Info req on Sandling-Hythe-Folkestone branch?

[Bruce Depot]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone can help, having stopped at the brother in laws at Saltwood have seen the branch line platform at Sandling station, some of the old railway route

with station road through Hythe and then along above the sea towards Folkestone, so just what was it for? Any history etc welcome or even a book on it?

 

thanks

 

keith

[mow]

South Coast Railways Ashford to Dover - Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith.

 

The book has c. 17 photos of the line from Sandling Junction to Sandgate with extracts from OS maps of Sandling, Hythe and Sandgate.

[Fat Controller]

The branch was supposedly intended to run through Sandgate, and then along the sea-front to the harbour- it would have had easier gradients than the existing Folkestone Harbour branch, and would not have required reversals at the main-line junction. It was stymied by the Earl of Radnor's Estate, the largest landowners in Folkestone, who considered that it would spoil the view from the Leazes. Radnor was, I believe, a director of the GWR- not anti-rail as such, just not in his back yard (or more accurately below his front garden).

The line was built as far as Sandgate, with earthworks continuing towards Folkestone. The structures were built to double track loading gauge, though only single track was ever laid. Most of the eventual traffic was local in nature, though there may have been some military traffic to the Garrison at Shornecliffe. Most of the route has been lost, though there are still some impressive bridge abutements to be seen, as well as an entire arch at Seabrook, crossing Horn Street.

There are some books about the railways in the area- an author called Brian Hart comes to mind.

Brian

[phil-b259]

From http://www.kentrail.co.uk/sandling_junction.htm

 

The Ashford to Folkestone section of the SER??™s Dover trunk line came into use on 28th June 1843, Westenhanger existing as the sole intermediate station between the two towns. Over two decades later, in 1864, the SER received Royal Assent for the construction of a double-track branch line, 3??-miles in length, to Hythe and Sandgate, which left the Kent Coast main line at Sandling. The ultimate goal was to extend the branch line to Folkestone Harbour, to allow direct access to the Harbour station, avoiding the steep incline to Folkestone Junction, and bypassing the need for a reversal manoeuvre at the latter. A protracted planning and construction programme ensued, funding for the scheme decidedly lacking, but the branch eventually opened through to Sandgate on 9th October 1874. Two years later, Parliament formally approved the extension of the line to Folkestone Harbour, which was three miles to the east. The SER planned for the line to run parallel with the coastline, at the back of Sandgate beach, but trouble was afoot. With aesthetics in mind, the residents of Folkestone, and the prominent Lord Radnor, opposed the route: should the eastward extension of the branch go ahead, the rails must pass under Folkestone by means of a tunnel. Unfortunately for the SER, boring a tunnel would multiply the cost of the extension by several times, and as it later transpired, the company took the branch no further than Sandgate, leaving the 1 in 30 descent from Folkestone Junction as the only means of access to the Harbour station.

 

From the outset, passengers made their connections between the main line and the Sandgate branch at Westenhanger. This situation was markedly improved upon by the opening of a new station layout at the point of divergence, on 1st January 1888; the station was known as ?????™Sandling Junction??™??™ from the outset. This was a spacious arrangement, comprising no less than four platform faces ??“ two for the main line, and a pair of tightly curving faces for the departing branch line. The station had, in effect, two main buildings: one upon the ?????™up??™??™ branch line platform, and a second alongside the ?????™up??™??™ main line platform. The architecture here was untypical of the SER: both structures were single-storey in height, and were built to a Mock Tudor style. Only the 1883-opened Nutfield station, on the Redhill to Tonbridge section of the SER??™s original main line route, was completed in this manner. The ?????™up??™??™ branch platform was without protection from the elements, but the ?????™down??™??™ side and both main line surfaces were equipped with pitched roof canopies. These were simple affairs, featuring a triangular cross-section and lacking any form of valance. The ?????™up??™??™ main line platform and the ?????™down??™??™ branch platform combined to create a large single triangular surface, of which can later be appreciated within the accompanying images. The main line platforms were linked by an 80-foot-long lattice footbridge (of which acquired a roof three years after opening), whilst the branch surfaces were instead connected by means of track foot crossings, located at both ends of the platforms. Mention should also be made of the Station Master??™s House: this was a substantial two-storey affair, complete with a large garden, and resided just to the west of the ?????™up??™??™ branch platform.

