They say you should never meet your heroes, and whilst perhaps not hero status, the Col. Stephen’s favourite light railway, the Kent and East Sussex, had a certain magic for me especially when experienced through the words in Wild Swan’s book authored by the wonderful Brian Hart…
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| Beauty and the beast? Contrast in care between our tired DMU and the lovely restored period carriages at Tenterden. |
About ten years ago in EVO magazine (in another lifetime when I owned and maintained a Peugeot 106 Rallye and helped run the owners club) one of the regulars had the chance to drive the mythical Ford RS200, a rally car from the period of huge turbos and only a smattering of parts from a production model were required (door handles, windscreen and brake lights from a Sierra if I recall). Anyway, the result is as you can imagine. Disappointing. My Dad told a similar story when he had the chance to drive the infamous Lancia Stratos around Richmond on a Saturday morning.
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| Drivers eye view (we were facing backwards) of the nature of the light railway right of way. Tight, following the contours of the land. Intimate almost, |
So back on to the experience I suppose, last Sunday I had the chance to visit the line, one I have only imagined until now. I’m blessed with a creative mind and the words of Brian combined with the period photos paint a rose tinted melancholic view, a mix of the Darling Buds of May and Miss Marple perhaps? Green everywhere, small stations and light rail, bucolic villages and country roads not wider than a Charabanc!
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| First class meant good views as well as comfy seats. |
The scenery didn’t disappoint, especially out of the windows of the DMU, but don’t look on the outside. It was disappointing to see this in relatively poor condition compared to many of the other items on the line. The DMU I am used to here in the Dee Valley are always well turned out and shiny.
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| Austerity, the stalwart of preserved steam it would seem at then moment, the services in the Dee Valley also relying on an example. |
The route and track didn’t disappoint either, the undulating and twisting route so typical of a light railway is beautifully intact and through the end windows of the cab we got a great view. The roads weren’t so quiet mind, and at most of the period wooded gated level crossings we held up a good number of cars. The Weald isn’t quite the picture postcard it used to be with the invention of the internal combustion engine it seems!
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| Real coal at Rolvenden. |
The stations whilst in good condition and most wouldn’t notice, had lost their light railway charm. Passing loops (and long at that) for me just spoilt things and seeing a Bulleid pacific at Rolvenden and a Sulzer type 3 out on the line felt a little like an oxymoron. I was surprised to find them still using coal since most of the lines up north and in Wales that I’ve witnessed seem to be on ovoids, and Rolvenden itself, whilst not a classic light railway, felt like what one might have evolved to had the line stayed open, with its single platform adjacent to the road crossing hemmed in by industrial units, aged red brick and corrugated sheeting are wonderful with a hint of coal dust and soot, I could have spent a lot longer sat here…
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| Rolvenden, we stopped on our way to Tenterden for a look around the station and shed. This experience held such promise. The mix of aged brick and corrugate shed, the intimate feel of a single track platform. Wonderful. |
So for the average person the line is wonderful, green countryside, quaint stations and period trains. For most enthusiasts too it is a perfect blend of preserved and operating, and a pleasure to visit. For me, I did enjoy the journey. It left feeling more melancholy than I had expected. The railway to me is unique, like the Ffestiniog or Talyllyn. Imagine if the former lost all that had made it special, it would be like a journey on the Welsh Highland, stunning but missing a grain of reality, a tourist train. In an ideal world I would have liked to see the K&ESR preserved as a more true light railway experience but I don’t fault the decisions made by the railway to survive and prosper and I wish them well for the future and their recently granted extension to Robertsbridge and the BR mainline!
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| Passing the 33/2 at Rolvenden. |
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| Tractor and Oast house, between Northiam and Bodiam. |
So where does that leave me and my waffling today? Should you visit, yes, but if you had the same image in your mind of the experience at least I have managed your expectations! It is a lovely ride and a friendly and welcoming railway, and if in the area I’d visit again… I’d be even happier if a Terrier and a few older coaches were rostered for my own Darling Buds of May experience but I appreciate I neither donate time nor money so am grateful for its even existence.
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| The first view I had of the railway looking towards Tenterden from Rolvenden. This held such promise for my misplaced expectations of what the light railway experience would hold. |
I’ll leave you with this shot, the first glance I had of the railway at Rolvenden, and the promise this composition held. I’d love to hear your reflections on either the K&ESR or any of our collection of preserved steam railway and if they resonate with you? Until next time though, more soon…
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This is a reality some of us have lived with for a very long time. Can you imagine how dreadful the reality of the FR appeared in the 70s and 80s to those of us who had known it only through old photos? But here is the thing. How many of the dicordant elements are actually long term? And how much of the original atmosphere is compatible with current needs? I've seen lines go through cycles. I hated the SVR at one point, but fell back in love with it. Even the lines I don't feel have changed in my lifetime, like the TR and the RH&DR, very much have changed. And as a result, they have survived. If we truly preserved/conserved some lines no trains would run and passengers would complain the next train has already left.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that few things in the railway world are irreversible. A Pacific can be running on a different line next year, a DMU can be resored for the umpteenth time. Meanwhile, look at that phot of the tractor and oast house. Hardly timeless, the tractor would have been sci-fi when I was growing up.
