25q2 Phoenix 112

ISSN 2753-9938

Issue 112 Summer 2025

The journal of the Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association £1.50 – all proceeds to the RVRSA and the railway

RVRSA Committee for 2024/2025: Bob Evans - chairman David Felton - treasurer Jack Evans - lottery Paul Hayes - engineering lead John Gardner - events Steve Griffiths - secretary & Phoenix editor: griffithss@rvr.org.uk

The Rother Valley Railway Robertsbridge Junction Station Station Road Robertsbridge East Sussex TN32 5DG telephone: 01580 881833 RVR e-mail: reception@rvr.org.uk RVR website: www.rvr.org.uk RVR Facebook: www.facebook.com/RVRailway RVRSA membership: membership@rvr.org.uk

Other RVRSA managers: Bob Evans – bookshop Paul Simpson – membership secretary

Rother Valley Railway Ltd Directors: Mike Hart OBE – chairman and construction project director Gardner Crawley - deputy chairman Registered Office: as above Richard Broyd CBE Bob Evans - RVRSA liaison e-mail: reception@rvr.org.uk David Felton - managing director, finance director & company secretary David Keay Dr Stephen Murfitt David Slack BEM - operations director Company managers:

Peter Barber - permanent way/engineering mgr Faye Carney - gardening group mgr Alasdair Stewart – construction project mgr Brian Richards – project engineer Trevor Streeter - media & electronic services mgr

Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust Trustees: Gardner Crawley (chairman), Mike Hart OBE (deputy chairman), Dick Arblaster, Richard Broyd CBE, David Felton, David Keay, Dr Stephen Murfitt, David Slack.

Address etc as above Phoenix copyright: The Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association.

Material for the autumn issue - to the editor by 1 September Your comments, letters, articles and photos are always welcome - simply post /deliver items to the station or e-mail them to editor@rvr.org.uk Any uncredited material has been produced by the editor

Printed by A&N Print, Cardiff (website: anprint.co.uk) Photographers in this issue:

AS - Alasdair Stewart; JE - Jack Evans; SG - Steven Griffiths; TEDS – Trevor Streeter

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Welcome Exciting times at RVR as so much of the project is getting under way - our station site, the interface with Network Rail, the missing middle of course, a new fundraising drive and much else.

As we go to press, among the hottest days of the year so far, RVR’s contractors have been fitting the large insulated roof panels to the new station booking hall. Hats off to those gentlemen.

Also as we went to press came news that an agreement with the relevant local authority has been concluded, defining responsibilities and detailed design for two of the three level crossings.

More news inside!

And as RVR’s profile begins to rise, Steam Railway magazine gave RVR an in-depth spread of ten pages in their April issue. It’s worth getting hold of a copy.

Editor RVRSA Keeping up to speed https://rvrailway.blogspot.com/ features regular official RVR updates on various aspects of the project - more detail and more images. http://www.youtube.com/@RotherValleyRailwayRVR features all the RVR official videos going back to 2011 as well as new ones, together in one handy location, including videos featuring the 2024 Gala with commentary. https://www.facebook.com/KentandEastSussexRailway gives all the news from our partners including special offers and events. If you have a TN postcode, there’s an amazing summer travel offer.

Front cover: RVR’s station pilot, D2112, heads for the turntable at Robertsbridge as part of a recent shunt around described on page 13.(AS)

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The COLONEL STEPHENS SOCIETY For enthusiasts of the railways of Colonel Holman F Stephens ● Quarterly Magazine ● Annual visits ● Donations Programme ● Low subscriptions ● Drawings service For details: write with A5 SAE to:Sheena Baylis, 10 Cedar Court, Farrand Road, Hedon, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU12 8XL. Email: css@thetrackside.karoo.co.uk

www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk

People I’m sorry to have to report that Peter Coombs, RVRSA member no 4, died recently after several years of poor health. Many will remember him running the Collectors’ Coach in what later became our mess van, originally at Tenterden and then coming with it to Robertsbridge in the early 1990s, joining the RVRSA as soon as it was formed. He was chairman and membership secretary for a number of years. He could also be found giving a cheery welcome to everybody at our annual model railway show, until he eventually moved to Derbyshire and we saw much less of him. He was also well known for his involvement in amateur dramatics. We sent our condolences to the family.

