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Target: £10,000.00
Raised so far: £3,841.12
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My story

 

OUR BLOG NOW UP AND RUNNING:       http://chasingtrainchallenge.blogspot.com/

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. The Railway Children charity works in India, the UK, East Africa, Russia and Latin America, and has been reaching out to street children around the world for more than a decade.

Their primary aim as an organisation is to change the lives of children living on the streets. They make a real difference to vulnerable children every day.

We are a bunch of like minded, and quite probably mad, individuals who are travelling all the way to West Bengal so we can chase a train 90km up a mountain!! Going to take us 2 days to get there!! Theresa is probably the most sane as she is travelling on the mountain railway, the hare so to speak. Nick, Philippa, Richard, Patricia and Frances are going to run in relay, and Paul and Martin are going to cycle all the way. Nick must be the maddest as after his lead leg he is going to carry on running and complete the whole distance over two days.

Your support means a lot to us and will help Railway Children to keep on their great work.

DARJEELING IN A DAY - CHASING THE DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) connects the plains of West Bengal at New Jalpaiguri with the hill station of Darjeeling. On the way, it passes the most breathtaking scenery and climbs to a height of 7400 feet at Ghum (the highest station in India and the second highest in the world), from where glimpses of the magnificent Mt. Kanchenjunga are visible on clear days. It runs for a total of 88km through the foothills of the Himalayas and climbs a total of 2,100m. But never mind engineering feats and how long it took to build, feats of endurance and how long it takes to get there is the matter - the chase is on!!! So we plan to chase the railway by foot and on cycles  – to see if they can beat the 7hrs and 15 mins that the trusty steam locomotive takes to haul its narrow gauge carriages up the mountain.

THE CHALLENGE

So the challenge is quite simple really – chase the train up the mountain! And see which really is the quickest way to the top. The plan is to arrange a handicap so the first runner will leave at about 07:00 from New Jalpaiguri on the first leg of the run. The run will be done in a series of legs. Meanwhile the train will depart on its scheduled journey to Darjeeling at 09:00. About 10:00 the cyclists will set off in chase of the train and the runners, they will do the whole route as one leg. So we now have the runners chased by the train, chased by the cyclists.

If we get the handicap right we should see a grandstand finish at Darjeeling station at around 16:15 with the runners, cyclists and train racing into the station.

Theresa will travel on the train for good measure.

And just getting there is a challenge! Overnight plane to Calcutta and then overnight train to New Jalgaipuri, arriving over 30 hours after we leave.....  

Further information

There is some excellent information on the Darjeling Himalayan Railway and the Railway Children Charity, including videos, on the web. The Trainz computer simulation on youtube of part of the route is particularly interesting.

Suggested sites

http://www.dhrs.org/

mms://stream.unesco.org/culture/nhk/DARJEELING_HIMALAYAN_RAILWA.wmv

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway

http://www.railwaychildren.org.uk

 

 

 

 

Martin and team, very well done on your huge challenge, Donation by Peter Anderson 24/11/09  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Well done guys! Donation by Andrea Mayer 21/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Donation by Roger Glenville 18/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Paul, you are a star! Donation by Gail Kent 16/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Richard, well done, back to Trains chasing pedestrians now, Peter Donation by Peter Lawrence 16/11/09  

£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid

All the best Frances - go girl!!! (You must be mad!!!) Take Good Care, Lorraine & George xx Donation by George Burton Architecture & Ecology 11/11/09  

£20.00

You go Paul! Good luck..you're inspirational, if a little bonkers! We're all behind you! Donation by Julia Newbold (3M Health Care) 11/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Good luck Paul From Ron, Dorothy, Peter, Susan, Matthew & Chloe Donation by Susan O'Neill 10/11/09  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Good luck to all the team!! Donation by Diane Hawtin 10/11/09  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Well done to you all, I hope you have a great time on the trip! Donation by Chris Parker 10/11/09  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

I'll be thinking of you often. Enjoy every minute and come home safe and sound!! Donation by Barbara McDonald 10/11/09  

£50.00

Best wishes Fran see you soon x x x Donation by Karen Crawford 09/11/09  

£20.00

Good luck Pip - you're amazing! Love Lucy xxx Donation by Lucinda Roberts 09/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Good Luck Donation by Tony Gower-Jones 09/11/09  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Good luck pipster, Love Vix Donation by Victoria Williams 08/11/09  

£25.00

Go Philippa!!! Great running and enjoy the ride down the mountain xxx Donation by Mike, Fi, Jethro & Finley 07/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Best of luck Philippa!! Kerrie & Mark xx Donation by Kerrie O'Connor 07/11/09  

£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid

GOOD LUCK! An absolutly amazing challenge - You guys are crazy! Thinking of you Pip! Donation by Lorna-B & Steve Williams 06/11/09  

£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid

Great challenge guys, enjoy it! Donation by Pete Broomhead 06/11/09  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Donation by Anonymous 06/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Donation by Mark Allsop 06/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Best of luck Richard Donation by David Hutchison 06/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Hope it goes well Paul, we're thinking of you! Donation by The Bowleys 06/11/09  

£15.00 + £4.23 Gift Aid

Fran good luck on your 'holiday' enjoy the experience, take care and remember what you guys tell us in the gym, no pain no gain! Go Fran! Donation by Howard Matthews 06/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Good luck Patricia!! Donation by Kirsten Wolf 05/11/09  

£60.00

Very best wishes for a wonderful trip Donation by Chris Leighton 05/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Good luck Paul. Hope you have a great time. Donation by Andy Masson 05/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Good luck Fran! Donation by Alison West 05/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

All the best Paul - Go for it fella! Donation by Richard Bimson 05/11/09  

£10.00

Martin and team - best of luck on your mad-cap adventure Donation by andrew lundberg 05/11/09  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid
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* Total raised online: £3,041.12
  Offline donations: £800.00
  Gift Aid plus supplement: £719.55

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