Some good points James, I still maintain the difference here is that the character of the light railway has been somewhat lost, they’ve not paid enough attention to that, whereas the Ffestiniog has developed and evolved but still feels Ffestiniog to me, even comparing to the decrepit system brought back to live in the 1950s…
DeleteThe DMU thing is a different matter - and agreed, but it’s the relative priorities that is slightly upsetting. The DMU is often the stalwart, certainly at Llangollen the saviour!
If you had visited the FR during its Festiniogbahn days you would have been appalled, and, like me, you wouldn't have recognised it. Heritage meant nothing. What the FR has done is to rediscover what made it special. Relevant priorities change.
DeleteI know what you mean. I remember a 1970s Col Stephens railways book and the photos were so atmospheric, then I watched a Youtube cabview video and wondered what had happened. More generally I believe oversignalling is a particular issue, lots of superfluous outer homes and advanced starters on single lines
ReplyDeleteI’d not really noticed until you mention it Sean!
DeleteI travelled on the Llangollen on Saturday again and it reminded me of what the differences I was expecting were, and didn’t see. The Llangollen does ‘scenic secondary line’ perfectly, whereas the K&ESR had lost its light railway roots.
"Over signalled?" There is safe signalling for multi train operation and there is unsafe signalling. One accident because heritage trumped aesthetics would be very bad news . Most one engine in steam light railways weren't built to cope with even tody's traffic levels. I guess the alternative is radio control, as the R&ER use. But, like everything else, this is all reversible.
DeleteThe Talyllyn seems to operate with just stop boards, the mid Wales line too for that matter, no signalman token remote I think it's called
DeleteSean, The Talyllyn definetly has manned blockposts when multiple trains are in operation. Many of the other options are high tech and possibly need support from those less focussed on heritage and more on the modern railway.
DeleteI think many lines have to rediscover themselves over time., especially when they ahve become victims of their own success. I@ll be interested to see what happens at the L&B, last time I was there it was struggling to cope with the high numbers wanting to travel on specific trains. There was a mad scramble to buy first class tickets (Undertandable if you've seen it) We lost it!
I often think that the very term 'preserved' railway is completely misleading anyway. Few, if any, of our heritage lines are actually preserved. They have mostly variously been saved, reopened, rebuilt and have then evolved into whatever it is that they need to be in order to survive. Even the daddy of them all, the Talyllyn, is a very different railway to the one that Tom Rolt and his contemporaries set out to 'preserve'. It is perhaps only at locations like Dolgoch and Rhydyronen that we can experience some of that line's original atmosphere. Wharf certainly doesn't capture it, although it is undoubtedly a wonderful facility for the TR in its modern form.
ReplyDeleteAs for the KESR, I know what you mean James. Bulleid Pacific's (albeit visiting) and Type 3 diesel have no connection to the Stephens origins of the line. Tenterden Town station has grown to serve the tourist nature of the line and, yes, the long loop and platforms at Northiam do seem out of character. Bodiam though retains its charm I feel. I tend to confine my visits to those occasions when the smaller locos and four-wheeled stock are running. On days like that it is possible to experience some of that lost Stephens atmosphere for a few precious minutes.
Even Bodiam felt on steroids to me Pat, but it was certainly the closest to how I’d imagined things. Preserved, I recognise doesn’t mean stood still. I suppose my point which I think you also make, is that whereas the Talyllyn or Ffestiniog may have progressed, they’ve not lost what made them unique.
DeleteThe FR eratainl came close to losing what made them unique, at least to the enthusiast. We forget how commercial it once was. Or twice was, as both a working railway and when it was seen as on a par with the Austrian NG providing transport rather than heritage.
DeleteAs an aside, we also forget that whilst light railways were built on a budget space was rarely a constraint, so many light light railways had large station areas. That is why Barry Norman's Bishops Castle came as such a shock. It didn't look "right" when modelled.
Hi James
ReplyDeleteI guess the question is what is the heritage railway’s objective is. If the KESR is seeking to preserve a light railway ( even if it runs as many trains in a week as real thing did in a month) then obviously it has failed but then how many preserved railways can afford to do that. Even the Severn Valley has to compromise. I think most “preserved railways started out as finding a place to run and maintain “some stuff” and not really preserving a railway as such. Otherwise maybe we would have more local railways as we see in Europe.
Having been involved with a transport museum on the management side, and I imagine this goes for heritage railways as well, it was the experience that particularly families and tourists came for. The transport enthusiast (us) was a relatively small but important (especially in the shop) part of the “audience” for the story we were trying to tell. So they want is a nice ride, maybe steam, good loos, a good café and shop and importantly engaged staff ( paid or volunteers ) who will help if needed. Making money from visitors/passengers is often decried but without it most museums/heritage railways could not exist and preserve the history we look to see. Government grants/the national lottery help but it’s only a smallish part. The re-born Festiniog, I think, realised this early on and maybe got flak from the enthusiast world. However as was noted the FR was in the forefront of commercial railways in the nineteenth century with many firsts, bogie carriages, articulated locomotives and the promotion of narrow gauge. I am sure James Spooner would have applauded the current FR/WHR. We have to remember the down at heel, atmospheric FR of the 1950’s only existed because of the collapse of the slate industry and the tourist trade during the depression and the 1939/45 war.
I would love to see a preserved steel works railway but wonder who would want to ride in a converted slag ladle!!
Best regards
Alan
Thanks for the reflections Alan, indeed, this is a personal reflection rather than criticism. I understand the railway has made decisions driven by a balance of preservation and market forces and in general it will bring pleasure to tens of thousands of people a year I'm sure!
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