Canterbury – Whitstable railway line

Canterbury-Whitstable
Clowes Wood. The route , which was closed in 1953, is now used by cyclists and hikers as a crab and winkle cycle path (looking towards Whitstable).
North end of the route, map from 1938
Route length:	10 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	36  ‰
Legend 0.0 Commercial port 0.1 Harbor Street (B2205) 0.2 Whitstable Harbor 0.9 Teynham Road 0.9 Tankerton Halt since July 1914 1 Chatham – Ramsgate railway since 1860/63 Whitstable Abzw. 1.7 Old Thanet Way (A2990) 2.2 South Street stop 6.4 Blean & Tyler Hill stop 7.1 stationary steam winch 8.5 Tyler Hill Tunnel (757 m) Ashford – Ramsgate railway since 1846 9.8 Canterbury West 10 North Lane originally terminated 1830–46

The Canterbury – Whitstable Railway ( English Canterbury and Whitstable Railway ) in County Kent , England , with the same name as its railway company, was often colloquially called Crab and Winkle Line (English for crab and periwinkle railway ) and was - like us, railway lines understand today - the world's first rail line for freight and passenger transport. It went into operation on May 3, 1830, half a year before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and 21 days before the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in America. The new port of Whitstable in the north of the southeastern English county of Kent, which was essential for the operation of the railway line, was only opened two years later . Iron pyrite , which came from the opposite island of Sheppey , had previously been landed in the old port . The 10-kilometer route was built for cost-effective coal transport from Northumberland to the then market and regional center of Canterbury , but it was also used for passenger transport. The freight costs could be reduced by half by this transport route.

history

While the city of Canterbury was initially responsible for the construction, the route later brought an enormous economic boom to the port city of Whitstable in particular. The community still benefits today from its relatively large port, where asphalt production in particular was able to establish itself after the railroad's decline in the 1950s .

It was not until 1846 that a siding was established in Canterbury through the west-east-directed railway line Ashford-Ramsgate ; in addition, the Faversham – Dover line crossed there from 1860, which could be completed to Dover the following year, and from 1889 a branch line to Folkestone . In Whitstable, the Faversham – Ramsgate line was also added from the west in 1860 , operated by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC & DR) and extended to Margate and Ramsgate in 1863. The officially last operating day of the route was December 1, 1952, after passenger transport had already been discontinued on January 1, 1931 and the newly founded British Railways had taken over the port facilities in 1948. Because of aid for flood victims, the route was used again for a short time for freight traffic in February 1953.

Ownership

Whitstable Harbor Railway Station, early 1920s. In the background the signal box No. 1

The initiative for the construction was given by William James (1771–1837), lawyer and railway pioneer, who proposed three different designs for a possible route as early as 1823/24. One of the deciding factors for the route chosen was the fact that two of the three alternatives did not find a majority in the Canterbury Council because these two did not contain a tunnel. It was believed that a railway line without a tunnel was not a real route. In addition, this route variant represented the shortest possible connection, which resulted in considerable savings in land purchase for the route, the largest cost factor in this project. As early as 1844, the original operating company had to file for bankruptcy and was taken over by competitor South Eastern Railway . But even under the new management, the line was not profitable because the traffic flows changed to their disadvantage with increasing track density. Another problem was the tight dimensions of the Tyler Hill Tunnel, which was only 12 feet high and was no longer suitable for more modern steam locomotives with their long chimneys. In addition, both the steep ascent north of the Tyler Hills and the too narrow cross-section of the tunnel meant that this route was never fully integrated into the national route network.

In the mid-1840s, 50 tons of coal left the port by rail six times a week , and 40,000 people were transported annually with six pairs of trains - five on Sundays.

The railway company also made improvements in the port. To a silting combat, they built one powered by the river basin Gorrell, with which the port could be flushed regularly. They left other measures unused, such as the construction of a market hall in which fresh products could have been temporarily stored for onward transport to Canterbury. From 1880 the freight volume decreased accordingly.

