway and Railway Survey

Coorg Forest Tramway and Railway Survey

Coorg is a district in Karnataka, later became known as Kodagu, meaning ‘dense forest on a steep hill’ and is a densly forested hill station at the southern end of the Western Ghats in Karnataka .

Coorg Forest Tramway

A 2ft/610mm narrow gauge(NG) forest tramway, with a length of 12 miles(19km)from Sollekolli Platform to Kunnoth, was constructed by the Madras Presidency Public Works Department between 1918 and 1923. An additional 2 miles(3.2km) of pole tramway was used in the forests for extraction to the main tramway. The records show the supply in 1920 of a locomotive and rail for a tramway extension from Makut to Kannotte. Damage occurred to the track in 1923 and 1924, the line was repaired but there is no evidence that the line was ever used for the serious extraction of timber after this date. In 1932 it was reported that all tramway materials had been removed .

Coorg Forest Railway Survey

The Railway Board authorised in 1920 a survey to be carried out by Major E P Anderson R.E. , an Engineer from State Railways and known as the ‘Coorg Forest Railway Reconnaissance Survey ‘ .

The proposal was for a line from ‘Laldevanhalli along the Latchman Tirtha valley to Sidapur, with a branch from Hebbalenhole to Nagerhole, a total distance of about 50 miles’ .

The project was not taken up and no railway was constructed in this environmentally rich forested area.

References

_