Talk:Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

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[edit] Safety

"An exemplary passenger safety record is one of the RHDR's proudest boasts."

Is this really appropriate, consider the two fatal crashes within the last few years?FrFintonStack 20:22, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

I can understand your question, as this sentence appears at odds with the safety section below, but it should be remembered that in both these tragic incidents, injuries to passengers were very minor, if any, and neither arose from any fault of the railway or its staff - both resulted from inappropriate actions by motorists.
These two incidents aside, the line is very safe, and despite the volume of passengers carried, there have been very few injuries of any kind. Regards, Lynbarn 01:18, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Map Removed

I've removed the Kent Railways map posted by Pickle UK as it shows completely the wrong route for the RHDR! The 1927 line (Hythe - New Romney) is correct, but the map then follows the now defunct standard gauge line (roughly) to Lydd, with no sign of the RHDR 1928 route to Dungeness. I have informed the author of the map of his error and requested that the map be corrected, at which time I see no reason why it shouldn't go back on this page. Timothy Titus 02:37, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

No problem, i was just taking advantage of the new map to show the line in context with the rest of Kent (rather than other railway lines in Kent). Pickle 04:19, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
Sure. And I think your idea is a good one too! Hopefully the author will correct the mapping error quickly and we can put it back up again. Enjoy the sunshine! Timothy Titus 09:18, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
The route has been corrected, so I've put the map back up again. Alas, the author has now labelled the 1928 extension as 1929 - but that's a small error compared with the former incorrect route! Timothy Titus 08:49, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History

Noitced a wl to Armoured train today,and if i recal rading a book on the RHDR some time ago, did the army not build one during the war for the RHDR or is my memory playing tricks on me ? Pickle 22:14, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, there was a RH&DR armoured train, built on the frames of bogie ballast wagons sold to the railway from the Ravenglass & Eskdale. --Skarloey 22:16, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Locomotive 5 'Hercules' was fully armoured, as well as the former bogie ballast wagons mentioned above. The locomotive took the centre of the formation, with a wagon on each side of it, each wagon having an anti-aircraft gun fitted. The armoured train was manned by soldiers of the Somerset Light Infantry and is known to have shot down at least one German 'plane during the hostilities. It was usually stabled under the overall station roof at Dymchurch, which was constructed by the army for that purpose, and was made of reinforced concrete. When this structure was finally demolished (late 70s, from memory) it was a MAJOR task, due to the metal rods reinforcing the concrete. Part of the armoured train was reproduced during the 1990s (without real guns!) for historical re-enactment. Timothy Titus Talk To TT 18:23, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Level crossings

I have added a picture of the barriered level crossing at Botolph's bridge as I felt the page was lacking one, perhaps it could also do with an update to include that the barriers have now been installed on several crossings? Bluebellnutter 17.45, 14th August 2007 (UTC)

Great pictures!! They really bring the railway to life. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 11:30, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestions for Additions

I'd love to see several additional sections in this article. It looks like some folks who have been contributing might have the information. Pictures of the stations would be good, since as I remember they are distinctive. Pictures of the coaches. Timetables. Historical use in WWII. Financial balance sheets. Plans for future railway maintenance / development. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk • contribs) 04:35, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Each station (past or present) has its own article, and most have photos. Go to the stations section and click some links to see more. As for the World War II stuff, I'll try to add something later (unless someone else has already done so by then!), but you can read some details at the station articles for Romney Sands and War Department Halt. Timothy Titus Talk To TT 16:41, 28 October 2007 (UTC)


The photos of the trains at the stations are good. I made the mistake of clicking the town names in the first paragraph. (I remember an impressive double-tracked tunnel at one station?) Maybe if there are pictures of the station buildings themselves, that would be nice; it's vaguely possible I have some, I'll check. In regard to the military history, I'm a bit of a military buff as well as being a railway buff, and these offbeat military situations can give a lot of insight into the underlying thinking of the regular military which are often tacit, unacknowledged, or not recognized. I just Googled, and couldn't find much, so if anyone has a source, 500 words on the war effort would be nice. 1000 would be wonderful. Lol.Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 21:56, 28 October 2007 (UTC)


I (as the one who added most of the photos for the various stations) have photos of pretty much ever locomotive and some of the carriages on the line (including the engineers wagons), I did wonder if it was worth having a link through the names of the engines on the first page to pictures of the engines? As to the war, I suppose you could almost split it into three areas, the War Department siding, the armoured train with hercules (with a pic if anyone has one) and the PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) scheme which used the railway for transport of pipes to Dungeness from Romney. Just my £0.02 worth... Bluebellnutter 17.40 2 November 2007 (UTC)
This site has photos with nice aspects which seem to expand the horizon of what the railway comprises: http://www.urban75.org/photos/kent/romney-hythe-railway.html Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 19:43, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Extension to Sandling

It seems to me that this is currently a major omission from the article. These plans were taken very seriously in the 1980s. The Directors had land surveys done, drew up detailed potential route maps, and spoke to landowners in Pedlinge, and on Sandling Park Estate. There were serious discussions about motive power, and proposals for possible new locomotives powerful enough to handle some quite impressive inclines. As I recall from those days, the word 'extension' was slightly misleading as the plan was not to extend from Hythe, but rather to establish a branch line from a junction on the Willop. However, I have searched and searched for information, and cannot find anything. I've been through back issues of 'The Marshlander' and trawled the internet, but can't find any definitive records or outlines. I was on the staff of the railway back then, and could do some basics from memory, but without citations they probably wouldn't survive very long! Does anyone have anything that could help? Timothy Titus Talk To TT 04:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to add a brief note to the article, but if anyone can help expand it - please do!! Timothy Titus Talk To TT 04:30, 3 June 2008 (UTC)