Former bridge over the current Chatham – Ramsgate railway line

The construction of the line unites the who's who of early railway history, as many well-known railway pioneers were involved: The line received its building permit in 1825 through a parliamentary resolution. For this was commissioned in 1828 as engineer George Stephenson , who was supported by John Dixon (1795? –1865) and Joseph Locke . Back then, too, the construction cost far more than predicted, and Parliament had to approve additional funds three more times for further construction. The construction of Whitstable Harbor was directed by Thomas Telford . Isambard Kingdom Brunel used the route, especially the tunnel, to carry out experiments for his own planning.

Infrastructure

Tyler Hill Tunnel, South Portal 2006 and 2009

The 1832 completed, tidenabhängige harbor offered by its expanding space for about 20,150-ton large sailing ships in the harbor twice daily dry fell . Several parallel tracks were laid on the east and south quays, providing space for up to 80 freight cars. Turntables were installed at two points on which freight wagons could be rotated individually with horse-drawn vehicles and thus pulled around the southern harbor basin. Horses, for which there was a separate stable, were also used to move the freight wagons within the port area.

The superstructure consisted of 15 foot long fish belly rails, each resting on 5 wooden planks. At the suggestion of Robert Stephenson, stationary steam engines were procured on the two inclines that pulled the trains up with a winch because the power of the first Invicta locomotive with its 12 horsepower was insufficient. Nevertheless, an Invicta was procured, which served the rest of the route in addition to the alternatively used horses. She had been brought to Whitstable by ship because there were no other rail lines around at the time.

Since the Invicta locomotive was fired with charcoal, a charcoal plant was built on the north basin facing the beach, which processed the delivered raw coal accordingly. Charcoal also became a commodity. This was the first industrial facility that belonged to the port.

In the city of Whitstable, immediately before the Tankerton stop , the first building construction was necessary, the bridge over Teynham Road. This was the oldest railway underpass in the world. It was removed in the 1950s, but its abutments are still intact.

In order to have enough water for the steam engine on Tyler Hill, the Winding Pond water reservoir was created in 1829 . This point was last restored in 1999 for tourism, together with the establishment of the former route as a bike and hiking trail and as a picnic area. The cable winch is also still there - albeit in a different location today.

• 

  “Invicta” locomotive , 1970s, Canterbury near Riding Gate

• 

  The replica cable winch on the original site is now used as a picnic table.

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  The original winch is waiting in Canterbury to be finally put into a museum.

The operation of the stationary steam engines was ended in 1846 and from this point on the trains were pulled over the entire route by locomotives.

The tunnel collapsed in 1974 over a length of about 30 meters after unfavorable building projects of the University of Canterbury had been realized on the area above. A building also collapsed, but there was no personal injury.

Port today

The port is now under municipal administration. It is now especially important for bulk materials such as quartz sand, gravel and grain, just as this location was particularly favored for the production of asphalt in the early 1930s . Large quantities of this building material were required for the construction of the so-called "Thanet Way" (A299), a 21-mile east-west road link that provided employment for 4,000 workers for 3 years. A lot of asphalt was also built afterwards. The port is still the location of this branch of industry today.

It also serves as the base for the offshore wind farm and as a base for several fishing vessels that specialize in mussel, crab and lobster fishing.

Web links

Commons : Canterbury – Whitstable Railway  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Leslie Oppitz: The lost railway , BBC Local, May 27, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ↑ see also the article History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830 (Engl.)
2. ^ ^{A b} Whitstable Harbor History
3. ↑ ^{a b} Förderverein The Crab and Winkle Line Trust
4. ^ ^{A b c d e} Terry Phillips: Harbor History & Operations of the CW&R. on simplywhitstable.co.uk
5. ^ Paul Crampton: The Canterbury Book of Days , The History Press 2012, Yearbook, December 1, ISBN 978-0752-48585-0
6. ↑ Lokodriver ( Memento from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Part 11: Historical Background
7. ^ Brian Hart: The Canterbury & Whitstable Railway , Wild Swan Publications, 1991, ISBN 978-0906-86797-6
8. ↑ Information board at the port
9. ^ Building Bridges , Crab and Winkle Line Trust
10. ^ RL Ratcliffe: The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. 1830–1980 A Pictorial Survey. Locomotive Club of Great Britain, London, 1980, ISBN 0-90527011-8
11. ^ Millbanksystems , Captain Harold Balfour (1897–1988) before the UK Parliament, February 1931