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Steam Railways help ?

I must be getting old as me and the good lady getting into steam railways thinks its the nostalgic thing and harping back to the good old days of rural england ....and the cream teas
we normally visit them on holiday but keep thinking of doing local ones ie Kent...appear to be a few anyone know of the best ones to visit in kent ?
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  • edited June 2009
    oh dear the Holmesdale boys will love this

    i know there's one i surrey down godalming way somewhere
  • Tenterden....

    *cough* so a mate told me ;-)
  • Swanley Park has a minature one for the kiddies
  • [cite]Posted By: DaveStorry[/cite]Swanley Park has a minature one for the kiddies

    That one is great.

    Dymchurch to Hythe has one doesn't it? sure I went on one to Dungerness once
  • Bluebell in West Sussex, allegedly...
  • there's a steam rally/festival thing in wrotham this weekend.
    a bloke in work told me honest.
  • Bluebell Railway is in sussex and even has a replica tommy the tank engine ahem
  • If you fancy a trip to Norfolk, there is the "Poppy" Line from Sheringham to Holt. There is also the Mid Norfolk Line from Dereham to Wymondham (mainly Diesels with Steam on summer weekends)

    If you want to go further afield "down south", the Swannage Railway from Swannage to Corfe Castle is one of the best I've been on.

    Bing "The Steam"
  • Got married at Horsted Keynes station last year on the Bluebell line (Sussex). Really nice little railway.
    And before the trainspotter jibes come in, for us it was a fitting tribute to my father in law who passed away a couple of years ago and worked all his life on the railways.

    The honeymoon on the trans-mongolian railway and full trip by train from Beijing back to Oxford however I may let you have a few thermos flask gags about ;)
  • edited June 2009
    I got to be honest the Sittingbourne and Kemsley light railway is the business.

    You start off on the industrial estate make your way past the scrap yard, sewage works, Asdas, the Dump across the nature reserve and end up at the paper mill and to top it all of the Volunteers that help this go along are usually community services guys i kid you not!!. Enjoy!

    Note worth getting a return finishes in Kemsley very rough!!
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  • NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    SINK SINK SINK
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: DaveStorry[/cite]Swanley Park has a minature one for the kiddies

    That one is great.

    Dymchurch to Hythe has one doesn't it? sure I went on one to Dungerness once

    Yes it is a small guage and well worth the ride. Tip get on a carriage well back from the engine or you will have a black speckled face by the time you get off.


    [cite]Posted By: Dazzler21[/cite]Bluebell Railway is in sussex and even has a replica tommy the tank engine ahem

    Well worth going on.
  • cheers some bearded cardey guy as work said the spa railway tonbridge was good then started talking russian i think.........guarge number of wheels etc etc but may if that a whirl and a few bars on the line
  • [cite]Posted By: dartfordgent[/cite]cheers some bearded cardey guy as work said the spa railway tonbridge was good then started talking russian i think.........guarge number of wheels etc etc but may if that a whirl and a few bars on the line

    Lol, did it involve phrases like 0040, saddle tanks and tenders? And how blue is his anorak?
  • strange you say its a blue quilted paddy hopkirk rally jacket with a few steam engine badges on it ...........and he did mention a string of numbers....
  • I've heard there's a 'Watercress line' at Alton in Hampshire, and something on the Isle of Wigit - but naturally I've never seen either.

    And I think there's a big steam loco depot at Didcot near the power station.

    When I used to work on the railway years ago, there used to be mainline steam loco specials, on a few of the BR main lines some weekends. They are probably still running from time to time, especially in the summer. You'd have to Google them to find out where and when - but you'd see a steam loco-hauled mainline express train speeding by, you can even buy tickets for them.