 

Since the station??™s raison d'??tre was solely to provide an interchange between the main line and the Sandgate branch, no dedicated goods yard existed at the layout. Nevertheless, two refuge sidings were still in evidence, these flanking either side of the branch line platforms. The site was controlled by two SER-designed timber signal boxes: the first controlled the junction with the main line, and was positioned on the ?????™up??™??™ side, to the west of the station; the second cabin was erected at the southern extremity of the ?????™up??™??™ branch platform, and controlled access to the refuge sidings and the platform lines from the Hythe direction. The tight curvature of the branch line tracks within the station required the installation of guide rails.

 

As mentioned earlier, the SER was thwarted in its ambitions to reach Folkestone Harbour from the main line at Sandling. As a result of the line terminating at Sandgate, traffic along the branch was consistently light. It was left to the Southern Railway to implement the first wave of cutbacks: on 1st April 1931, the Hythe to Sandgate section of the branch line was closed completely, and the remaining stretch between the former and Sandling Junction was singled. At the Junction station, the ?????™up??™??™ branch line platform was taken out of use, its track lifted, and the signal box on this surface decommissioned. The station building upon this platform, however, remained in use as a ticket office. The Hythe branch had only a brief British Railways existence: on 3rd December 1951, the line was closed to traffic completely. The ?????™Junction??™??™ suffix was dropped from the main line station??™s name boards, and thereafter, these read ?????™Sandling for Hythe??™??™. The remaining single-track which ran alongside the ?????™down??™??™ branch platform was, however, retained as a siding, and it also served as an elongated head shunt for the earlier mentioned refuge sidings. Previously, in 1949, the Southern Region proposed renaming the station ?????™Hythe Junction??™??™, but this was soon rejected in favour of keeping the existing title.

[Fat Controller]

To further add to the exhaustive reply from Phil:-

after closure of the branch, a couple of Camping Coaches were stabled at Sandling for a while- there are some photos in the current booking hall which I believe show them. Dave, the Railman who looked after the station for many years, assembled an esoteric collection of material which he displayed- this included a part of the Eurostar pantograph that collided with the footbridge in the days before CTRL 1 opened. Sadly, Sandling doesn't feature in the current proposals for domestic high-speed trains to St Pancras- a pity, as it's convenient for my house, and has relatively cheap parking!

Westenhanger station building, which is vitually unaltered sice SER days, and has been almost derelict for many years, has recently had quite a lot of money expended on it. I'm not sure what is intended for the building- since the new service started, I haven't had to make as many trips there.

Brian

[pwr]

Don't forget the Wild Swan book on the Hythe and Sandling Railway - I don't know if it is still in print but your local library may be able to help

 

Paul R

[Bruce Depot]

Thanks all, will search for the books and see if I can get them when chance.

 

PWR thanks, had to smile when you mentioned my local library! (check my location out!)

 

great help all

 

thanks again

 

Keith

Lanzarote

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

This is the exact branch that my layout is based on!!! See: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/222/entry-798-hythe-parkway-remodelling-starts/

 

Look at the books

 

Branches & Byways of Kent by John Scot Morgan

 

Railways of Kent by Anthony W. Burges

 

Both have some very nice photos of the Branch, also look on the Bluebell Railway Musuem website:

 

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-34-7.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-15-6.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-15-5.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-15-4.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-34-6.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-34-5.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-34-4.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-6-8.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b02/2-4-4.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b02/2-4-3.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-7-2.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-7-5.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-7-4.htm

http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b04/4-7-3.htm

 

 

Hope this Helps!

 

Simon

[jamie92208]

It could also form the basis of a good mixed gauge layout as the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway planned to extend up to Sandgate in the 1930's to give it a 3rd main line connection, along with New Romney and Dungeness. They even built the two 4-8-2 loco's to operate the section but it never got built and the terminus stayed at Hythe. I don't have my history of the RHDR handy but there is more detail in that.

 

Jamie