We offer our congratulations to member Philip Lane who featured on this year’s Channel 4 TV series The Piano. Not only did he make it through to the final, but his railwaythemed boogie featured large. In the show, amateur musicians are invited to publicly perform on street pianos in the concourses of major UK railway stations. In Phil’s case the station was Brighton (series 2, episode 2) and the final took place in a concert hall.

The shows can be seen on Freeview in the C4 catch-up service.

K&ESR’s Helen Douglas has joined the team at Robertsbridge Junction. You can find out more on page 9.

Tom Browning – do you know this gentleman? If so please ask him to get in touch with me regarding membership.

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Progress on the ‘missing middle’, by Alasdair Stewart Work has been progressing, largely out of sight, along the track bed in a westerly direction from Austen’s Bridge towards Salehurst since late February. This section of the route has been inaccessible for many years and during the period of closure, trees had grown along much of this length, making surveying and setting out difficult. Surveying has been required to determine the width, and the level, of the remaining embankment, such as it is (it is rarely elevated more than about 600mm above the level of the surrounding fields). By taking readings of the level along the old solum (soil etc layers), measurements of position are taken using GPS equipment which requires a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. Below is a recent view east at Bridge 15 (TEDS) showing a temporary bridge alongside the remains of the old.

Setting out of fence positions has followed the initial clearance and new fencing has been installed where there was no remaining stock-proof barrier.

In the second week of June attention turned to the section of track bed near the site of the former halt at Salehurst. Before any machinery could enter the section, surveys were carried out for nesting birds, great crested newts and any signs of occupation of potential roosts in trees for bats. None have been found to date, although a couple of marsh frogs have been seen. These are a non-native species that originated in Central Europe.

Playfoot Engineering at Udiam have been working on the two steel spans for Bridge 24 and they are now ready for installation. We have a little bit of work to do on the concrete abutments and central pier before they can be craned into position from the temporary access road created alongside. The final location of the beams will be determined by the 5

horizontal alignment design, which is currently underway. Interestingly, the track was always slightly curved over both Bridge 24 and Austen’s Bridge and the positioning of the baseplates over Bridge 24 will have to be done very carefully indeed. The track will be directly fixed to the steel spans on that structure, which was built as a flood relief bridge that crosses a dry stream bed for most of the year. The new bridge has deeper section beams than the original and we will excavate the level underneath to increase the vertical clearance to facilitate future access for inspection and maintenance.

The Transport and Works Act Order authorised Rother Valley Railway to construct level crossings over the public highway. As we go to press associated bespoke agreements have been concluded with East Sussex County Council for Junction Road and Northbridge Street level crossings. Those agreements commit RVR to ensuring the works undertaken are to the agreed designs, along with associated road signage. In collaboration with ESCC the scheme at Junction Road also includes a new road traffic speed restriction of 40mph for some distance either side of the crossing to help improve general road safety throughout that area where the road narrows across various bridges.

Important: the above locations are live construction sites on private property and no unauthorised access is permitted at any time.

The roof timbers of the new station building take shape (SG) 6

The double span Bridge 24 (AS)

The new spans were originally built for use on the North Wales Coast (Chester to Holyhead) line during the building of the A55 ‘Expressway’ in the 1980s. Acquired by the Bluebell railway for use on their extension, two were left over and surplus to that railway’s requirements. We’ve had to have both of them extended slightly to fit onto the original K&ESR substructure.

At Robertsbridge, the station building construction is continuing apace. Roof trusses were craned in during April and a complicated lattice-work of timber added during May. Roof cladding materials were delivered in early June, and are now in place. The canopies on the platform side of the building and on the opposite (west) side above the main entrance are both well on the way to completion. These canopies match the traditional ‘Colonel Stephens’ appearance of other stations along the line to Tenterden to ensure 7

that there is a consistent look to the entire railway upon connection and through running.

These canopies also involve some complicated carpentry. Completion of the basic roofed shell is expected this summer.

At the northern end of the RBJ site, beside and beyond the turntable, Network Rail contractors begin work this summer on the embankment that supports their siding on the down side of the main Hastings – Tonbridge line. This work will allow the currently truncated head shunt to be reopened northwards enabling longer trains to be brought from the national network onto RVR metals. This area will be fenced off for a few weeks.

