I lived at Dungeness in 1973 and a few of those lines were still being used to move fish in boxes on small 4-wheel trucks. The lines have probably been there for over 100 years since prior to WWII, there were no roads to Dungeness. There was a standard gauge station on the Lydd to New Romney line near the RHDR Dungeness station. The decaying platform was still there in 1973 and the fish would have been transported by rail from there. Until the roads were built in 1940-41 the RHDR was used to transport troops to man the defences. This covered by WJK Davies in Chapter 5 of his book, The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway published by David & Charles in 1975.
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
Thankyou for that! 100 years wow!! Did not know they were that old..
@glen1555
3 күн бұрын
That's an interesting and thorough book. It needs an updated edition because so much more has happened to the railway since it was published. My library in Medway has a copy in the local history section.
@mercilyngono8955
5 ай бұрын
It is easy to see from even the most casual observations that this was originally a military railway. Narrow gauge railways were employed extensively by the army and navy at sprawling ranges since the early 1800s. They were used to haul munitions from stores to firing locations. And indeed even a cursory search reveals this area has been used as a military firing range since at least the 1870s.
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
I think it a case of both explanations from what I've heard in other comments they are ex military rails but were laid to run the fisheries catch down to the main road.. there was a little 2ft guage track used as a firing range up the road at Lydd but in terms of these tracks I think it's a case of both purposes essentially...
@mercilyngono8955
2 ай бұрын
@@Thecheekyengine I think that fishermen were allowed to use the railway is pure hyperbole. Lydd Military Ranges are in active use about 300 days a year. Does anyone honestly think the Ministry of War (now MOD) or the Admiralty would allow civilians to ply their trade on a live Military range when there are numerous miles of other safe landing locations adjacent to the range. I cannot say for certin it did not happen, but I have been unable to find anything documenting any of those assertions, so I have to contend it purely fanciful considering the lack of any evidence.
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
well in fact it is easy to see you are so completely wrong ,the miltiary base is some distance from her at nearby Lydd ,so you need to check facts first before making such assumptions ,these are trolley lines used for hauling fish boxes boat tackle ,ie nets floaters ,stores etcetc and were hand pushed or there were winches worked by hand or if lucky enough and a bit richer ,there was a few motorised ones too . ,hard work in those days ,I worked and lived down there along with my family whose families before them lived and worked there either on the branchline railway or on the boats ,and even operated bulldozers and the winches .to push/pull the boats to the sea and back across the shingle ,you can see more of these machines at Hastings old town ,and a few other places in the kent coast marsh towns ,ie whitstable ,deal rye etc etc ,and theres your answer for these extremely old tracks .go on lad put yer back into it ,got to get going and get the morning catch in ready to be sent on next train or lorry .to london .
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
@@mercilyngono8955 exactly right you are ,the ranges are way off from here on the beaches ,these indeed are fisheries tracks for hauling the catch and all fishing tackle ,nets motors,engines etc using hand or motorised winches .I know ,I lived ,worked there with my family in 1950 ,1960,s 1970.s 1980,s (watched new lighthouse and power station being built .)and their families before them from 1800,s even us young boys did the running work too ,very tiring and a hard day ,loved going out on the boats though ,even in rough weathers .either during the day or night .yep great times down there in my young days .
@terry-wc9sw
7 күн бұрын
lydd military ranges were further away so this was not a military set up at all ,I know because I lived there from 1950,s this was purely for fishing use only .,most of huts have gone now due to erosion etc and some vandalism along with the boats .this area is in fact a museum ,but alas people mistreated it ,dungeness is a private estate and owned as such ,it is not a public right of way and rules etc DO APPLY .
@jonjones6583
14 күн бұрын
So interesting, thanks, I enjoyed thoroughly. Definitely enjoyed! Cheers
@Thecheekyengine
14 күн бұрын
Thankyou for watching! 🙂
@Sam_Green____4114
5 ай бұрын
The track was there to take ammunition / shells to coastal batteries in WW2 .They had small diesel locos and were 2ft Gauge . They had very similar (if not part of the same system ) over the MOD fence to the right on the Lydd target railway nearby ! (if you are walking from North to South towards the Nuclear Power stations ) They were actually still in use in the 1990s as a Target Railway on the firing ranges at Lydd . But I'm not sure they are today . The whole system and the maintenance was privatised and passed to Serco who said it was too costly to maintain and the whole system of lines was closed down about the year 2000 ! If anyone knows different and the Target Railway is still going please reply !
