Mountain-type locomotive, Hercules, pulling a passenger train out of Dungeness Station, on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
Locomotive Nos 5 & 6 were to be called Man of Kent and Maid of Kent, but due to their high tractive effort (having smaller coupled wheels than the Pacifics) the names Hercules and Samson, with their allusion of strength, were substituted during construction. A decade later, Henry Greenly, the designer, was involved in the construction of a locomotive on the nearby Saltwood Miniature Railway, and this engine took the Maid of Kent name. To cater for the anticipated ballast traffic, the railway ordered two Mountain-type locomotives from Davey Paxman, to Henry Greenly's design. The first of these, Hercules, arrived at New Romney on 20th April 1927. Hercules hauled the inaugural train from Hythe on the opening day of the line - July 16th 1927. Her condition was close to derelict at this time, but in 1936 renewed ballast traffic saw to it that Hercules was rebuilt for use on this service. The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a 15 in (381 mm) gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The 13 3⁄4-mile ( km) line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney Sands to Dungeness, close to Dungeness nuclear power station and Dungeness Lighthouse. The railway was opened on 16 July 1927 by Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp.[5] The locomotives were designed by Henry Greenly who was commissioned by Howey to work on the construction of the entire railway[6] and became the railway's first chief engineer until his abrupt resignation in March 1929.[1] Mountain Class Hercules hauled the inaugural train from Hythe to New Romney, with guests including the mayors of the two towns and General Sir Ivor Maxse. Howey was not satisfied with just 8 1⁄4 miles ( km) of track from Hythe to New Romney and plans were in hand for an extension even before the original section had opened.
Size: 4390px × 3388px
Location: Dengerness, Kent, UK
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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