Roof trusses were delivered ready-made, and craned in, before the gable ends were added to the new building – see view from the mainline station footbridge in April above. Contrast with the same scene below on 18 June, with roof panels appearing. Also below, an end view of the canopy structure taking shape. (SG)

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RVR Appeal – introducing Helen Douglas Ed: Helen Douglas from K&ESR has joined the project team at Robertsbridge Junction at the invitation of the RVR Heritage Trust, in the role of fundraiser for the new buildings at Robertsbridge. She writes as follows: Who am I? I am the former Sales & Marketing Manager from K&ESR and remain a member and volunteer. My parents met as young volunteers at K&ESR and I grew up at the railway, meeting my own husband there whilst volunteering. We are now raising the next generation of railway volunteers! I will be working for RVR, initially one day per week, alongside colleagues, to help achieve fundraising goals for the various facilities at Robertsbridge Junction.

What fundraising goals have been set?

To date significant sums have been invested in the RVR project by private donors. Since the granting of the Transport and Works Act Order in 2023 much progress has been made. Now, we need to ensure that facilities at Robertsbridge can support train services.

As well as fitting out the new booking hall, we need to build the locomotive and carriage sheds, and to do this we need to raise £907,000!

We are creating a campaign to demonstrate the progress that has been made to date and seek assistance to deliver the next stages of the project. We will be reaching out, both to existing supporters and members and the wider world, to help us achieve this goal.

Further details for the campaign will be issued shortly.

I’ll be volunteering alongside your RVRSA team at the Robertsbridge 800 village event on Saturday 21st June to help with the RVR and K&ESR’s joint stand so I hope to meet some of you there!

In the meantime, if you want to help right now just click on the link below: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/27493#!/DonationDetails This is a donations page created by the Trustees. Gift aid may apply.

You can also donate by sending a cheque made payable to the Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust at the station address shown on page 2. Please mark the envelope ‘appeal’.

RVRSA and K&ESR working together, by Bob Evans With the unbelievably complex and long-winded legalities more or less behind us, we can now fit a time frame to the actual physical work needed to complete the task of 9

building our line to Bodiam. The ambition is to run test trains towards the end of 2027 with the first passenger train at the start of the 2028 season – what an event that will be!

As you will see from Alasdair’s update below, ‘the missing middle’ is getting under way in earnest.

The management teams of RVR and K&ESR have worked together over the years to ensure that the new line will be operationally appropriate for a workable timetable over the 13 miles of track between Tenterden and Robertsbridge. What we’ve been doing at supporter level is getting a lot closer to K&ESR with a series of joint initiatives, so far involving our regular site volunteers in preparation for join-up. Anyone working at Robertsbridge Junction after join-up will need to be K&ESR members.

Firstly and most importantly, we regular site volunteers have all attended the Basic Rail Safety module at Rolvenden Station, since everyone who may need to go trackside is required to be suitably trained. To enable this training to happen we were made honorary members of K&ESR (if we weren’t already full members). We all passed the assessment at the end of the day, and eagerly await receipt of our HOPS1 cards, which will need to be carried at all times when working on the railway. We will all then be officially competent volunteers of both K&ESR and the RVR. Our thanks go to K&ESR for kindly organising all of this.

Secondly, it's envisaged that we’ll see the creation of a station group, as already exist at Tenterden, Northiam and Bodiam stations. Working alongside operational people such as platform staff, station masters etc, this more informal group of volunteers will help maintain the infrastructure of their stations, and other assets on the site, with funding by K&ESR and usually working a minimum of 1 day per week.

A large group of our volunteers visited Tenterden and Rolvenden stations recently, to meet the station group there, and find out more about the way the group operates. I also spent a great day with the groups at Northiam and Bodiam.

Thirdly, there have been several conversations with K&ESR about joint promotion of the rejoined railway - for example at the Robertsbridge 800 event we shared a tent with K&ESR. Organising that was a joint effort. We can expect a joint presence on other occasions, and we’ll be doing what we can to help with the fundraising drive described

by Helen Douglas above, in close consultation.

Also on the agenda of course is the future of the RVRSA itself. We are chewing over some issues internally and with K&ESR in order to come up with a workable set of proposals.

