A DAWLISH man travelled 1,027 miles on a sponsored train journey to raise money for a local lad with cancer.

Early in the summer, Dawlish Explorer Scout Richard Cridge was selected to attend the Centenary World Scout Jamboree Camp in Essex next year.

He was also diagnosed with cancer of the leg in the same week. As part of a fundraising campaign for Richard to attend the Jamboree, Group Scout Leader, Eddy Salter, undertook a sponsored 24-hour Railathon.

Earlier this month Mr Salter boarded a train from Dawlish to Exeter to begin his marathon mission. 'I had to wait about 10 minutes for a fast train to London,' he said. 'After arriving in London on time, I caught the Circle line underground train to Euston. I still had another two hours before my overnight sleeper train to Scotland so I decided the train timings were right for me to make a quick dash to Watford Junction and back.

'I arrived back at Euston in plenty of time to catch the sleeper train. In the lounge car was the current Transport Minister. It's nice to see that he uses the train,' he said. Arriving in Edinburgh early the next morning after a good night's sleep, Mr Salter had two options: wait to catch the 8am train to Kings Cross or catch a train across to Glasgow to catch a fast Virgin Pendolino train to Euston. He opted for the latter. Mr Salter continued: 'I was in plenty of time to be able to choose a "prime position" seat on the train before too many were taken.

'It was certainly fast. The average speed between various major stations on the route was from 100 to 110 miles per hour and the overall average speed from Preston to London was 96 miles per hour.' However, even after the high speeds, Mr Salter still arrived at Euston nine minutes late.

Mr Salter now thought his best move was to make his way to Paddington for departure back to Exeter, and perhaps take in a quick return trip to Reading if time allowed.

He did have time to travel to Reading and back to Paddington in time to catch the 4.05pm train back to Exeter. His connecting train at Exeter for Dawlish had travelled from Newcastle and was on time. Mr Salter concluded: 'I was very happy to have undertaken this for Richard.' Around £200 has been raised so far, but more is still to come in. To donate, call 01626 889388.