Dymchurch railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dymchurch railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. It is five miles (eight km) south of Hythe, and is surrounded by a very flat landscape.
The station opened in July 1927 and was then named Dymchurch (Marshlands) to distinguish it from the other nearby station then called Burmarsh for East Dymchurch and later known as Dymchurch Bay.
The station itself now has two platforms, connected by a footbridge. On the 'up' platform there is an extensive shelter and a Station Master's house. On the 'down' platform there is a large station building incorporating a booking office (and staff room), a shop (selling souvenirs and light refreshments), and a ladies toilet. The gentlemen's toilets are located in the supporting pillars of the footbridge, although only that on the 'down' platform is in use.
There are four signals on the Dymchurch control panel - an up home, an up starter, a down home, and a down starter. All are colour-light signals, but they are a mixture of two-aspect and three-aspect. All four signals are linked into the level crossing lights at the two level crossings which are located one on each side of the station. The signals are controlled from a panel in the booking office.
Originally much larger, the 1920s station had three platforms (two through platforms and a bay platform) so as to allow operation of shuttle trains which worked exclusively between Dymchurch and Hythe via Burmarsh Road, a turntable, sidings, two mainline cossovers, and a signal box. Today just one siding remains, plus one mainline crossover. This is the only place where a train may pass between the up and down lines anywhere in the eight miles between Hythe and New Romney - it is also the only location where a works train may be parked off the mainline. The three points required (two crossover, one siding) have been operated from a groundframe since the demise of the signal box in 1963.
The station is a major tourist destination (largely for the extensive sandy beaches located nearby, and the attractive small town with holiday arcades and an amusement park). It is a principal station and boasts three staff members during the summer season (one only, out of season). It is a 'block station' for train control purposes.