Finally, we should soon be working with the K&ESR permanent way team to install point levers, and undertake maintenance on the RVR trackwork at Robertsbridge. We don’t have much experience of track working these days so it should be interesting!

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HOPS is the safety management and compliance system used by K&ESR and many other heritage railways, to communicate with volunteers and other staff, organise rotas etc and record their competencies.

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We are very much enjoying working with the K&ESR organisation and look forward to the exciting day when – as one railway again - passenger trains set out from Robertsbridge for the 13-mile journey to Tenterden.

SAMREX Our annual show went well, aided as usual by a team of RVRSA volunteers on both days and quite a lot of preparation. We were especially grateful to member Alan Bone for once again organising the content of the show and rounding up layouts and traders. This year we were lucky enough to have Mark Justice’s G-scale railway on the platform, which visitors were able to operate themselves using a hand-held controller. We also opened up the mess van’s serving hatch to sell refreshments, making some useful funds in the process. Volunteers also gave guided tours of the Robertsbridge site - something we all enjoy doing. We were also joined on the platform by the Robertsbridge Aviation Society who brought along an interesting collection from their museum.

Two of the many high-quality layouts at SAMREX. (JE)

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SAMREX RVRSARAILWAY Model Railway Exhibition 24/25 May 2025 MODEL EXHIBITION 24th/25th MAY 2025

Income and Expenditure Account

INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

2024

% Change

+/-

INCOME; Entrance Admissions Total Admissions 390 (Adult 340: Child 50)

Hall Buffet takings Income from Traders Donations Mess Van takings & donations

£ £ £ £ £

1,360 274 200 7 211

£ £ £ £ £

1,335 271 220 213

2% 1% -9%

£

2,052 £

2,039

1%

£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £

308 162 25 210 1

0%

740 £

706

5%

£

1,333

-2%

504 £

779

-35%

EXPENSES; Hire of Hall Hall damages Hall Buffet costs Mess Van catering costs Exhibitors expenses Exhibitors & Staff lunches Exhibitors plaques Newspaper Advertising Insurance Printing, postage & sundry expenses Credit card charges

£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £

308 165 37 223 7

£

NET PROFIT ON EXHIBITION

£

1,312

2% 48% 6%

PLUS: RVR SHOP:

Gross Income for SAMREX days

£

NET INCOME FROM WEEKEND

£

1,816

£

2,112

David Felton

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Another shunt In late May a bit of a shunt-around took place at RBJ. This was intended to bring the bogie-bolster wagon up to the loading pad area just north of the platform, so that its stack of flat-bottom rails could be unloaded onto a lorry. We also wanted the three-plank wagon to be placed between D2112 and the SR brake van, to form a small train to be displayed on the embankment alongside the Robertsbridge 800 celebrations. It wasdecided to place Titan and Dougal in the platform to provide a bit more visitor interest instead of their charms being largely hidden on the run-round line. Gaps left between vehicles allow work to be done on the ends using towers. Stock may be repositioned further once the builders’ scaffolding on the platform has been removed.

Membership Matters Our membership secretary Paul Simpson was taken seriously ill in March. He’s now recovering at home after a long spell in hospital. We send our best wishes.

Please renew if you haven’t already done so, as we are now well into the new membership year.

A reminder letter is enclosed for late-payers. This is the last Phoenix they will receive as they will be deemed to have left the Association if, by the Autumn issue, they have still not paid their subscription for 2025-26.

We currently have 293 paying members. This number may reduce if not all renew by October.

Finally, my thanks again for the many donations which members have made this year when renewing their subscriptions. These are very much appreciated and help us in turn donate more to the railway, notably the various running costs at RBJ.

Come and visit RVR’s Robertsbridge Junction site and shop welcome visitors every Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

The mainline carpark always has plenty of room and costs £4.00 all day on Sundays. Blue badge holders park free of charge in any bay.

Bus: route 1066 runs hourly from Hastings to Tunbridge Wells (every two hours on Sundays).

Train: hourly between Hastings and London, but check for engineering works as these are frequent.

We can accommodate visitors’ bicycles but not cars (unless agreed).

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Who knew?

Ransomes, the makers of the RVR turntable, also made the mechanism for the (long closed) revolving restaurant in London’s BT Tower.

