Links beyond distance and time: DHRS' impact and contributions

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) is an international group that is dedicated to promoting interest and awareness for the beautiful UNESCO world heritage site of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Based in United Kingdom, with its roots in Darjeeling and Siliguiri, the Society was founded in 1997 by a small group of rail enthusiasts. They now have a membership of over 700 from 21 countries.

Here is an incredible story of how DHRS reunited two long lost friends.

Mrs. Pat Orr (née Batterbury) and Mrs. Gwen Cattermull (née Ellis) were reconciled by the DHRS in 2000 after over 60 years of not knowing what happened to the other.

They were inseparable friends in Kurseong in the 1930s, until Gwen's father, Mr. Bruce Ellis moved the family back to England. They never heard from each other again until they both joined the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.

It was established at the formation of the DHRS, that to secure a future for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Society had to gain the trust and support of those who worked for and lived alongside the DHR.

It was vital that local people believed in what DHRS was trying to achieve and that the well-being of DHR employees and local people was the Society's prime consideration.

Members of the DHRS Education Group have been visiting and supporting local schools since the Society was formed. School children now learn about the DHR and its history, they write songs, poetry and prose about what the railway means to them. They paint pictures and build models. None of this happened 20 years ago.

Seen in the picture is a gathering of children from several local schools in 2008, for a huge DHR Schools Competition.

Despite his busy schedule, the Governor of West Bengal, Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, agreed to attend the finals and the prize giving ceremony and allowed the use the lawn at Raj Bhavan.

Working with the Inner Wheel Club, Darjeeling, such events fit within the DHRS mission statement and continue to do so even today.

In 2003, DHRS funded the restoration of the DHR carriage at the National Rail Museum, in Delhi. The work was carried out to a high standard by local carpenters, thus getting an important job done and providing work.

The work of the DHRS has changed the attitude of the people who live around the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Gone are the negative feelings as people are now proud of their railway and see the potential it has for regeneration. It could be claimed that the railway is the only major tourist attraction in the area.

The DHRS is now firmly embedded into the recent history of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Another role of the Society, is to research and publish books about the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. It involves specialist works that could not, and would not, be done by ordinary publishers.

Without the DHRS, the first ever history of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, ‘Halfway to Heaven’, and the two follow-up volumes, called ‘Iron Sherpa’, by the late Terry Martin, could never have been written.

Written and produced by David Charlesworth GRA, the new Guide Book is the first since the 1920s.

With each sale of the book produced by the DHRS, the money goes towards keeping the railway alive and thriving.

The Society also has access to what is probably the largest and most comprehensive collection of DHR images in the world.

The DHRS continues to produce books to encourage overseas tourists to visit Darjeeling and ride on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway line.

There will be many more books to come, because you just cannot get enough of this fascinating railway line.

The actions of the Society led to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers recognising the DHR for ‘The largest and oldest operational fleet of narrow gauge steam locomotives in the World’.

The Vice Chairman of DHRS, Mr. Paul Whittle, was at the National Rail Museum Delhi, in November 2016, to see the commemorative plaque presented to the Indian Railways.