Report - Folkestone Harbour Railway Station, Folkestone - February 2013

[sirjonnyp]

I originally visited this place back in May as one of the first proper places that I did, but my photos didn't come out too great as I had just got a DSLR for the first time, ended up with every photo at ISO 800 without realising. After being busted by the police at our first target, and disappointed by the sheer tininess of the second, we headed down to the Harbour Station for what is an easy, and guaranteed explore.

Visited with Starlight2099

To make things different this time I only shot on my 35mm lens, so sorry if there's a bit much F1.8 going on

Some history from wikipedia:

Folkestone Harbour station is a railway station built to serve the port of Folkestone in Kent, and is one of three stations in the town. It is at the end of the short 1-in-30 Folkestone Harbour Branch Line, joining the South Eastern Main Line at Folkestone Junction. The branch and harbour station provided a rail connection for boat trains from London which connected with the ferry services to Calais and Boulogne.
The branch and station closed to regular passenger train services in 2001 although the line and station continued to be used by the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) and railtours. As of March 2009, Network Rail intend to close the branch, and an association has formed to preserve it as a heritage line.

A branch line was built in 1844 leaving the main line at Folkestone Junction and was double tracked ending with a viaduct across the harbour itself. In 1847, a swing bridge allowed the line to reach the southern pier and, in 1848, the line was passed by the Board of Trade for passenger use. The line was electrified at the same time as the main line during the "Kent Coast Electrification - Stage 2" in June 1961, and passenger trains were formed of Electric multiple units. Freight services were withdrawn on 17 August 1968.
In 1994, the opening of the Channel Tunnel led to the majority of ferry operators moving to other ports in the South East, with the result that only two services per day were arriving at Folkestone Harbour, to connect with the Hoverspeed SeaCat services. When these were moved to Ramsgate, the station closed to ordinary rail traffic in 2001.
Sometime after 2001, the line was singled for operational purposes, although the disused line is still in situ.

My friend Little John, who works on the railways, tells me that they call the above 'pots', and they would have held up rails when in their original place. There were a few of them lying around, this one was the most intact.

A statue from the last triennial in Folkestone, a creepy reminder of what happens when Folkestone tries to trick itself into thinking that it's cultured.

Never grow old, eh? Ended up getting some sort of tar on my hands and coat through being nosey - it was quite annoying! Anyway, after that we were pretty much done and headed out. I've been interested in this place for quite some time, do like it there. There are a few more photos on my blog, plus photos from my original visit are there too.

Cheers for reading

SJP​