Kent & East Sussex Railway

Very few lines are 100 per cent as they would have been, its now part of the leisure business, and that means having too give your average visitor, what they want, and what they expect, everything has to be a compromise, attractions can't stand still, be static, they have to attract, and that means having to offer things that were never there before, in some cases, even the station buildings are new, Broadway, for example, others have extended what they have, new toilet blocks, better catering,

 

Before you lean on the "must criticise" button, please also factor in that the KESR is in the middle of a motive power crisis. At this moment in time, we don't have a single "heavy" engine, capable of hauling our main service, from our home fleet. We looked around for an engine to hire in, but with so many railways in similar circumstances, and a number of engines already tied up, the pool was more of a puddle.

Having said that, why not? The KESR is somewhat overlooked by the enthusiast market, so if it takes us bringing in a spam can to get us back on the map, it's no bad thing. Certainly the number of people planning visits now, (who I suspect would not have set foot outside their front door for a diet of 3 Buckets), seems to be increasing on an almost daily basis.

People have to get away from the "It's a Colonel Stephens line, so it should only be a Terrier, one coach and three wagons" mentality. Every railway is doing what it needs to do to survive right now, with income thin, and times hard. If we can only get by by having a 9F on one set and a Deltic on the other, that's what we'll do. Bucolic is wonderful, but it doesn't pay the bills.

 

Hello Martin.
Yes, having 100% authenticity is impossible but running express type trains on little country branch lines is hardly ''heritage''. Quite a few non enthusiasts can tell the people difference. Paul

 

And neither is running Austerity tanks or 2MTs with pre-grouping four wheelers, but our railways do what they need to make it work.

Besides, you dislike the expression 'heritage'

 

I thought that running Bulleids on country branch lines was what the SR was renowned for?

 

Don’t make @Jamessquared get his photo album out again…

 

What about locomotives like Hastings, a Victorian industrial in a fake livery, which probably never hauled a passenger train until 2021? Yet it looks so ‘right’ in the recent photos on the K&ESR. The spamcan will look utterly ‘wrong’ - but I’m looking forward to seeing them both.

 

To be core to its heritage, the KESR should operate on 75 lb/yard flat bottom spiked track. Ash and mud platforms should be short in length and at stand at least 2 foot below step board level. Derailments should be the norm. 'Ballast' should consist of coal ash. Guards should inspect tickets using carriage running boards. Wooden carriages should be rotten and leaking. Toilets should only be available to men. The company should be insolvent and in the hands of the receiver. Services should be frequently cancelled due to locomotive or railcar failures.

 

I think you will find the lighter Bullieds were commonly used on Country lines, many a time the Eastbourne to Hailsham shuttle was one sometimes with just one coach, it seemed to be if they were sitting there with nothing else to do they were used , so one day it would be a Terrier, another day an E4 , K or Bullied.

 

You're right. I've lost count of the number of times I've arrived at Sheffield Park to see people storming out of the station with kids and families in tow shouting "it's disgusting that you've got a GWR Dukedog running with Metropolitan Railway carriages, you'll never be seeing ME again!". Once I saw a mother watching a 9F arrive with a passenger train on the Mid Hants and called her lawyer to demand he sued the railway for the historical inaccuracy she was having inflicted on her. And I can barely bring myself to mention what happened to the chap who glimpsed a Bulleid Pacific running into Kidderminster station (which, as we all know, should be a coal yard by rights), but I hope he recovers soon.

 

If the IOWSR want to offer the Ivatts, and Austerities a new home, I'm sure Rolvendon would offer them a good home. but as they are very commercially run, i can't see them wanting to become a small engine line, by small, I mean A1X, and Invincible .

 

That would be one extreme, which I'm sure none of us would favour. But a Pacific on an ex-Colonel-Stevens line is close to the opposite extreme. As an attraction for the visitors and as fun for the volunteers it's absolutely fine. But is the K&ESR one of those with a claimed educational function to support charitable status? If so, what story are the visitors told?

 

Paul did put a question mark at the end of his post, but that was probably missed.
His posts seem to bring out the "disgusted of Tunbrige Wells" in many people. However, the reactions are worth watching.

 

OED describes Heritage as (among property transfer) as
'relating to things of historic or cultural value that are worthy of preservation'.

Sounds like 257 fits that bill to me. A Class 68 than I may agree with you.

 

Paul was trying to be deliberately provocative, or else questioning the judgement of some people who have taken a lot of time to make this happen. Either way, it's not particularly palatable.

 

Every word of this is absolutely spot on. I think the KESR gets a great balance between accurately representing the character of its unique heritage and story, doing what's practical and pragmatic in the 2020s, and going for something outlandish to draw the crowds when needed. A preserved railway can do ALL of that.

Tenterden's a 200+mile trip for us so while I spent a lot of time there in my teens in the 90s when all family holidays were to Gran's house near Ashford, it's not that easy or cost-effective to drop in on the KESR with my own family now. But as soon as I read that it was having the Bulleid visit, Dad and I made sure we'd definitely get there for it just because it's something so different and incongruous, and has wonderful rarity value. That's also the reason why my last visit to the Isle of Wight was for the Cl.33 at the 2017 diesel gala, for instance.

We're also looking forward to enjoying whichever Austerity is out at the KESR on the same day as they make such a great noise up Tenterden bank. Having the Bulleid there too just gives us that extra incentive to make the long and not-cheap trip. Well done to everyone involved in making this visit happen, you have our respect and gratitude.

 

If you're there on a Saturday, it may well be Hastings, instead of an Austerity!

 

Plan A at the moment is the 1940s weekend so we can do the RHDR gala too, maximise the value of the big west-to-east trip! So maybe two Austerities then...?

 

I would guess at one Austerity, 257 and Hastings, but you never know! I do know that 257 is slated to run two trips on each day at the 40's weekend.

 

Well whatever.
You have a Bulleid now, so have fun with it, but don't say I didn't warn you when you have to keep fixing the track EVERY TIME it runs.