    PS: What's a steam train.?
    And do you have to be a Charlton fan, wear thick black rimmed glasses and an anorak to qualify?
  • That's the usual dress code for summer, Oggy and you carry your sarnies, Ian Allen spotters book, spare pens and Kodak box camera in a Charlton duffle bag! Anyway, Steam Dreams are good, they run the Cathedral Expresses to various cities from Victoria. For instance, on 23rd. July an express is running to Canterbury hauled by Battle of Britain class 'Tangmere' and there's a connection to Whitstable for the annual Oyster Festival. It stops at Bromley South for a pick up on the way. Cheap seats are £49.50: Pullman dining car is £145 or thereabouts. See website : steamdreams.com. As Oggy says there is the Watercress line running between Alton and Alresford and steam at theb Didcot Steam Centre. Hawkhurst has the mid-Kent line but the Bluebell is the original and best of the revived lines. They do theme days: there's probably something happening for Father's day next week. Steam engines: the next best thing to trams!
  • [cite]Posted By: March51[/cite]That's the usual dress code for summer, Oggy and you carry your sarnies, Ian Allen spotters book, spare pens and Kodak box camera in a Charlton duffle bag! Anyway, Steam Dreams are good, they run the Cathedral Expresses to various cities from Victoria. For instance, on 23rd. July an express is running to Canterbury hauled by Battle of Britain class 'Tangmere' and there's a connection to Whitstable for the annual Oyster Festival. It stops at Bromley South for a pick up on the way. Cheap seats are £49.50: Pullman dining car is £145 or thereabouts. See website : steamdreams.com. As Oggy says there is the Watercress line running between Alton and Alresford and steam at theb Didcot Steam Centre. Hawkhurst has the mid-Kent line but the Bluebell is the original and best of the revived lines. They do theme days: there's probably something happening for Father's day next week. Steam engines: the next best thing to trams!

    Well, that looks like the next Charlton Life meet up is sorted then ; - )
  • [cite]Posted By: dartfordgent[/cite]cheers some bearded cardey guy


    I hate those sort of people. Bloody beardies!
  • Bridgenorth to Bewdley line has a beer festival at stations along the route, not sure of the date but Autumn...ish
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  • Feckin' trainspotters the lot of yer!

    I see the Vulcan XH 558 will be at this years Biggin Hill airfair.
  • When is the Biggin Hill Air Show this year. never been despite it being down the road.

    Great when the planes whoooooooooosh over the garden on the way over.
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]When is the Biggin Hill Air Show this year. never been despite it being down the road.

    Great when the planes whoooooooooosh over the garden on the way over.

    27th & 28th June.

    A list of aircraft present:

    http://www.bigginhillairfair.co.uk/display.php
  • *CONFUSED*

    Are we trainspotters or/and Planespotters ?



    PS. The Isle of Wight steam railway is brilliant............

    .....apparently.
  • Only one way to find out..................
  • For the more cultured amongst us try the Flying Proms at Headcorn Areodrome

    Take a picnic, table n chairs, flags and have a good old singalong to Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and the like to finish off the day.

    There's a pretty good aerial display throughout the afternoon too.

    http://www.headcornaerodrome.co.uk/flying_proms.html
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]When is the Biggin Hill Air Show this year. never been despite it being down the road.

    Great when the planes whoooooooooosh over the garden on the way over.

    When I lived at the country end of Bromley Common, Biggin Hill Air Show day meant loads of mates coming over to my place, in the garden with tinnies and whatever bottles of wallop they brought along.

    We'd all lay around in the sun getting absolutely hammered watching all the different planes flying overhead.

    Somebody would pick up a guitar, bongo's and stuff and we'd drunkenly try to sing Led Zep and Bad Company songs and do our best to annoy the neighbours, until we got bored with all that and staggered up to the pub as soon as it opened.


    The only time I went to the show proper, we were stuck for hours in sweltering heat in a traffic jam all the way to airfield.
    Never again. Hence the garden parties thereafter.
  • Oggy

    Yes rememebr many years ago me and me dad use to park up near bromley golf course and walk to the show..great days ......think if i did it now id struggle to A) make the distance B) not just bowl in first pub and stay there hant been fir like 20 years guess its got smaller over the years........anyone know if its still a good day out
  • Oh for the love of god why why why post this here!!!

    Please admin delete this thread. The stick i get already there is no need for this!!!
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