Book corner, by Dana Wiffen of the CSS Bob Bunyar, a volunteer with the Swanage Railway, may have had his interest in the subject of his new book sparked by the line’s military links during both wars. There aren’t many books about about military branch lines and this one offers a unique insight into a selection of lines in the South West. And although photography was hardly encouraged, the author has managed to source a superb cross-section of photos – even images of WW1 German prisoners working on the building of the Bovington branch line.

For railway enthusiasts there are plenty of photos of sidings, carriages and locomotives, information on when lines were built and when they closed. If you like branch lines you will really enjoy this book: it is an easy read on an interesting subject. £11.99

Wyldthyme Publications

This A4 size book covers the history of the SECR’s line between Maidstone East and Ashford. It centres on the pivotal station of Charing, which has not changed much over the line’s 140 years.

The route saw some changes with the building of the high speed Channel Tunnel Rail link (CRTRL.aka HS1). A railway

works centre was created at Beechbrook Farm, while nearby Pluckley Bridge was rebuilt in 1992 to allow the larger Channel Tunnel freight trains to pass.

Otherwise the busy line has remained largely intact and enjoys services to both Victoria and Charing Cross. Only two stations have been closed, one of them back in 1919.

Unusually perhaps the 34-page book has been put together by a local history society. Proceeds go to the Ashford Model Railway Museum. £7.00

Charing & District Local History Society

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY (Pse check event ads before attending) Collectors fairs Bromley High Sch, Blackbrook Lane, BR1 2TW: 9.45am to 1.15pm - KRJ

20 July , 17 Aug, 28 Sept, 26 Oct, 16 Nov

Rayleigh, Essex - Sweyne Park School, Sir Walter Raleigh Drive, SS6 9BZ: 6 July, 3 Aug, 14 Sept, 12 Oct 9.45am to 1.15pm – KRJ Charity Toy and Train Fair, Falconwood Community Centre, The Green, Welling DA16 2PG: Thursday 28 August 5pm to 9.30pm in aid of Bexley charities – Alan Bone Maidstone Vintage Toyfair, Lockmeadow Market Hall, Baker Rd, Maidstone, ME16 8LW: 4 Oct 9am to 2.30 pm - MVT Worthing Toy and Comic Fair, Durrington Community Centre, 2 Romany Rd, BN13 3DW 9.45am to 1.15pm (Monster Toy Fairs) Model railway shows Pevensey Bay MRC show, Victoria Baptist Church, Eldon Road, Eastbourne, BN21 1UE: 5 July 10am to 4pm (Pevensey Bay MRC) Chatham Show, Historic Chatham Dockyard, Slip 5 car park, Main Gate Road, ME4 4TZ: 10am to 5pm (4pm Sunday) (Chatham MRS)

19-20 July

Bexhill Model Railway Show, St Richards Catholic College, Ashdown Road, Bexhill TN40 1SE: 9 Aug 10am to 5pm (Bexhill MRC) Tenterden Model Railway Exhibition, Tenterden Town Stn, TN30 6HE: 31 August 10.40 to 4pm (K&ESR) Erith Model Railway Soc. Harris Garrard Academy, Thamesmead DA18 4DW: 24 & 26 Jan 2026 10am to 5pm (closes 4pm Sunday) (EMRS)

A recent edition of The Colonel – issue 158 – includes a fascinating article by Brian Janes concerning the origins of the original RVR facilities at Robertsbridge. Not to be missed!

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Site volunteer activity at RBJ Paul Hayes writes: We’ve progressed steadily on the various vehicle engineering projects under way at Robertsbridge Junction. Work is still needed on the rear lights of the 03 and the heaters will need testing at a later date. Having finished painting the upper parts of the loco Alan and Terry have been working on its frames and wheels. The buffer beams are resplendent in red gloss. The buffers of the brake van are now a shiny black. John has been refreshing the van sides with an additional layer of brown paint, and Simon has been following up with a large ‘SR’ in white, using a set of stencils.

