‘ Longest’ viaduct in SOS maintenance funds appeal
A£ 25,000 emergencyappeal to keep trains running overwhat is believed to be the longest viaduct inthe heritage sectorhas been launched.
The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway ( SKLR) has launched the appeal to fund the next round of maintenance for the 2895ftlong Milton Regis viaduct, which comprises a quarter of the 2ft 6in gauge industrial line’s two- mile length, and which consists of 118 trestle spans and six bridges.
More than £ 200,000 has been spent maintaining the viaduct over the years, but because the railway has been closed during the Covid- 19 lockdown, there has been no revenue from ticket sales and funds for repairs have run dry.
The viaduct was built byTrollope and Colls, a company formed in 1903 by two firms of London builders, the former previously responsible for Claridge’s Hotel. Trollope and Colls becameawell- known civil engineering company, part of the Trafalgar House Group from 1968 and eventually part of modern- day construction company Skanska.
The specification was set out by engineers Rendel, Palmer & Tritton, a companywhose previous projects included the Royal Docks complex in London, and which went on to design bridges, docks and other structures around the world, the company now being known simply as Rendel.
Although originally specified to be built in steel, the viaduct on the SKLR is of reinforced concrete construction throughout, still a relatively new material when it was built during the FirstWorldWar for £ 10,615. Its purpose was to connect the Sittingbourne paper mill of Edward Lloyd, the newspaper owner and publisher, to the newly built Ridham Dock on the River Swale.
It served all the subsequent owners of the paper mills until Bowaters handed over the railway to the Locomotive Club of Great Britain
in 1969. Nowmore than a century old, the viaduct is an iconic part of the heritage line and indeed the sector asawhole, weaving a path from Sittingbourne Viaduct station through the local industrial sector, before the railway descends to ground level and heads out across the countryside andmarshland to Kemsley Down. However, the viaduct is showing its age and requires safety inspection and maintenance by specialist contractors every two years, the next being due at the end of this year.
Liz Fuller, chairman of the railway’s trustees, said:“The funds for this rolling programme of work normally come from the annual revenue from ticket, refreshment and merchandise sales on the railway.
“However this year, with no passenger services so far due to Covid- 19, the railway needs to find alternative funds for all essential work. Consequently, the SKLR is appealing for donations towards the expected minimum cost of £ 25,000 this winter to ensure services can still operate over the viaduct in 2021.
“Any sum, nomatter how large or small, will help towards the target.”
➜ Donations canbemadevia the railway’s Just Givingpageatwww. justgiving. com/ sklr. Mention‘ Viaduct 2020’ in the commentsboxsothe moneygoes to theright fund.
Likeother heritage lines, the SKLR is nowreclaiming the line fromnature following the lockdown period.