The Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge

I understand why the 'internet media event' appeals, even if it isn't my cup of tea.

An idea struck me today, but it would likely add 4-5 days to the trip, would need someone in Mumbai to help organise it, and in general, it has DISASTER written all over it.

Hire a railway carriage* and take a group of Mumbai railway children on the tour.

This would create great interest, but if my GF allowed me to bet, I'd say we've got about a 50/1 chance of arriving back in Mumbai with all the kids still onboard the train.

You could take kids from all the countries the charity helps, this would really be interesting, but would it be using the kids as a kind of marketing tool?

*The carriage can be attached to certain trains, I've researched this in the past.

Can you send me a private message and tell me the corporate sponsor you have in mind.

You dont do things in halves do you Steven.
I havent re-established contact with railway children yet, I'm about to do that, I just wanted to get some traction before shooting my bolt again (I got all worked up last time then bottled it).
We'd probably be best doing the kids in relay, they'd be going bonkers at the end of it, let them do 3 days at a time.
This has got TV involvement written all over it though. I just havent a clue what the logistics are, they sound epic. Just organising the carriage sounds complex enough, and of course someone has to work out how to get the kids to/from our points, we'd probably have to do more big cities to make that feasible.

Taking children along may prove to be too difficult logistically, emotionally and financially (I dread to think of the insurance cost), and although I'm a little clued up about everyday life in non-tourist India, I've not got enough knowledge to be able to understand the problems these kids face and offer anything useful to them, also, a much more selfish point, I don't know if I've got the emotional strength to be able to just say goodbye and get on with my life, yet because of my finances, it would have to be that way.

Re washing yourselves and clothes - are you allowed time on the railway stations? Are you allowed to visit the places you arrive and depart from?If only allowed on station, then many have retiring rooms with bathrooms where the clothes and self could be washed. If you are travelling sleeper class, I guess you could hang them from the windows to dry.

Having had my breakfast now, yes, I think it's a bit too much to actually have them on the train. But, if we get the fund raising side of things to fly, expect a few tear jerkers along the way.

railway retiring rooms would be the more honourable way of operating I suppose, but my limited experience of them is that they are really girls only, the boys ones dont really work.
We've several over nighters, at Jammu, Ledo and the cape. I'll be heading for a hotel room at those (not sure what there is at Ledo though). We've also, in theory, got several hours at Jamnagar, Moradabad and Chennai. If there isnt somewhere proper to lie down I'll be hitting the nearest hotel outside the station.

Railway retiring rooms.......I usually try about 5 or 6 times on each trip to get one of those, so at least 30 attempts in various citties at different times of the day.

I've NEVER found one available yet.

There's a guesthouse at Tippong Colliery.

Oh my God... I must be dreaming!

As an Indian Railways addicted, after having spent hours and days in the last five years planning and re-planning itineraries on Indian trains (though I've really done only few of them), lurking on Indiamike several months after my last message, here is a thread in which all my most extreme dreams seem to realize...

I don't know if I will be able to materially join the group of you crazy guys, but I will do everything to make it possible! And if you will do the thing in 2011 it would be really much more realistic for me, since I've recently received a visit of a very special guest (very, very young) who will need my presence at home at least for the next year...

But even if I will not jump on your trains, I surely can give my small contribution to build the best possible travel plan. Maybe I will do the trip one day, together with my new guest!

Thanks Mark for having launched this idea!

Buon Giorno Gianni,
Yes I think you are going to be out of action for some time. I had to scrap this plan 4 years ago after just a couple of sketches because I still had a 4 and a 7 year old. I get to do (old) boys outings for a week or even 2 sometimes, but 3 going on 4 was pushing it too much. With baby duties to consider you can just forget it.
Please feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions. One part of the plan is to make an active blog during the trip so you can be in Rome and various parts of India all at once.

Just had this excellent posting about the ferry at Dibrugarh from Mohan on IRFCA
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/grou...message/228557

I'm keener than ever to do this bit clockwise now after reading that.

