Hythe railway station (Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway)

Hythe station is the northern terminus of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. The station has curved platforms with an overall roof, loco release road, former engine shed (now an independent engineering works), signalbox with 16 lever frame, and a turntable. In terms of passenger bookings Hythe is the busiest station on the railway.[2]

This article is about the light railway station at Hythe in the County of Kent. For other railway stations with similar names, see Hythe railway station (disambiguation).

Hythe
Station on heritage railway
Hythe Station
General information
LocationHythe, Folkestone & Hythe
England
Coordinates51°4′16.8″N 1°4′21″E
Grid referenceTR153347
Managed byRHDR
Platforms3 open (originally 4)
Key dates
16 July 1927[1]Opened
1940closed
1946reopened

Adjacent to the station the former station master's house is now a private residence. Situated between the station and the Royal Military Canal is The Light Railway Restaurant which was originally built by the railway company but sold before it was even completed.[3] It was finally repurchased by the railway in February 2015.[4]

The station is situated to the south of the town on the A259 road to Folkestone, and follows the same alignment as the Royal Military Canal.

The ancient Cinque Port offers shopping facilities with restaurants, cafes, pubs, banks, supermarkets, antique shops, general shops, swimming baths, gardens, parks and a seafront.[5]

Platforms

Of the three platforms, only numbers 2 and 3 are normally used for arrivals and departures, number 1 being used mainly for stock storage as it has no loco release facility. Prior to the 1970s resignalling it was used for occasional departures, although today this happens very rarely and it is used largely for non-passenger trains.

As originally built the station had a fourth platform to the south with its own loco release road, and platform three had no release facility. It seems the original design (as with the Dymchurch bay platform) assumed trains would arrive and then shunt into a different departure platform to release the loco and turn. In the 1920s the layout was altered to make operation more efficient. Platform 4 disappeared in the resignalling, as platforms were extended and has now been incorporated into the car park.

Preceding station Heritage Railways  Heritage railways Following station
Terminus   RHDR   Burmarsh Road
  Historical railways  
Terminus   RHDR   Prince of Wales Halt
Line open, station closed
  • Leaving Hythe station, RH&DR, 1928
    Leaving Hythe station, RH&DR, 1928
  • No. 3 Southern Maid at Hythe station
    No. 3 Southern Maid at Hythe station
  • No. 7 Typhoon arriving at Hythe
    No. 7 Typhoon arriving at Hythe
  • No. 5 Hercules leaving Hythe
    No. 5 Hercules leaving Hythe
  • No. 14 Capt. Howey under the roof
    No. 14 Capt. Howey under the roof
  • No. 2 Northern Chief on the Hythe turntable
    No. 2 Northern Chief on the Hythe turntable
  • No. 3 Southern Maid on the turntable
    No. 3 Southern Maid on the turntable
  • Track layout
    Track layout

References
  1. "Miniature Railway at Romney Marsh. Opening by Lord Beauchamp". Dover Express. England. 22 July 1927. Retrieved 14 August 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. company's annual accounts 2015
  3. J. B. Snell (1993), One Man's Railway
  4. company's annual accounts 2015
  5. http://www.rhdr.org.uk/rhdr/stations/hythe.htm Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine RH&DR on-line
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