We took a trip to see how the huge development was progressing at Folkestone harbour railway station

Who remembers the good old days a good Sunday Market and a pound to spend in Rotunda funfair ?

And then some seafood. 

Well them days are gone . But now things are starting to look up as a Victorian-style benefactor in the shape of billionaire Sir Roger De Haan, whose charitable trust has helped regenerate the whole town, including a £7m facelift of the Creative Quarter.

Houses planned to be built on Folkestone seafront

A £5m cash injection from Kent’s economic and business champions the South East Local Enterprise Partnership has helped get this seafront project going, but it is otherwise funded purely from the pockets of Sir Roger, who made his fortune through the sale of the Saga group in 2004.Just over two years ago, outline planning consent was granted for up to a thousand residential units, including beach houses, apartments and town houses, with a range of commercial spaces and leisure facilities designed to serve a new community.The scale of the project is huge, with the refurbished Harbour Arm - re-opened last year 

WELL LETS SEE HOW MPS TAKE

The Abandoned Folkestone Harbour Branch Line, Kent

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

 The branch line is now officially closed, and has been since 2014. Passenger trains stopped running on this line in 2001 and then to freight and steam trains in 2009. Up until now, the line is starting to be dismantled as Network Rail concluded it is not going to be worth spending millions to get the line up and running again. The old branch line from the South Eastern Main Line at Folkestone Junction served the port of Folkestone and provided a rail connection for boat trains from London which connected with the ferry services to Calais and Boulogne in France.


 At the start of the video, we see the remains of Warren Road Level Crossing, originally an MCB-CCTV level crossing type. Originally, before wigwags came along, this crossing was an MWG type crossing (Manually Worked Gates) with white swing gates and a red circle in the middle. Luckily, Google Maps still have images of the crossing in 2009 when it had NRS Halogen Bulb Wigwags, very old GWE Barriers with Halogen Barrier Boom Lights and intermittent bells. These were taken out between 2012 and 2014, with a fence put in place. All that remains now are red Trespass notices and beware of the live rail, despite the railway being abandoned with no trains for 5 years

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Following the line south along the A260, we eventually pass a foot crossing. Pedestrians can still cross here but either side of the pathway are the same fences seen at the Warren Road crossing. The road slowly goes downwards and the railway crosses the harbour. A very unique railway swing bridge is placed right beside the old Folkestone Harbour Station and Level Crossing. It looks to be in the process of being restored as its a grade 2 listed building. Some of the photos here do not belong to me (i.e. ones from Google Maps). These images can be found on the Google Maps street view on Warren Road in Folkestone in May 2009. The remains of the Folkestone Harbour Station and Level Crossing can be seen in a different video taken at night to make it more ere, abandoned and old!
were just cutting the video for the station update 

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Booking.com
x

This is a video showing a drive down the abandoned (or more appropriately called "to be dismantled") Folkestone Harbour Branch line from the former Warren Road MCB-CCTV Level Crossing to the end of the branch line at Folkestone Harbour Railway Station. It was recorded in April 2017.

Lydd Town station a forgotten relic

Lydd Town Station a forgotten relic

Lydd station today

The Lydd Railway Company (LRC) obtained authorisation to construct a standard gauge single track line from Appeldore to Dungeness with stops ay Lydd and Brookland . the line opened in December 1881

Dungeness station today 

Many Army trains traveled to Lydd , where a private military railway system had a connection onto the main line

This saw the ''Lydd Military Railway'' come into use, which connected the nearby Army Camp with the branch, via the goods yard. As this connection was southward-facing, as per the goods sidings, a reversal manoeuvre was required to proceed from the Army Camp, to Appledore. The Army Camp did provide an interesting traffic of regiment horses in box vans, these quite often being handled at Lydd station itself.