Just a thought

Panvel 05:15, Trivandrum 05:30ish the next morning (times change in November)

TVC 09:45, CAPE 12:15
CAPE 17:15, MS 06:45 (FC)

Tu & W MAS 09:55, Rangiya 06:10 (2 mornings later)

Rangiya-murkong Selek-Dibrugarh-Ledo & Tippong – Tinsukia

M + F Tinsukia 21:20, Moradabad 10:45 (2 mornings later)

Moradabad 17:10, Jammu 08:20 then up to Udhampur and back.

Jammu 07:30, Ahmedabad 15:30 the following day

ADI 20:10, Porbandar (birthplace of Ghandi) 06:15

Then bus to Dwarka

Dwarka 13:03, Mumbai Central 07:15

That's as far as I've got as time is short, so not really had time to see if all the non-daily trains fit in.

I was wondering if we'd get an anti clockwise go. Didnt know Porbander was Ghandi's POB, that's just got promoted in importance.

I make that, leave Monday
2432 Trivandrum Rajdhani (mon wed thu)
Panvel 05:15
TVC 09:30 +1

Tuesday
6381 Kanykumari Express (any)
TVC 09:45
CAPE 12:15

2634 Kanyukumari express (how many are there ?)(any)
CAPE 17:15
Egmore 07:55 +1

Wednesday

2507 Guwahati Express (wed)
MAS 09:55
RNY 06:10

Friday

5813 Arunanchal
RNY 19:15
MZS 09:00

Saturday

ferry (better be later than Mohan reckons)
dibrigarh 16:15
Ledo 19:45
(I just foind out indirailinfo.org doesnt have the locals)
Sunday

ledo 15:45
TSK 17:19

oops. wrong day. i guess we spend a day at tippong

2435 Dibrugarh Rajdhani (mon fri)
Tinsukia 21:20
Moradabad 10:45

Wednesday ? (I've lost count)

3151 Jamu Tawi express (any)
MB 17:20
JAT 08:20

Thursday
ushampur and back, sleep

Friday
9224 jammu Ahmedebad Expess (any)
JAT 07:30
ADI 15:30

Saturday
9215 Saurashtra (any)
ADI 20:10
PBR 06:15

Sunday
9006 Saurashtra (any)
DWK 13:03
BCT 07:15
Monday

the chennai link is stupid close, but the rest at first glance are super safe.

Consider me in. This may prove to be the most fascinating stretch of lunacy on some of the world's most interesting stretches of rail. Unmissable.

Hello Andrew and welcome to indiamike.

The last day of the Monsoon timetable is 31st October, then the arrival time will change to somewhere between 5 and 5:30, it's a reliable train, and hopefully we can have breakfast (and great coffee) in the wonderful leaning tower of pisa lookalike India Coffee House restaurant across the road from the station.

The train gets to Egmore at 06:45, and egmore is not far from MAS, 30 minutes would be tight, but doable.

What price would you pay to have 11 hours in Varanasi on the way?

How about a 01:00 arrival in Mughal Sarai?

If we get the Rajdhani the day before (moving everything after Ledo 1 day forward) we'd get to Mughal Sarai at 01:00, then...

Train 2355 (Tu & Sa) departs Varanasi at 11:36 and gets to Jammu the following day at 09:55, only 90 minutes later (but a day earlier) than the previous plan, it also means getting back to Mumbai on the Sunday and keeping the whole trip to less than 2 weeks.

OK b/c if it arrives at 9:30 in TVC and we have to get on 6381 to Kanyakumari at 9:45, same station, that's just too close. Even better for me and participants from Delhi: 2432 starts from Hazrat nizamuddin station

Don't want to spoil the fun but think a couple of 'buffer' days should be foreseen, else we're totally screwed if a train somewhere has a catastrophic (e.g. 4-7 hours or longer) delay as occasionally happens. I'd hate to spend half a day rebooking 20 tickets. This would also give us the opportunity to hire a couple of rooms somewhere and take a shower/wash our kit. After 4 days on trains we won't smell like fresh roses.

Steven, you've done most km on indian trains here, what's your take on this? I've found that usually a train departs on time but delays are cumulative and rarely catched-up, which is why I try to take trains originating at the station where I get on.