Normally, I'm not bothered about narrow gauge railways as I think the locos look ugly and sound tinny but the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is an exception. I find the British-outline locos really good looking and the Railway's tendency to fit them with chime whistles appeals greatly to me.
I made my first visit to the line on a Green Timetable day, which meant 3 trains hauled by 4 locos, with loco changes at New Romney, where I spent most of my day. 3 Southern Maid, 9 Winston Churchill, 10 Doctor Syn and 11 Black Prince were running, which meant I didn't spend as much time riding on the trains as I'd planned, as I'm only really interested in the British-outline engines (1 Green Goddess, 2 Northern Chief and 6 Samson being my favourites).
I first did a round trip to Hythe and back from New Romney with Southern Maid. After lunch, I watched 11 and 9 departing to Dungeness and Hythe respectively, and then rode behind 10 Doctor Syn to Dungeness and back. Despite not liking the styling of the North American Pacifics, I was interested in 10 because I'd read that it has an ex-A4 whistle, it was certainly the best sounding loco of the 4.
17 окт 2024