Following the opening of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in 1927, the extra holiday traffic generated persuaded the Southern Railway (who had taken over the line upon the railway grouping) to realign its branch to New Romney by moving it nearer to the sea and opening two new halts 



 Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea - in 1937. The opening of Lydd-on-Sea Halt led to the renaming of Lydd station as "Lydd Town" to avoid any confusion. 

lydd on sea halt today

The station closed on 6 March 1967 in the face of dwindling passenger traffic and insignificant freight returns, yet the line remained open through Lydd Town as far as a siding near Dungeness for freight traffic to serve the BNFL nuclear power plant at Dungeness.


The future who knows !!
I think it will come down to the outcome of Lydd Airport myself

Booking.com

The video below shows the history of Lydd Station

Initially passenger trains terminated at Lydd. 

The line's promoters hoped that creating a rail link between London and Dungeness would lead to the development of a port from which cross-channel steamers could operate. 

But this grand plan failed to materialise and the branch was left to stagnate. It did though carry some shingle traffic as well as flints for the Potteries .

Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway 10TH April 2017 in Green Service

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Go on a train  - like Laurel and Hardy ?

so i did

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway – the smallest public railway in the world 

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Opened  on July 16 1927, with locomotive Hercules hauling the inaugural train from Hythe to New Romney.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

When first opened to the public the line only covered, in double track, the eight miles between the two small towns.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

But owner Captain Jack Howey soon had his eye on extending the line and in 1928 double tracks carried the trains to Dungeness running close to Greatstone - a ride of 13.5 miles.

The railway operates one-third scale locomotives, both steam and diesel powered – and a fleet of passenger carriages which include mobile bars.

Trains run at around 25 mph, slowing down to negotiate the numerous level crossings and bridges which carry the track across the landscape.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Locomotives are based on classic British and Canadian-Pacific Railroad designs – with the latter being constructed as it was felt the enclosed cabs would give drivers more protection against the rain and wind which occasionally sweeps across the Marsh.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Their names include Dr Syn, the legendary smuggler of the area, and 

Winston Churchill.

Booking.com

Lydd on Sea and Dungeness Station Disused and Abandoned

Although the trackbed from Romney Junction towards New Romney is easily traceable, nothing remains of Lydd-on-Sea Halt today except for a gated concrete approach road from Kerton Road .

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Promoted  by holiday camp development in the area, the Southern Railway decided in 1937 to realign its branch line to New Romney (which had been opened in 1884) closer to the sea and to open two intermediate stations - Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea.

 The opening of Lydd-on-Sea on 4 July 1937 coincided with the closure of Dungeness station to passengers 

it was intended that Lydd-on-Sea, ½-mile from Dungeness, would serve both locations and its running in board read "Lydd-on-Sea (for Dungeness)"

To handle the expected flow of holiday traffic, the station was equipped with a long curved island platform with a passing loop on which was perched a small wooden shed.
The traffic never materialised and the station was downgraded to an unstaffed halt on 20 September 1954 when its passing loop was also lifted.
 As passenger traffic dwindled and freight became insignificant, the New Romney branch fell into decline and was listed for closure in the Beeching Report. In 1966 the Minister of Transport Barbara Castle announced her intention of closing the Appledore to New Romney Branch and passenger services ceased on 6 March 1967.
Today (2017)

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

Booking.com

Forgotten relics of the Rother Valley Railway

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

 Its easy to take for granted the awesome endeavors of 19th Century railway pioneers which thread us through, around or over the nation's natural barriers. It was an age of speculative adventure, built on innovation, will power and elbow grease.

But many magnificent creations were abandoned during the industrial vandalism of the Fifties and Sixties.

today armed with my go pro

and my cannon

we capture these forgotten,abandoned and disused relics

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

    

THIS IS PLASSER & THEURER VKR 05E TAMPER NO. 74108 ‘STORED’ AT WITTERSHAM ROAD ON THE KENT AND EAST SUSSEX RAILWAY

This machine is an early 1960’s Plasser & Theurer VKR 05-E tamper DX74108. Apparently the tamping tines should vibrate with the ideal frequency of exactly 35 Hz. This directional, linear vibration combined with the non-synchronous tine movement produces a homogeneously compacted ballast

I don’t know much more about the machine . Sorry

Anyone else ?