Work has started on the east side of the BY van, which nowadays houses the shop. The front or west side has always been given priority over the east, because it is the aspect most exposed to inclement weather. It is also the side that is visible to the public. As a result, the other side has not received so much attention. Rot is present in the bottom rail of the van body towards the Hastings end. Dave Liggett and Andrew have made great progress in removing old flaking paint from the body planking, and in applying coats of primer and grey undercoat. One missing plank has been replaced. However, the two sets of double doors are sagging, do not close properly, and need to be rebuilt. While we could renew the door planking, the skilled joinery on the frames will need to be done in the Carriage and Wagon works at Tenterden. All four doors will therefore have to be 17

removed and the resultant gaps temporarily covered with plywood. As the hinges have long ago seized up, work to derust them has started, involving the use of wedges, copious amounts of WD 40, and lubricating oil. Then we will need to unbolt the heavy doors from their hinges in a safe way and get them to track level ready for transporting to Tenterden.

Meanwhile, Dave has started work on the southern end of the BY.

A wedge helps release rusted hinges (SG)

The seized north rear doors to the BY (SG)

I mentioned in the last issue that RVR Ltd had asked us to assess their two 0-4-0 diesel locomotives Titan and Dougal. After various attempts to start both engines, we discovered a lot more about their condition, and attempted various repairs and servicing of problematic items like injector pumps and oil pumps. Simon submitted a report for consideration, and an initial response has been given by RVR Ltd chairman Mike Hart.

Unfortunately the news isn’t looking good in terms of the nature and scale of the work needed, let alone the cost. The two Gardner engines in these locos are very worn, and the locos’ mechanics generally are in very poor shape. We are responding to this, and there should be an outcome by the time of the next issue.

Steve Griffiths writes A panel of volunteers led by Trust chairman Gardner Crawley continue with weekly inspections of the various work sites along the railway, looking at security, safety, scafftags, signs of antisocial behaviour and generally keeping an eye open.

Our ever-eager gardeners trimmed the 100-yard hedge alongside the platform, which they plan to extend a few more yards southwards in the autumn after digging out a planting trench alongside the new pedestrian access ramp leading down from the new station building. A hose has been rigged up to make watering the main flower bed easier, but a hosepipe ban looks inevitable, meaning we will need to trolley the water along and do spot watering instead. More plants have been added by the head gardener, mostly from home. We’ve been getting some encouragingly positive comments as the main bed has been at its best. Some unwanted/diseased items still need digging out. Andrew and Doug have kindly mowed the grass, sparing the attractive large daisies and other pollen18

laden wildflowers to help out the pollinators in the crucial busy-bee weeks. We’ll do more reseeding in the autumn.

Work is underway by Bob Evans to sort out the wood tent, which requires building a new rack to store wood in an orderly, accessible fashion. We believe we have vital bits of wood somewhere buried in the tent! The new rack makes clever use of the obsolete scaffold tower and this is costing next to nothing.

Simon Allen and Peter Pope investigate Dougal’s oil pump problems as part of their assessment of the two vintage Drewry 0-4-0 shunters owned by RVR Ltd. (see page 18).

Robertsbridge 800 Volunteers had a great day alongside K&ESR colleagues at the village recreation ground, publicising the coming of the joined-up railway. With our RVR train on the embankment above us, we collected quite a few ‘expressions of interest’ from the public that will now be followed up. Thanks to all who came along to help. (photo: K&ESR)

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SELLING YOUR TOYS OR TRAINS?

I WILL BUY DIECAST TOYS DINKY, CORGI, MATCHBOX, BRITAINS & MILITARY, TINPLATE & MODEL RAILWAYS – ANY SIZE OR GAUGE COLLECTIONS, SINGLE ITEMS & LAYOUTS (CAN DISMANTLE) BEST PRICES GIVEN, COLLECTION BY APPOINTMENT DISTANCE NO OBJECT

Locomotive repairs undertaken Contact: ALAN BONE 020 8310 5018

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Milestones in the development of Britain’s railways, part 3 This has been adapted from the HRA’s timeline marking 200 years of the railway network.

1852– The east coast route sees trains running from London to Scotland via York and Newcastle into Edinburgh, competing with the west coast services from London to Glasgow via Carlisle which started in 1848.

1863– The world’s first sub-surface passenger railway opens between Paddington and Farringdon in London: The Metropolitan Railway.

1864– The Metropolitan District Railways Act of 1864 uses the sub-surface concept to create a circular route serving all the then existing mainline London terminii north of the Thames. It takes until 1884 for the District to join to the Metropolitan at Aldgate.

1874– The first Pullman carriages, imported from America, are introduced to Britain.

