Hi, this is my first report, hopefully I'll get the format right! This was our first deliberate exploration, rather than somewhere we accidentally passed by and had a look at. We'd heard about the existence of these trains a few years ago from a friend, but never got round to doing the map research to find them until recently.
The disused running stock is on a line which was part of the original Kent and East Sussex Railway line from Tenterden to Headcorn. The line opened to Tenterden on 15 April 1093, and the extension to Headcorn was opened on 15 May 1905. The final passenger service ran on 2 January 1954, freight trains continued until 1958, and on the 11 June 1961 the Locomotive Club of Great Britain ran a special tour along the line, which closed permanently the next day. The line heading southeast from Tenterden is still in use as a heritage railway, run by K&ESR.
As this was our first deliberate exploration, we were a bit nervous, and I'd forgotten to mention wearing unobtrusive clothing to my partner! But we got in and out without any incident.
What was a shame is that compared to photos from a few years ago, there is less to see there now - the locomotive has gone, and only the base of some of the passenger cars is remaining, presumably because of past fire damage? Anyway, here's a sequence of photos roughly in order from the north end of the track (where the crane is) to the south end.
The disused running stock is on a line which was part of the original Kent and East Sussex Railway line from Tenterden to Headcorn. The line opened to Tenterden on 15 April 1093, and the extension to Headcorn was opened on 15 May 1905. The final passenger service ran on 2 January 1954, freight trains continued until 1958, and on the 11 June 1961 the Locomotive Club of Great Britain ran a special tour along the line, which closed permanently the next day. The line heading southeast from Tenterden is still in use as a heritage railway, run by K&ESR.
As this was our first deliberate exploration, we were a bit nervous, and I'd forgotten to mention wearing unobtrusive clothing to my partner! But we got in and out without any incident.
What was a shame is that compared to photos from a few years ago, there is less to see there now - the locomotive has gone, and only the base of some of the passenger cars is remaining, presumably because of past fire damage? Anyway, here's a sequence of photos roughly in order from the north end of the track (where the crane is) to the south end.
