Playing on the trains

It had to be. One obviously cannot stay in Hythe and not go on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. So today we took a ride – well several rides. A good move to wait until today, as yesterday was a special Fathers’ Day: Model Trains and Beer Festival and apparently it was a trifle busy.

The railway is tiny, (fifteen-inch-gauge for those who know about such things), the smallest public railway in the world. The steam locomotives are one-third-scale models, made during the 1920s and 30s. They are extremely well cared for and in immaculate condition. The carriages are a bit cramped, but you soon get used to it. It is all run just like a main line railway. 

So we bought our Romney Rover Tickets and caught the 10.30 train from Hythe. Stopping at Dymchurch and New Romney to allow passengers on and off, 13.5 miles and just over an hour later, we arrived at the terminus – Dungeness. A great journey across Romney Marsh, interesting views. 

Gordon went exploring round the lighthouse and I had a wander, marvelling at all the wildflowers growing in abundance amongst the shingle (see extra), and then sat in the sunshine until it was time for our next train back. On the return journey we stopped off at New Romney and went into the Model Railway Exhibition at the station, one of the largest operational model railways in England – apparently. Impressive. Then we caught the next train back to Hythe. 

Because this was a relatively quiet day, we got to talk to some of the people working on the trains and at the stations – we learnt a lot about how it all works. A super day and plenty of sunshine too.
 
The blip is our train when it had arrived in Dungeness, the locomotive is No 8 Hurricane, built in 1927.