A Signal man waiting to exchanging a token with the fireman on Locomotive No. 75008, at Tenterden Town Station, on the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
Tenterden is the heart of the present railway & contains most of our passenger facilities, the Colonel Stephens Museum, our Carriage & Wagon Restoration Workshops and last but not least the administrative headquarters of the charity which owns and operates the railway. The original Rother Valley Railway extended up the hill from Rolvenden Station (as now known) in 1903 and further onward to Headcorn in 1905 (abandoned in 1954) renaming itself the Kent and East Sussex Railway in the process. The station site still shows many signs of this former status as a through station of the original railway. The line still curves towards Headcorn for several hundred yards to provide access to the sidings on both sides of the line. The main building is the second on the site, replacing an early temporary building that was moved to Headcorn within a year or so from opening - a replica of this earlier building now forms our Information Point. The main station is, unusually for a Colonel Stephens building, built of brick with wood infills and externally is virtually as built. Nearest the road is the Station Office which was the railways operational office when opened (the administration was undertaken at Tonbridge) and which is still used by our Enquiry Staff today, where bookings for the Wealden Pullman and other special events such as Thomas and Santa can be made. Next door is the Booking Office & Booking Hall. Next to that was the Goods Office, which has now been converted to a very interesting Gift Shop. Finally and typically at the end of the building is what was the only toilet on the original station; a gents' urinal flushed (with typical Colonel Stephens economy) by the rainwater from the gutter! Thankfully this has now been replaced by more modern toilets in the centre of the site. he platform has been extended from the original main platform but otherwise largely as built and is still lit by lampposts manufactured by the railway at Rolvenden.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Tenterden Town Station, Tenterden, Kent
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 75008, arriving, boiler, box, east, exchange, fireman, heritage, kent, locomotive, man, passengers, platform, railway, railway., safety, signal, signalling, station, steam, summer, sussex, swiftsure, tenterden, token, town, tracks, train, trees, wheels