Kent and East Sussex Railway and Rother Valley Railway Extension to Udiam Farm from Bodiam . Watch from the start to March 2017

The Rother Valley Railway, a preservation group set up in 1991

And  by March 2009 they had laid track from Bodiam to within 200 yards (180 m) of the site of Junction Road Halt at a cost of £200,000.

Track was relaid through the site of the halt in June 2010.
On 18 March 2011, a VIP dining special was the first passenger train to traverse the rebuilt line.
The following weekend of 19/20 March saw Kent and East Sussex Railway services run as far as Junction Road

Now planning is agree , take a look at the next stages 

Booking.com

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

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

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.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

  A very similar story to that of GWR 4253.

https://framemeplease19.wixsite.com/trackbedwalker

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.

Folkestone Seafront redevelopment is now in full progress. End of March report

The next stage of the eagerly awaited Folkestone Seafront redevelopment will see the harbour station renovated. work is now pushing ahead at full steam ..

with no sign of a train in site !!!!!

Work is already being carried out to restore and repair the historic and listed harbour viaduct and swing bridge and the harbour station

The viaduct, which once carried trains into the harbour, will become a new pedestrian walkway for people to walk along the old platforms, down the tracks and onto the Harbour Arm pier.

another development will see the arrival of These  historic carriages, which have sat on the Wearside seafront for decades, will house a restaurant at Folkestone harbour’s historic railway station.

could there also be weddings held at the venue

Derelict carriages on the Kent & East Sussex Railway

Derelict carriages on the Kent & East Sussex Railway

One of the endearing features of most preserved railways is the various coaches and wagons to be seen from the train, not always at a station. Inevitably they are in various states of repair. These ones have some way to go.

This view is from a Tenterden-bound train on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, and these coaches are at the side of the line at Northiam.

Why not take a trip through the country 

Ashford railway works . A Disused and Abandoned site in New Town Ashford Kent UK

LATE MARCH 2017

Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway on a new 185-acre (75 ha) site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London.[1] By 1850 over 130 houses had been built for staff (called Alfred Town by the railway but New Town by everybody else),The works employed about 600 people in 1851 increasing to about 950 by 1861, and around 1,300 by 1882.  A carriage and wagon works was opened on an adjacent 32-acre (13 ha) site in 1850.

South Eastern and Chatham RailwayOn 1 January 1899, the railway entered into a working union with the London Chatham and Dover Railway, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR).[5][6] Each antecedent company had its own locomotive works, but Ashford was larger than Longhedge works and so became the principal locomotive works for the new organisation. The latter facility was gradually run down and converted into a subsidiary works.

Southern Railway and British Railways

Following the grouping of the SECR with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway to form the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923, most new locomotive and carriage design and construction was transferred to the more modern facilities at Eastleigh Works. Nevertheless, Ashford continued to operate both building and servicing locomotives and wagons until well after the nationalisation of the railways to form British Railways in 1948.

The locomotive workshops eventually closed on 16 June 1962, the last locomotive to be repaired at Ashford being N class 2-6-0 no. 31400 on 9 June.[9] The wagon works continued for a further two decades[4] producing continental ferry vans, Freightliner vehicles, merry-go-round coal hopper wagons and the Cartic4 articulated car transporter.[10] [8] It became one of BREL's main wagon works, but as trade declined it operated on an ever-decreasing scale until it closed down in 1982

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

Harbour to be sealed off as bomb is dug up at Folkestone harbour redevelopment.

Harbour to be sealed off as bomb is dug up at Folkestone seafront

 

Will this hold up the eagerly awaited Folkestone Seafront redevelopment will see the harbour station renovated. work is now pushing ahead at full steam ..

with no sign of a train in site !!!!!

Work is already being carried out to restore and repair the historic and listed harbour viaduct and swing bridge and the harbour station

The viaduct, which once carried trains into the harbour, will become a new pedestrian walkway for people to walk along the old platforms, down the tracks and onto the Harbour Arm pier.

another development will see the arrival of

 These  historic carriages, which have sat on the Wearside seafront for decades, will house a restaurant at Folkestone harbour’s historic railway station.