Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
Kent
'Northern Chief' at New Romney
	Light railway
Gauge:	narrow
Information
Owned by:	Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Co.
Website:	http://www.rhdr.org.uk

The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a 1 ft 3" gauge light railway running close by the English Channel coast in Kent. The line is 13½ miles long and runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe by way of Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney Sands to Dungeness, close to Dungeness nuclear power station and Dungeness lighthouse.

History

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway was built during the 1920s and opened on 16 July 1927; it was the dream of millionaire racing drivers Captain J.E.P. Howey and Count Louis Zborowski. Zborowski had constructed a railway at Higham Park, his home at Bridge, Kent, and agreed to donate the rolling stock and infrastructure to the project. Zborowski however was killed in a motor racing accident at Monza before the Romney Marsh site was chosen, and Howey continued the project alone.

Mountain Class engine 'Hercules' hauled the inaugural train from Hythe to New Romney with guests including the mayors of the two towns, and General Sir Ivor Maxse.

Howey was not happy with just 8 miles from New Romney to Hythe and he extended 5 ½ miles from New Romney to Dungeness. This section was originally double track, but is now single due to damage during Second World War, when the line was taken over by the military. A miniature armoured train was used on the line. After the war the line re-opened between Hythe and New Romney in 1946, with the singled New Romney to Dungeness section reopened in 1947 by Laurel and Hardy.

As well as being a tourist attraction, this railway is a public service between the small towns and villages between Hythe and Dungeness and is under contract to the local council to transport children to and from The Marsh Academy in New Romney. The railway is expanding its role as part of the public transport network; Warren Halt re-opened in 2009 to provide a transport link to the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, and discussions are taking place with local councils for the expansion of Burmarsh Road and the provision of a new station at the gravel pits in West Hythe, both in connection with proposed extensive new housing construction, and the need to provide alternative transport to the A259 coast road.

All ten original locomotives remain in service, covering thousands of miles each year. The fleet, already one of the largest of any 15" railway in Britain, was expanded in 1976 with German-built locomotive no.11 'Black Prince' (formerly 'Fleißiges Lieschen'). The RH&DR is still the only user of the 4-8-2 "Mountain" locomotive in the UK, with No. 6 'Samson' and No. 5 'Hercules' in regular service. Two diesels, No. 12 'John Southland' and No. 14 (Nameless - later 'Captain Howey'), were constructed in the 1980s.

The line carries 100,000 passengers each year.

The railway celebrated its 80th birthday in 2007 with a week of celebrations including reconstructions of scenes on the railway over the previous eight decades.

Smallest public railway in the world

From 1926 to 1978, the RH&DR held the title of the "Smallest public railway in the world" (in terms of track gauge). The title was lost to the 1 ft gauge Réseau Guerlédan in France in 1978 and regained from 1979, when the Réseau Guerlédan closed, until 1982, when the 1 ft gauge Wells and Walsingham Light Railway opened.

Stations

Stations currently open

• Hythe
• Burmarsh Road (Usually school shuttle trains only)
• Dymchurch
• St Mary's Bay
• Warren Halt (Usually visitor centre shuttle trains only)
• New Romney
• Romney Sands
• Dungeness

Stations closed

• Prince of Wales Halt (closed 1928)
• Botolph's Bridge Halt (closed 1939)
• Golden Sands Halt (closed 1990s)
• Greatstone (closed 1983)
• War Department Halt (closed 1945)
• Lade (closed 1977)
• The Pilot Inn (closed 1977)
• Britannia Points Halt (closed 1930)

Passenger services

The railway was conceived and constructed as a public service, not as a tourist attraction. The railway now relies on tourist trade, but it is not a 'tourist railway' or a 'preserved railway', in the sense that it was built to provide public transport and has continued to do so.

School children are transported under contract to Kent County Council to The Marsh Academy (known as Southland's Comprehensive School until 2007); this service is provided all year during term. Local residents are transported to shopping centres and the railway has operated 'shoppers specials'. Holiday camp trains have operated with camps at Romney Sands and St Mary's Bay. Charters are operated. During the Second World War|Second World War the railway was operated by Somerset Light Infantry as a military railway and there was extensive transport of soldiers on troop trains.

The RH&DR operates 20-seat and 16-seat open and closed coaches. Over 80 years the coach livery changed from green and cream to brown and cream in the 1970s and 1980s, then red and cream in the late 1980s for 15 years. From 2000, a new policy has rakes of coaches (trains of around a dozen coaches) have been painted in individual liveries. Hence there are now green, blue, crimson and preserved teak coaches.

