Number 105 – Spring 2008

17-19

The return of the Birdcage
Nick Pallant
The restoration of South Eastern & Chatham Railway ‘birdcage’ brake carriage (SE&CR No. 1100 of 1910, later Southern Railway No. 3368, Longmoor Military Railway No. AD 5311 and K&ESR No. 61) is nearing completion.

20-22

Company Secretary’s notes
Nick Pallant
Summary of the Board meetings in October and November 2007

23-25

Tickets please
Ken Dow and Duncan Buchanan
Analysis of passengers carried in 2007. The total was 92,029, 3.6% fewer than in 2006, and possible reasons for this decline are considered

26-27

Roger Wakely Kidner 1914-2007
Tom Burnham
An obituary of R.W. Kidner, founder of the Oakwood Press, pioneer light railway enthusiast and friend of the K&ESR

28-31

Thunderbirds to go (Part 1)
Nick Pallant
Victa Railfreight, the company responsible for the rail logistics for the track laying and overhead line erection for Phase 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) – including the large temporary marshalling yard at Beechbrook Farm near Ashford – hired two Class 14 diesel hydraulic 0-6-0 locomotives (Nos. 48 and 49) based on the K&ESR through Stratrail Ltd., a company formed by their owners. They subsequently worked for Victa Railfreight at Chatham dockyard and Tilbury docks

34-35

Building the K&ESR
Brian Janes
Article on the financial arrangements and contracts connected with the building of the Rother Valley Railway from Robertsbridge to Rolvenden in 1900, and its extension to Tenterden Town in 1903 and to Headcorn (as the K&ESR) in 1905. Contractor for the Rother Valley section was the London & Scottish Contract Corporation, who sub-contracted a partnership of George Brown Godfrey and Charles Liddelow to do the actual work

39-42

More about figures
Philip Shaw
The K&ESR Finance Director compares the accounts of the K&ESR for 2006 with those of the Mid-Hants Railway

43-46

Charwelton
Tom Burnham
Article on the history of this Manning Wardle 060ST, built in 1917 as Works No. 1955 for the Park Gate Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. of Rotherham. It worked at the Charwelton, Northamptonshire, ironstone quarries until the mid-1930s, and then at Sproxton, Leicestershire, from 1942 until 1963. It moved to the K&ESR for preservation in 1964, and is currently nearing completion of an overhaul

Number 106 – Summer 2008

18-21

Thunderbirds to go (Part 2)
Nick Pallant
Continues the story of two Class 14 diesel hydraulic 0-6-0 locomotives (Nos. 48 and 49) based on the K&ESR and hired through Stratrail Ltd. Projects where they were used included the Whitemoor materials distribution centre and Phase 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL)

25-26

Employment and salaries
Norman Brice
The chairman explains why the K&ESR employs the number of people it does, how we compare with steam railways, and what might be done about it

27-28

From the boardroom
Nick Pallant
Summary of matters discussed at recent Board meetings

29-32

Rye & Camber extension centenary
Laurie Cooksey
Marks the centenary of the opening of a half-mile extension of the Rye & Camber Tramway from Camber to Camber Sands on Monday 13 July 1908

34-36

Nationalisation – the end of independence
Brian Janes
Describes the reaction of the British Railways regional authorities to the three standard gauge light railways controlled from Salford Terrace following their nationalization at the beginning of 1948 – the K&ESR, the East Kent and the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire.

37-39

Obituaries
Robin Doust (1941-2008) who was one of the three founders of the movement to preserve the K&ESR and who dies in Zimbabwe; Andrew Wilton (1963-2008); David Campbell (1938-2008); Malcolm Knight (1940-2008)

41

A virtual K&ESR extension anyone?
Paul Wright
The author is extending the original K&ESR add-on package for Microsoft Train Simulator to include Bodiam to Robertsbridge and Tenterden to Headcorn, in addition to the Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst branch

39-42

The USAs
Brian Janes
In connection with the return to service of No.22 ‘Maunsell’, the history of the ‘USA’ class of 060T is outlined. A total of 382 were built for the US Army Transportation Corps (type S100) to a design by Col. Howard G. Hill for use in Europe. After the Second World War, 14 were used by the Southern Railway at Southampton Docks and later elsewhere, and two were acquired by the Kent & East Sussex Locomotive Trust in 1968