STEAM DREAMS IN KENT: DOUBLES ALL ROUND…

‘Mayflower’ – or maybe one of Ian Riley’s ‘Black Fives’ – should reach Folkestone twice on June 13. That’s when – depending on how you measure it – Steam Dreams runs anything between one and four trips between Victoria and Kent.

Confused? OK, take careful note: in engine terms, whichever 4-6-0 ends up hauling the trains is down for a pair of ‘White Cliffs’ circulars. They leave London morning and evening, expected to be at around 08.45 and 17.30, with the returns at 14.25 and 23.00-ish. There are pick-ups at Bromley South too.

So far so easy… but Steam Dreams is also offering passengers from London the chance to make a day of it – by travelling out on the first trip but back on the last.

The thing is though… if you’re doing that, why not also give Kent passengers a chance to visit the capital? So that’s an option too, from Canterbury.

Also, just to keep passengers using Canterbury sharp, the cathedral city is where the coastal-circuit itinerary effectively crosses over itself; this means the trains use a mix of Canterbury East (on the line between Faversham and Dover) and Canterbury West (AshfordMinster) during the day.

Still following? One more thing: if you decide on the London/BromleyKent day trip, you don’t have to alight at Canterbury. You could instead choose Folkestone for a visit to the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway.

See? Easy. Though, to be fair, it actually should be pretty straightforward for passengers.

“It seems complicated but it will work,” affirmed Steam Dreams chairman David Buck, “and we’re giving an opportunity to four sets of people.”

Bookings were going well, he reported in late March. Plus, he said: “If it turns out to be the success we think it will be, we’ll certainly look to repeat it – and do other things like it.”

The cheapest adult ticket price is £79 on either the morning or evening train. That rises to £89 for the full day trip.

●● One thing these charters won’t do is visit Folkestone Harbour. A full decade has now gone by since

Oliver Cromwell hauled the final passenger train up the 1-in-30 to the main line, in March 2009. Since then the branch has been turned into a walkway and Harbour station restored.

Still, at least it helps keep things simple. Otherwise Steam Dreams might have thought up some more options…

JAMES HAMILTON ‘Mayflower’ comes to a stand at South Croydon on March 23, en route to the Bluebell Railway with the Steam Dreams Rail Co. tour that started out from Southend. It was diesel-hauled as far as Sheffield Park, before returning north behind the newly overhauled ‘B1’.