In addition to the main stock, the heritage set is made up of the preserved Clayton Pullman (the last remaining example of a set of 1930s vehicles of superior comfort and design), a preserved 1950s 12-seat coach named 'Ruth', the Royal Saloon (used by Queen Elizabeth II and members of her family), and the licensed bar car (an observation coach with a bar) named 'Gladys'. There are also the disabled access vehicles, 601 'Elsie', 602 'Winn', 603 'May' and combined driving trailer/disabled access vehicle 'Marjorie'.

Freight traffic

From the outset, the railway's owners and designers envisaged freight services but general freight services never arose, although freight service has featured in the railway's history.

Dungeness Beach fish trade

In 1937 a short branch line was laid to the east of the mainline near Dungeness, running for over a quarter of a mile to the beach. Platform 1 at Hythe was extended beside the station buildings and out to the front of the station. This joint provision was to allow transport of fish from Dungeness to Hythe and there to transfer it to road. The company had four-wheel fish wagons, stencilled "Fish Only", but the service was developed from 1937 following closure of the South Eastern Railway's Dungeness line that year. The fish trade developed in a small way and was withdrawn. Parts of the fish branch line are still in place on Dungeness beach, in use by fishermen to transport fish many years after the service was withdrawn.

Uncrushed shingle transport

The most successful freight service was the uncrushed ballast service. Following withdrawal of War Office operations on the War Department Branch Line, the railway utilised the infrastructure to operate ballast trains. In 1937 a subsidiary ballast company was formed. Tipper wagons were loaded with shingle and transported along the branch line, and then up the main line to Hythe, often lying over in the sidings at Dymchurch to prevent delay to passenger trains using the same tracks. At Hythe the wagons were hauled mechanically up a ramp built on concrete pillars, and their contents tipped into lorries. In 1951, after 14 years, the subsidiary company switched to entirely road transport and the company closed both the branch and the freight incline at Hythe; the concrete pillars were still visible at Hythe until the early 1980s.

Postal service

The railway is licensed by the Post Office for rail postal services, and is entitled to issue postage stamps. A number of first day covers have been issued. A four-wheel secure postage wagon was constructed.

Parcels service

The railway operates a casual parcels service. Parcels handed in to one station will be delivered to another for collection. This is the only remnant of freight service, although from time to time the railway has a temporary freight contract, such as that in 1975 for transport of drainage pipes

The railway operates its own engineering and permanent way trains, which form the majority of non-passenger services.

Armoured train

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway armoured train, October 1940

During Second World War, a miniature armoured train was used on the line to patrol the coast in case of invasion. The train was armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle and Lewis guns.

Ownership and operation

The railway is owned by the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway plc, whose shareholders (of whom there are several hundred) travel free of charge on trains, but elect annually to take no financial dividend on their shareholdings, but instead to re-invest all operating profit back into the company. The public limited company is a subsidiary of the older parent company Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Company. It is usual for the two companies to have the same Board of Directors.

The day to day operation of the railway is in the hands of a small but dedicated full-time permanent staff of around 35 people, including a General Manager, departmental managers (engineering, commercial, operations) and a large number of engineering staff (from locomotive fitters to permanent way gangers) and waitresses in the New Romney and Dungeness cafés. Further, seasonal employees are taken on through the summer season.

The railway depends upon a dedicated team of fully trained, but totally volunteer (unpaid) staff members, who work on the railway in their own spare time. Volunteers work throughout the railway, in engineering posts, operating positions, commercial outlets, and manual roles concerned with maintenance and improvement.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway)

• Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
• Kevin Crouch memorial
• Movietone newsreel footage of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy reopening the railway in 1947

References

• Anon. (1926) "Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Light Railway", Railway Magazine, 59 (September), p. 213–218
• BBC News (2005) "Train crash killed manager's wife", BBC Online, accessed 7 October 2007
• Crowhurst, A.R.W. and Scarth R.N. (2004) Locomotives of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Workshop Press, 36 p.
• Sapsted, D. (2004) "Woman in fatal train crash fined", The Daily Telegraph, Online news, accessed 7 October 2007
• Snell, J. B. (1993) One man's railway, Rev. ed., Nairn: David St John Thomas, ISBN 0-946537-80-1