Founder of Railway Children honoured

Colas and Network Rail have honoured the founder of the Railway Children.

A Colas class 66 was named David Maidment OBE at the National Track Plant Exhibition at Long Marston last Thursday.

The event was attended by 219 exhibitors from all areas of the rail industry, many of whom have long been supporters of Railway Children. Exhibitors gave donations on the day, with a total of £8,750 being raised for the charity.

David set up Railway Children in 1996, following an encounter with a young girl begging on a railway station in India. For the past 18 years, he has dedicated his life to raising awareness of the plight of children living alone and at risk on the streets and railway platforms.

To this day, across Railway Children’s geographical reach of India, East Africa and the UK, over 50,000 children are contacted and supported by the charity each year. 

Good effort!

Pendocycle200 from Manchester to Euston

This from the Pendocycle200 Team...

 

Virgin Trains staff at Manchester Piccadilly are organising a charity event in support of The Christie, a specialist cancer centre based in Manchester.

The Christie charity raises money to fund projects which are outside the scope of the NHS. This includes cancer research, new facilities and extra patient services. Howard Newhall, community fund raising officer at The Christie charity, will join Virgin Trains in the activity.

The event, which takes place on 28th June 2013, involves cycling 220miles between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston railway stations. Participants must leave Manchester at 0505 (with the first train to London) and finish their journey in time to catch the last train back to Manchester, at 2200 – giving cyclists a pedalling time of 16 hours 55 minutes to cover the distance. Not easy!

In the run up to the event, the organising team will arrange for items to be auctioned on a dedicated eBay account and all money raised there will go towards the final amount. 
 
For more information on Pendocyle visit: www.pendocycle200.com. To contribute visit: www.justgiving.com/pendocycle200

Oh, Mr Horne, lets have a vada at your entrees!

Possibly the best picture on the internet you will see today!

 

And all in a good cause.

The proceeds from sales of EMT breakfasts today have been donated to the Railway Children's Big Breakfast Appeal.

And to enter into the spirit of the occasion MD David Horne donned his chef's whites and served up the Full English on a Nottingham - St Pancras service.

As Julian and Sandy might say - Bona Mr Horne!

Aslef asks for support for Charity run

This from Alan Moss, National Secretary, ASLEF/Virgin Trains Safety Advisory Committee... 

Could you please take a moment to pass the following Link round those you think may be interested, the auction is in Aid of the The Christie Hospital where the son of one of ASLEF members at Manchester was being treated before he sadly lost his battle a few weeks ago. 

There are a few unique items from Virgin Trains and BAE Systems.

They are all in conjunction with the Tractor Run from John o Groats to Lands End which starts in a week!!

Good effort and good luck to all involved! 

9A goes top to bottom - slowly

It appears that the Fact Compiler has a long lost sibling!

A Mr Methane, aka The Fart Compiler (sic, but very funny) has written to ask...

Can Eye give the lads at 9A a plug?

Especially Virgin drivers: Martin 'Fred' Sullivan, John Young, Alan Moss, Gary Nuttall, Steve Griffin, Craig Brooks and Dave Carter.

Fred Sullivan, and his fellow top link men from Manchester's '9A' Longsight depot (supported by Ian Mead & Dave Massey) are swapping their air-condtioned high speed Bendydildo cabs for the hard, cold, pile enducing, cast iron seat of a cabless 1955 Massey Ferguson tractor, with a top speed of just 15 mph. 

The 9A team plan to drive the tractor from John O'Groats to Lands End starting at 09:00 on 10th Sept 2012.

The 985 mile journey will take 14 days and is in aid of the Young Oncology unit at Christies hospital in South Manchester, where Fred's 19 year old boy, Aaron, is being treated for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. 

You can sponsor The 9A Team by donation or go one further and pay to drive the 1954 vintage support tractor for part of the journey at Top to Bottom Tractor Run.

Good effort!

Smooth man gets hot and bothered, possibly

Eye was amused to receive the following email from Odgers' uber-recruitment guru Tim Hartley.

Well not from him, obviously, but from his PA...

Having been on the Board of Railway Children for nearly 5 years, I am ashamed to admit that I have not yet taken part in the flagship annual fundraising event – the 3 peaks by rail. 

That is, until June of this year, when I will be boarding an especially chartered train with hundreds of other participants to climb the UK’s 3 highest mountains. I am told that the climbs are mentally and physically draining, and to be completed sequentially with very little sleep in between… clearly not an ideal challenge for me! 

Eye bets that at the end of the three days Smooth Tim doesn't even glow!

Either way, all those businesses, quangos and departments of state who have benefitted from Tim's skills may want to divvy up?

