A day in the life of the Folkestone Harbour Heritage Railway…

I was thrilled to bits when my Folkestone Harbour Heritage Railway featured in the Show & Tell pages of Model Rail last spring (MR299). This whole business has come out of Covid – I found time on my hands and it all went from there. Success!

Subsequently, I got a friend to come in and take out the worst of the ‘scrap’ baseboards and put in something better. It was quite a task. When I had lifted all the track so he could do his carpentry, my resolution almost failed – I could not see myself re‑laying it all. But I have!

Altogether, my railway has come into its own. Indeed, it has gone a stage further. I have evolved a regular programme for a Summer Gala Day on the FHHR. Dawn to dusk – a sequence of train movements rather than just running trains at random. My visits to the attic, always a joy, are now more so. They are purposeful.

The new home of the new Great British Railways organisation is yet to be announced. ‘GBR’ will replace the old Network Rail. This old railway buff (83), equally ‘time expired’, no longer has the energy to visit heritage railways. So my old attic ‘OO’ railway has become my new ‘OO’ heritage railway operating as Folkestone Harbour Heritage Railway. If you can’t get to heritage railways, imagine – and then build – your own. I recommend the idea.

Imagine it. My FHHR is celebrating a Gala Day. With the cooperation of the heritage railways fraternity, eager plastic steam buffs are converging on the Kent Heritage Coast. Here’s a typical daily sequence of events… Tom Ridout, Salisbury

The ‘B12’ goes east, the ‘Duchess’, going west, arrives. Waiting in the siding are a SECR ‘Terrier’ 0‑6‑0T and a Highland Railway 0‑4‑0ST. They get their moment, first crossing the Up line to draw the LNER coaches away and then removing the LMS stock. All ASAP – the main line must be kept clear!

Away go the tank engines wreathed in steam. The bay platform of Folkestone Town is already filling up. Once the tank engines have cleared the line, the shuttle service down the branch line to Folkestone Quay can get busy.

Above & right: Folkestone Quay, wreathed in steam, screeching seagulls, salty-fishy-sooty smells abounding, with some seaside ozone too – what could be better! In the far platform, No. 1, is ‘Eurostar’. Waiting in Platform 2 is ‘Battle of Britain’ 4‑6‑2 Spitfire, raring to go. The big ‘Pacific’ will take the clockwise route, Folkestone Town, Ashford, Canterbury and then back down the old Elham Valley line now, restored and owned by the FHHR. Platform 3 holds Sir Dinadin, this veteran will follow the 4‑6‑2 out with the ‘Q1’ 0‑6‑0 banking. The ‘Knight’ will take the anticlockwise route, Elham, Canterbury, Ashford. Saint Patrick, in Platform 5, will resume its shuttle service once the two excursions have left.

Right: First back is Spitfire just coming to rest at the throat of Folkestone Quay. Uncoupled, it runs forward onto the quay to immediately set back on the Up line to be turned before its next trip. Below: BR ‘9F’ Evening Star, on station pilot duties for this special day, nudges up against Spitfire’s train and carefully shunts it into Platform 2. The day will end when the ‘Duchess’ and the ‘B12’, reformed with their respective trains on Folkestone Quay, head straight home without the need for a change of train at Folkestone Town.

From the Severn Valley, an LNER ‘B12’ has hauled six teak carriages into Folkestone Town station. The engine has been uncoupled and is running forward to turn on the FHHRS turntable and then take a much-needed rest – after a very early start! Just coming into view is Duchess of Sutherland on the Up line, eight LMS red coaches behind it with its valiant crew a teeny bit peeved to see that the LNER train has arrived before them.

First off the harbour branch line is a Eurostar service. On the FHHRS own line to the bay platform at Folkestone Town is Saint Patrick with the other shuttle. The ‘Saint’ will now spend the rest of its day between Folkestone Town and Folkestone Quay.