GWR LOCOMOTIVE 0-6-2T NO: 5668 on the Kent and East Sussex Railway

This locomotive, was built at Swindon in 1926 and spent its working life in and around  Cardiff Valley hauling both freight and passenger trains.  Like many others, 5668 ended up sold to Woodham’s  scrap yard at Barry in November 1964 as steam was phased out in favour of diesel.  It languished there, slowly losing parts, until rescued  and moved to the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway in 1987.  A very similar story to that of GWR 4253.

Towards the end of 2012
The kent and East Sussex Railway offered this locomotive as part of a package deal involving a substantial quantity of parts that were required to progress the restoration of 4253.

The agreement was that The 4253 Locomotive Company Limited would undertake the restoration of 5668 but that no work would commence until such time as 4253 had been completed and returned to steam.

At the 2013 AGM, shareholders voted in favour of proceeding with the deal and suggested an appeal be launched to raise funds to pay for the transportation of the loco from Blaenavon to Rolvenden.  In excess of £2.6k was raised and, in late 2013, 5668 was moved to its new home.

Although no restoration work will begin for some years, it is important that the loco does not deteriorate
5668 was moved to Rolvenden yard where it was cleaned up and greased as necessary to provide some protection.
 It has now been carefully sheeted and returned to Wittersham Road siding for storage to await its turn to be bought back to life.

As a result of this deal our railway, the Kent & East Sussex, will be assured that yet another powerful steam locomotive will be added to its fleet in due course to haul passenger trains on the extended line from Tenterden to Robertsbridge

25244 (D7594)Location: Kent & East Sussex Railway Abandoned or disused ? or waiting restoration for 10 years

25244 (D7594)Location: Kent & East Sussex Railway

Current Running Number: -Owned By: Privately ownedStatus: Awaiting restoration

Built: BR Darlington 1964

Train Heat: Boiler (isolated)

Current Livery: - Train Brake: Dual (air & vac)Current Name:Works number DEL174/1961. 

Allocations
D7594 was new to Nottingham (16A) on June 3rd 1964. Further transfers were:
July 1964 to Derby (16C).
January 1965 to Nottingham Division (D16).
March 1967 to London Midland (Midland) Lines.
June 1968 to Longsight (9A).
June 1968 to Manchester Division (D09).
May 1973 to Longsight.

 August 1975 to Eastfield.
January 1982 stored serviceable, then reinstated to Eastfield during the same month.
October 1982 to Longsight.
May 1984 to Cricklewood.
November 1984 to Crewe.
Withdrawn July 28th 1986.
Renumbered October 30th 1973.

TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW !!!!!

Abandoned Railway tunnel - St Michaels Tunnel on the Kent and East Sussex Railway

Comprising a single platform and small corrugated hut, the modest halt at St Michaels was added to the Kent & East Sussex Light Railway in 1912 to serve a small community on the outskirts of Tenterden. Its ticket office - if you could call it that - closed in 1938 and the local infrastructure's decline continued until services were withdrawn on 4th January 1954.

The line was engineered and operated by Colonel H F Stephens. One of his 'bigger' feats was St Michaels Tunnel, located just north of the halt. Opened in 1905 as part of an extension from Tenterden to Headcorn, it is just 31 yards in length and curves to the east on a radius of approximately 30 chains.
The portals are neat, brick-built affairs with a masonry string course and copings. Wing walls extend outwards parallel to the track - the east-side wall at the south end is cracked top to bottom. Horseshoe shaped in profile, the lining comprises four rings of brick and features a single refuge. Timber brackets supported telegraph wires.

Despite 60 years of redundancy, the structure remains in fair condition except for the cracked wing wall and some spalling of the north portal's headwall. The interior has found function as a wood store, used by the householder whose property it stands on.

The engine that brought down a German Bomber , Lydd Station

The engine that brought down a German Bomber , Lydd Station
On 27 November, a train came under attack by two Focke-Wulf 190s. The train, hauled by Southern Railway D3 number 2365 which was just departing from Lydd Town railway station, had its boiler hit. The resulting jet of high pressure steam from the engine hit the plane, causing it to crash-land nearby; the pilot was found dead, but no railway staff or passengers were injured. The two planes had been heading over the coast after a raid on Ashford.

A local newspaper reported that it was the New Romney line’s most famous day when a train brought down an enemy fighter! On 27th November 1942 a train hauled by an ex-LBSCR D3 class locomotive was attacked by a low-flying German fighter aircraft. A cannon shell from the ‘plane burst the D3’s boiler just as the plane flew 20 feet above. The plane crashed, the pilot was killed whilst the train and driver survived! The loco was rebuilt and back in service by 11th March

LYDD TODAY

Kent and East Sussex Railways . Disuesd Station Headcorn

                             Kent and East Sussex Railways . Disuesd Station Headcorn

  

Date opened:	15.5.1905
Location:	On the south side of the existing Headcorn Station
Company on opening:	Kent & East Sussex Railway
Date closed to passengers:	4.1.1954
Date closed completely:	4.1.1954
Company on closing:	British Railways (Southern Region)
Present state:	Unknown
County:	Kent

 (Brief history of the Kent & East Sussex Railway) 

The Rother Valley Railway was proposed in 1896 and was the first line to be built under the 1896 Light Railway Act that permitted lightly constructed lines to be built in rural areas. The line was engineered by Holman Stephens (later Colonel Stephens) who went on to build a number of light railways around the country. The first section between Robertsbridge and Tenterden (later renamed Rolvenden) opened on 2.4.1900. The line was extended to Tenterden Town in 1903 and Headcorn in 1905.

The line was renamed the Kent & East Sussex Railway was initially moderately profitable although the northern section was subsidised by the South Eastern & Chatham Railway. After WW1 there were heavy losses eventually leading to bankruptcy in 1931. The line had remained independent after the 1923 amalgamation and despite loss of revenue with many of its passengers switching to busses it continued to provide a valuable service, especially to the farming community, through the 1930's.

Shortly after final closure a preservation society was formed but it was a further 13 years before trains returned to the line, the main stumbling block being the large number of road crossings. Eventually a compromise was agreed once the Society agreed to drop the section of line between Bodiam and Robertsbridge from the restoration proposal. The Kent & East Sussex Railway Company became a registered charity and work progressed quickly with the first section of restored line opening at Tenterden on 3.2.1974; this was extended to Wittisham Road in 1977, Northiam in 1990 and Bodiam in 2000.

Following a decline in passenger and freight traffic, the KESR between Headcorn and Tenterden was closed to all traffic in 1954. Goods facilities were withdrawn from Headcorn in 1962, and the goods yard became a car park. The SER's original buildings however survived until 1988 when they were swept away by British Rail as part of a modernisation scheme

JAN 2017

STATION PLATFORM