Railway Children invitation to Cycle India

This from Eye's friends at the Railway Children...


Cycle India takes place 8th to 17th November 2012.

It’s a 480km bike ride from the Taj Mahal to Jaipur.

On day 1 we’ll take you to visit one of Railway Children’s projects, a fantastic opportunity to see first-hand how your fundraising benefits the children. The next day you will move on to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal where you can explore the monument before your biking challenge begins.

Your bike will take you to more remote locations than most other modes of transport, bringing you in direct contact with the country and its people. Once in Rajasthan the region offers dramatic desert landscape, fantastic wildlife, exquisite forts, bustling cities and rural life that seems frozen in time.

Your ride ends in Rajasthan's capital city, Jaipur.

For more information: phone: 01270 757596 or email: events@railwaychildren.org.uk

East Coast goes MAD for Railway Children

This from John Gelson over at East Coast...

I thought Eye readers might be interested in East Coast's support for the Railway Children's MAD Day - passenger reaction has been fantastic!

Here customer Alistair McKenzie buys a cake at the café-bar counter for the Railway Children charity from (left to right) Customer Service Assistant Jason Armstrong; Head of Catering Mark Tarry; and East Coast Chairman Michael Holden.


Michael said: “We’re delighted at the wonderful support for today’s Railway Children fundraising from our customers and our staff. It’s also been a great opportunity to work alongside some of our fantastic people, and see at first hand their work to help passengers as they travel.

“Together, we’ve raised funds for a very important cause and had a lot of fun at the same time. My thanks go to everyone who has helped with this memorable and enjoyable day.”

Good effort!

Charitably minded readers can donate to the Railway Children here.

UPDATE: This from East Coast...

Train company East Coast is thanking thousands of passengers who helped raise £10,000 in just one day to make a difference to children living on the streets.

Man travels entire FGW network - by choice!

This from Inspector Blakey...

Would you mind giving a plug to my friend Ollie's charity fundraising tour of the FGW network?


He's aiming to cover the entire system this week whilst raising funds for Save the Children and CHICKS.

If anyone feels able to support this worthy endeavour details can be found here.

Mad but good effort.

Railway Carol Service - 21st December

Gaudete!

This year's Transport Benevolent Fund rail staff carol service takes place on:

Wednesday 21st December at 12:30

at St Mary's Somers Town, Eversholt Street, near Euston Station (NW1 IBN).

All supporters of the railway most welcome.

Meanwhile, for those unable to make it...



Hope to see you on the 21st...

Targetted advertising outside Great Minster House

NR breathes life into the RHC?

Is there no end to the NR Charm Offensive?

Apparently Huggable has embraced the Big Society...

"Railway Heritage Trust awarded funding to 2019

"Network Rail has decided to continue its sponsorship of the Trust at its present level until 31 March 2019...

"In its quarter century of life the Trust has awarded 1,214 grants, worth some £39m. These grants have attracted some £46m of additional funding."

So far so good!

But where does the new, improved, Network Rail stand on the Railway Heritage Committee?

Railway Carol Service - 15th December

Gaudete!

This year's Transport Benevolent Fund rail staff carol service takes place on:

Wednesday 15th December at 12:30

at St Mary's Somers Town, Eversholt Street, near Euston Station (NW1 IBN).

All those on, about, or supporters of the railway most welcome.

Meanwhile, for those unable to make it...



Hope to see you on the 15th...

Big boys toys - the perfect gift

Whilst yesterday's railwaymen pootle about with kettles in their back gardens what should be the plaything of today's thrusting railway exec?

Eye has the perfect Christmas present idea for today's Young Professional!

One careful owner and British technology to boot!

MAGLEV FOR SALE - PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO RAISE MONEY FOR HELP FOR
HEROES/ACORNS AND SHARE WITH OTHERS

You know it makes sense!

UPDATE: This from a Mr Saltaire...

How and why on earth is this not in the National Collection???

This was the world’s first Maglev that was operated commercially, coming as it did from the genius brain of Professor Eric Laithwaite.

A true icon of British invention and worthy of a place in the NRM, let alone its parent, The Science Museum.

UPDATE:This from a Mr Hobbs...

With reference to the Birmingham Maglev, there is already a Birmingham Airport Maglev car in the NRM collection.

UPDATE: This from The Captain...

Birmingham MagLev did not come from the brain of Prof Laithwaite.

The only part of the system associated with the Prof's work was the linear motor propulsion.

The really clever stuff, including combining surrogate primary and secondary suspension characteristics in the microprocessor controlled lift magnets, was the result of a development programme by British Rail Research, which culminated in a working demonstrator...

This was commercialised for the Birmingham Airport MagLev by GEC and Brush.

