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Born in great optimism this railway was the only outcome of numerous plans for railways and collieries in the newly discovered Kent Coalfield. Conceived to carry coal it soon reverted to a truly rural railway with a heavy coal flow for a few miles at one end. Holman Stephens was engineer from inception, subsequently becoming director and manager. Running from Shepherdswell to Wingham with an intermittently operating branch to Richborough Port it opened in 1911 with a passenger service from 1916. |
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| Services ebbed away with the final passenger trains in 1948 with progressive closures back to Tilmanstone Colliery over the next 3 years. The line shut with the colliery in the 1980's. Enthusiasts have reopened the remaining line. |
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Website: www.eastkentrailway.com Further reading: The East Kent Light Railway. V Mitchell and K Smith. Middleton Press. 1987. The East Kent Railway, Two Volumes, M. Lawson Finch & Stephen Garrett, Oakwood Press, 2003. See Also TOPICS articles CHANGE AT SHEPHERDSWELL: HOW GOLGOTHA TUNNEL CAME ABOUT LOCOMOTIVES OF THE EAST
KENT RAILWAY
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