They run on the Midland Railway between London St Pancras and Bradford.

1879– The first dining car in Britain is introduced by the Great Northern Railway on trains from London Kings Cross to Leeds.

1883– The first electric railway in Britain is opened: the Volks Electric Railway in Brighton which is still in operation today.

1890– The first ‘tube’ line opens, the deep-level City and South London Railway, running electric loco-hauled trains from King William Street to Stockwell though originally planned to be cable-hauled.

1902– The Underground Electric Railways Company is formed to develop three deep tube systems, the origins of the organisation later known as ‘The Underground’.

1904–The first suburban electric railway service outside London begins between Newcastle and Benton on the North Eastern Railway on 29 March. Just days later the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway begins its electric services between Liverpool and Southport.

1904– On the Great Western Railway, City of Truro becomes the first locomotive to be timed (by stopwatch) at over 100mph.

1914– It is estimated that no village in England is more than 20 miles away from a railway station. As war is declared, at the stroke of midnight on August 4, Britain’s 130 independent railway companies are taken under state control for the first time.

1914– In an effort to replace men fighting on the Continent, the first large-scale recruitment of women to front-line railway work takes place. By the end of the war some 68,000 women are employed on Britain’s railways.

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1923– The Grouping takes effect, under the Railways Act 1921. This Government measure merges 120 individual railway companies, many of them loss-making, into the Big Four - the Southern, Great Western, LMS and LNER companies.

1928– The first non-stop run from London to Scotland is accomplished. A train to Glasgow and another to Edinburgh, complete the feat on the same April night. The London Midland and Scottish Railway arrange the runs as a spoiler when the London and North Eastern Railway announce their plans for non-stop runs to begin on May 1.

Canopy extension outside the booking hall, door and window frames inside, mid-June (SG)

Above: The platform in full June bloom Below: carefully prepping a door (SG)

Bodiam handover This yellowing clipping (opposite) from a local paper in 1964 came to light in the editor’s dungeon. Much-loved Terrier 32670 is seen here in the bay platform at Robertsbridge.

Incidentally the article has got one thing slightly wrong in that this locomotive would not have been taking passengers between London and Brighton in the 1870s. Its duties were rather more modest, operating London’s LBSCR commuter lines which included the East London Line. It became K&ESR loco No.3 Bodiam in 1903 when purchased secondhand

by Col. Stephens. It was however built in Brighton, so there was a connection in that sense. Interestingly, the preservationists seemed confident of reopening the line to paying passengers within a year or so. Of course it took a bit longer, with K&ESR launching its first official service in 1974, over a somewhat truncated route.

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RAILWAY BOOKSHOP Wide selection of pre-loved railway books, DVDs and more ..

All proceeds go to support the upkeep and development of the Rother Valley Railway

WELCOME TO RVR’s SHOP We’re located on the platform at Robertsbridge Junction Station Opening times are Sundays, 10am–4pm Tel 01580 881833 for all enquiries, or email reception@rvr.org.uk.

Our address is shown on page 2 We no longer accept or sell magazines We no longer accept items for sale on commission Donated items are very welcome (but not magazines please).

We can mail-order items advertised here – just contact us with your address and requirements and an invoice will be sent to you.

RVRSA four A4 size booklets:

Reconnecting Robertsbridge -the RVR

project,24 pages, £5.

The Robertsbridge Turntable

project

detail, 24 pages, £5

The 2024 RVR – K&ESR gala at RBJ in

photos, 4 pages, £1

Rother Valley Railway 125th outlines

history plus today’s project, 20 pages, £5. special offer: all four at £11, while stocks last. member discount. P&P is extra Above: Buff up your RVR knowledge with this fascinating softback book by member David Penn on the original project in the late 1890s, focussing on the little-known tale of who backed it and why. £8.65 + p&p.

Above: lots of 00-gauge items including points & accessories.

Vast stock of s/h railway books as always, organised by subject. Plus DVDs., jigsaws, RVR pens, stickers and fridge magnets, and original cast iron rail chairs, painted or unpainted.

We have a rare unmade Kitmaster Beyer-Garrett.

Left: lots of 1950s Hornby tinplate O-gauge wagons and similar items

Just in – a Hornby-Dublo breakdown crane (no jacks).

Tea and coffee while you browse!

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