Enough about moving things that don't involve contact with a running rail. T'is unnatural and probably the devils work. Ed

Senior railway managers told to take a hike

This from the soi disant 'veteran' observer...

Eight days on a mountain versus a lifetime on the streets

As you read this an intrepid group of 25 railway men and women are beginning their ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Railway Children.

All those participating have paid for the cost of this trip themselves so any sponsorship money they raise will go direct to the charity.

The climbers are:

Tim Brawn, Robbie Burns, Dan Cole, Dyan Crowther, Samantha Davis, Jerry England, David and Jo Franks, Steve Frost, Peter Hobbs, Michael Holden, Sarah Kendall, Arthur Leithley, Arith Liyanage, Sean Maserson, Richard Molloy, Darran Moss, Mac Motraghi, Adam O'Connor, Alan Ross, Anthony Smith, David Taylor, James Vickers, Paul Watson and Mark Wilson.

Many of you will already have sponsored the individuals undertaking this arduous hike.

If you haven't made a donation yet and would still like to there is a Virgin Money Giving page where you can sponsor all the participants as a group.

Thank you.

Please consider doing so - it's for a very worthwhile cause. Donations can be made here.

Wolmar airbrushed from Manchester - Shocker

Oh how the mighty have fallen!

The Fact Compiler has received this plaintive email from Wolmar:

Please can you put this on your website:

Engines of war: Launch lecture for the Railway Children

I am giving a lecture on behalf of the University of Aberdeen at the German Gymnasium on September 28th on my new book, Engines of War, how wars were won and lost on the railways.

The drinks at the lecture are being kindly sponsored by Bircham Dyson Bell and all profits will go to the Railway Children.

Doors open 6 for 6 30pm

There are only a limited number of tickets available at £15 each which includes £5 discount on the purchase of the book and you can be sure of a place now by clicking here:

So what, I hear you say, nothing new in Wolmar rattling the Railway Children collection plate.

Indeed so.

But surely it can't have escaped Comrade Wolmar's notice that his lecture is taking place in London at the very same time that the Labour Party Conference will be in full flow almost 200 miles away!

Eye suspects that with Lord Adonis now a mere backwoodsman none of the Smelly Socks can be bothered to sign off Wolmar's delegate pass...

Three Peaks Challenge by Rail

This from a Mr Houghton...

Dear Fact Compiler

Would you be willing to mention that Railway Vehicle Engineering Limited participated in the Three Peaks Challenge by Rail this weekend (24th - 26th June).

Hopefully the following vaguely humourous picture of our team scaling the heights might amuse your readers:


If any of your readers feel generous then donations can still be made here.

Eye is happy to support the Railway Children - if you haven't yet please do donate. Any more teams want a mention?

Bid for a Class 57 cabride

This just in from Tony Miles...


My good friend Charlie Hulme who runs the North Wales Coast website - one of the oldest and the best - has been given the chance to auction a cab ride in a Virgin 57/3 whilst it tows a Pendolino along the N Wales coast line in aid of Virgin's charity (with free first class tickets from anywhere on the VT network to join the train).

Any chance you can copy his posting onto Railway Eye?

No sooner said than done!

Here is Charlie's original email:

In connection with Virgin's support for the London Marathon and the CLIC Sargent childrens' cancer charity, Virgin Trains have asked me to organise bidding for a ride for two with the Driver of the Class 57/3 which hauls a Pendolino on Saturdays between Crewe and Holyhead (One of their team of drivers will be running the marathon).

A first class return ticket from any Virgin Trains-served station is included, and you can bid for either the 'down' or 'up' runs.

For info about the offer and how to bid, please CLICK HERE

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Let's hope the winner doesn't try to use Virgin's T-Mobile WiFi to update the world with their progress.

Wanted - industry teams for Three Peaks Challenge

This from the Railway Children...

The search is on for people in the rail industry to take part in a unique challenge.

Railway Children, a charity helping children living on the streets, is looking to recruit 50 teams of four people to take part in a mountain expedition.

It involves climbing the three highest peaks in England, Wales and Scotland – travelling between the mountains on a special train.


The aim is for each team to raise a total of £3,500 for the charity – to fund outreach projects with street children in the UK, India and Africa.

To enter a team of four in the June Three Peaks Challenge in aid of Railway Children, please call Katie on 01270 757 596 or email Katie.mason@railwaychildren.org.uk

Take a look at the website for more information – www.railwaychildren.org.uk/events

In between the tinsel, mince pies and frivolity...

...please spare a thought for those whose Christmas will be less than festive.




Help the Railway Children reach out to a child on our streets this Christmas by making a donation today.

www.railwaychildren.org.uk/donate