UK NEWS

CAT THAT CLUNG TO TRAIN ON 100 MILE TERROR RIDE

LUCKY ESCAPE: The white and tortoise-shell female was dirty and shaken when she was found

Wednesday November 19,2008

By Doug Watson

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THIS lucky little cat has used all her nine lives on a terrifying 100-mile rail journey clinging to a tiny ledge under a freight train wagon.

Her curiosity led her to climb on as the train was undergoing maintenance at a depot.

Then it began to move and quickly gathered pace and for 100 miles she clung on as the train rattled over the Pennines on its way from Billingham, Teesside, to Carlisle.

She was discovered – covered in dirt and shaking with fright but unharmed – when an engineer peered under the wagon after it stopped in Cumbria.

The female tortoiseshell cat was coaxed out with titbits and taken to an animal sanctuary where staff are hoping to trace her owners on the other side of the country.

Sam Glencross, from freight operator Direct Rail Services, said: “The poor little thing had clearly been there for a long time and it was very shaken. It took a bit of coaxing to get off and we took it into the office.

How she didn’t fall off no one will ever know but she clung on for 100 miles.

Nicky Diebel, The Animals’ Refuge

“Once it was in a normal environment it calmed down a bit but it still took two people to get it into a box to go to the refuge.”

Nicky Diebel, from The Animals’ Refuge, Carlisle, said: “She is a lovely little cat, very friendly but quiet.

“She is obviously someone’s pet but has strayed somewhere she should not have gone.

“She must have got such a shock when the train started moving and she saw the ground rushing past beneath her.

“The only option would have been to hang on and stay on her little ledge. How she didn’t fall off no one will ever know but she clung on for 100 miles.

“After such a frightening trip it would be nice to see a happy ending and send her home – but maybe not by train.”