The cover page of the book to be brought out by the support group. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Nov. 15: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway India Support Group, based in London, will soon be coming out with a colour-me book to spread awareness among children about the heritage railway.

Vivek Baid, the coordinator of an NGO working to preserve and promote the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), said the concepts and designs in the book are by Peter Tiller and his wife Marilyn Metz, both members of the support group.

“It is a highly interactive fun-filled colour-me book,” Baid said. “There are drawings of the DHR, its engines and various other sights associated with the toy train, for the children to fill up with colours. Interesting notes and anecdotes accompany the pictures.”

The Batasia loop, the B-class locomotives, Darjeeling tea brewing in a pot and the DHR logo are some of the features associated with the toy train that figure in the book.

In order to allow the child to exercise his/her creativity, the pictures are left incomplete at places. For example, the pictures do not have passengers on the train and the children have been instructed to draw them on the blank windows.

Baid said the books would be distributed free to schoolchildren during the DHR-camps that the support group often organises.

“We also intend to sell them for a price not just in India but abroad as well,” he added. The proceeds of the sales would go for the welfare of children residing along the DHR tracks.

Apart from the book, the London-based body will also come with I-Spy booklets on the Darjeeling station. “The booklet will help children recognise the various articles at the station,” Baid said.

The books would be printed by the end of December, he added.