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
Yes I've read a few thi gs about the target railway just a little bit further along from Lydd station, that will definately be my next point of call, heard about the diesel locos running up the line with targets would love to have seen that! 😂
@Sam_Green____4114
5 ай бұрын
@@Thecheekyengine Yes we has small diesels You used to sit in them sideways .The actual trains with targets on them were un manned " Drones " with VW engines which were started and then let loose ,going around a loop in the firing area . They were stopped by switching them it a siding which had a solid post which hit an engine cut out switch ! Someone had to be on standby to apply the parking brake quickly to stop them rolling back .
@Tuckaway
4 ай бұрын
I have visited the area a few times and all these rails were salvaged by fishermen after WW2 when the army used the RHDR railway to help in the building of the PLUTO pipeline. The original RHDR 15 inch gauge railway was built in 1927 by Captain JEP Howey as a double track line all the way to Dungeness point. After the war so much damage had been done that to save cost it was rebuilt only as a single track line with a balloon loop at the point. Only North of New Romney is it still double track. The Army were extremely rough and damaged a lot of the track with caterpiller vehicles. All these rails were scrap left over from their war damage.
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
the track is rhdr stock and thats a fact,
@michaelroche6298
Ай бұрын
Your video shows rusting winches. These were used to pull the wagons not pushed by hand when I was a boy.
@Thecheekyengine
Ай бұрын
Ahh cool, there is so many conflicting comments about these its hard to know what the origins were.. a lot of people state there lots of information but when I looked there was barely any online.. thankyou though! 👍
@ianjeffery6744
5 ай бұрын
Yes, these are fish railways - nothing to do with the RHDR or any military line in the area. The WD lines at Lydd Camp were standard gauge (a siding from Lydd Town yard) and two-foot gauge.
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
I thought they were, had read they were used for fishing.. thanks for the info!
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
the tracks are ex rhdr ,ones ,the wooden sleepers have been taken from most for use as firewood .
@PeterMullinger
5 ай бұрын
I believe that rails are ex WWI, War Department track as used on the front. This was all surplus to requirements and sold off after the war so was cheap. Prior to that they probably used either wooden waggon ways or trucks with very wide wheels. Today, looking through Davies, book I discover that a fish siding was included at Dungeness when the RHDR Dungeness extension was built! I also found this in Davies’ book: “Beyond 'The Pilot' public house there was no made up road, and no development; the local fishermen transacted their business on plank 'shingle shoes' known as back-stays and used rough tramways to trolley their catches to a point whence they could be collected by lorry. The lighthouse keepers and coastguards received their supplies from the Southern Railway's branch of a branch that left the New Romney line near Lydd and ended in the shadow of Dungeness lighthouse. From its terminus a long siding trailed down to the fishing beach and a primitive weigh-house; it was used mainly for obtaining shingle ballast.” Fascinating stuff.
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
That's amazing! Thankyou for the info there! Certainly a lot of history behind these rails then for sure!!
@keithbenfield9238
2 ай бұрын
What an interesting video, 10 minutes of crunch crunch on shingle.
@Thecheekyengine
2 ай бұрын
We did discuss rolling out carpet or laying out floor panels but I decided against it.. well done for sitting through 10 minutes of it!
@cantiaci
5 ай бұрын
I'm far from an expert but wasn't that an abandoned winding engine on the beach near the end of the tracks ? Make's sense to pull the trucks along the tracks mechanically rather than pushing by hand.
@Thecheekyengine
5 ай бұрын
Yes you could be right there! I didn't really pay attention to that at the time!
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
yep correct they winding winches ,they had either hand operated ones or if you were lucky to own one a motorised one ,which were also used to pull in the boats up the shingle beach too
@JulianSaunders
23 күн бұрын
It is sad to see so much vandalism.
@jsimmo52
3 ай бұрын
An interesting video - thanks. You can just about see some of these on GOOGLE Earth running west->east off Dungeness Road near the Snack Shack and also just to the north of it.
@Thecheekyengine
3 ай бұрын
Thankyou! Yeah I have looked before and yeah you can just about see some, hoping to track down some more soon ad I'm pretty sure there are loads more near by in lydd
@chrismccartney8668
4 ай бұрын
The is the Foreshore need point clear nr st Osyth some track in The shingle and remains of a large timber arched bridge that crossed Ray's Creek, this was used to take shingle for building I believe across the Creek and marshes to be loaded into thames barges. In the 70s the trucks and engine were in mud in the Creek, and according a sailing video made by Dylan Winter called Keep turning Left he sailed up the area and re.ajns still the mud...
@Thecheekyengine
4 ай бұрын
Facinating stuff! Thankyou for that!
@terry-wc9sw
2 ай бұрын
whats st osyth clacton got to do with dungeness ???
Пікірлер: 40