Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is a fifteen inch gauge light railway on the Kent coast stretching 13.5 miles from Dungeness to Hythe. Having passed the Dymchurch railway station many years ago, I knew it existed, but never got round to visiting. What I didn’t know was the impressive history of this mini railway and its fleet of personally named trains. It was a destined adventure coming across it with time to spare to take a ride, granted it was late in the day but we saw the experience to be had. We started our journey at Dungeness station where a stone throw away from the entrance stands two lighthouses, one of them you can pay £5 to climb, learn its history and how the lighthouses work. There is welcomed and rare free parking for both the railway and lighthouses.
Having never been to Dungeness, driving through and absorbing the rather strange erie landscape with miles of shingle, miss placed houses and huts, I was slow to realise what a unique place it was followed by being in awe of it.
Entering The End of the Line Restaurant where the ticket office and souvenir shop is conveniently sharing the same space, we got our tickets, a coffee and my obligatory fridge magnet. As it was drawing closer to the end of the day, there was only one more train on the timetable to leave. We accepted this would affect enjoying all that the railway experience has to offer and if arriving earlier, a full day could have been had. We settled for the 50 minute round trip to New Romney and was excited to ride a one-third full size historic locomotive.
The locomotive for our journey out was the magnificent Samson steam engine with US Crosby whistle built by Davey Paxman & Co in 1927. looking absolutely stunning in Prussian blue this powerful and beautiful engine took us through miles of stunning landscapes and surprisingly cheeky glimpse of town people’s back gardens.
Our carriage was fitted with traditional manually operated sliding doors and windows which reminded me of the old slam door trains I used to get to school. Hanging my head out the window like I did in my youth with the sounds of the train speeding along the track, countryside in view and the smell of a hard working engine, a truly wonderful enjoyable experience. An experience I suspect many Marsh Academy children had as the railway was contracted by Kent County Council to transport kids to and from Romney Marsh but sadly ceased in 2007. However, it does still hold a post office licence for rail postal service.
We arrived at New Romney station with 10 minutes to spare before our train started its journey back. We exited Sampson’s carriages to see many of the thirteen superb fleet of steam and diesel locomotives. The miniature theme continued through the station with petite platforms, mini passenger bridges and signs seeping adorableness.
Also located at the New Romney station is the Model Railway Exhibition. Sadly we didn’t have time to explore this but it’s potentially the largest model railway in England and has been running since 1978. We spent our free 10 minutes invading the drivers space admiring every angle of the Green Goddess, the steam engine in LNER Apple Green with a small chime whistle build in 1925, that will take us back to Dungeness.
The return journey with Green Goddess was equally as impressive as we sped along at 25mph. Admiring the vast reaching sights I imagined the journeys of past times and the people that took them. From soldiers, materials and equipment in World War Two, after the railway was requisitioned by the war department, to royal, school and general public transport. The Railway is a truly wonderful piece of history. It carried the title of “smaller public railway in the world” from 1926 to 1978 and “the only armoured miniature train in the world” being created to guard the railway during the war.
Overall we throughly enjoyed our short trip with Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and would highly recommend it. It’s an all generational day out, even the dog can go along for free. It’s fantastic for engine or locomotive fans as you can get up close, talk to the drivers, covered in soot, and feel the engine really working on your ride. Don’t be like us, plan ahead to make the most of a full fun day out, but if you only have a couple of hours to spare, it’s still worth it.
You can find us on Facebook & Instagram