A 'P' class tank locomotive No. 31178 working on the Romenade
Railway in the 1950s.
In 1918 the Admiralty authorised a rail line
to connect the eastern and western sides of the harbour. This
would enable the conveyance of defence material and other
equipment to the Admiralty Dockyard, in the area now occupied
by the Eastern Docks.
The line ran the length of the promenade
from the Prince of Wales Pier to
the Eastern Arm. The line
was single track, with no signalling as such, but with passing
loops and catch points, which enabled trains to be run in
each direction. The connection with the main line was at Dover
Harbour Station where a section of the down platform was
on wheels and could be swung out of the way. Before they could
reach this main line connection trains had to shunt onto the
Prince of Wales Pier and then cross
the swing bridge over the entrance to the Wellington Dock.
As the trains were running along the public highway they moved
at a walking pace and were proceeded by a flag man carrying
a red flag.
After the First
World War the Admiralty withdrew from the Eastern
Docks but other businesses started to move in. The line
was used to move scrap metal and coal wagons to the Southern
Railway’s coal hopper. The latter loads caused great complaint
from Sea Front residents
and hoteliers about the dirt and dust. And in 1932 a limit
of 50,000 tons per year was put on the line.
At the outbreak of the Second
World War the Admiralty resumed its use of the line to
supply motor torpedo boats and motor gun boats based in the
Camber. After the war the
Admiralty again departed and the line returned to civilian
trade use. The need for coal to be transported along the Sea
Front diminished as vessels converted to oil and coal
exports from the Eastern Arm
dwindled. Oil was still transported in tankers to the Shell-Mex
and Esso oil depots.
It was the car that spelt the end of the
Promenade Railway. Often cars would be parked across the tracks,
holding up the train until the driver's return, and the development
of the Roll-On Roll-Off berths at the Eastern Docks was replacing
the old industries which had used the line. The steam locomotives
were eventually replaced by diesel shunters but the last train
ran in the mid 1960s.
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