This was the last train of the day for Hurricane on Saturday the 21st of May. I had a great day on her and I hope that you enjoy this footage of the Hythe to New Romney section of the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this video over the years. Thanks so much for the Cab view!! As a 7.5” guy here in the USA, it’s been a dream to come visit you all someday. I cannot even begin to comprehend the track work necessary for these speeds. Well done, gentlemen!!
My nan and grandad's garden literally has a fence at the end with the track like 2 metres away. I grew up running down the garden whenever I heard a whistle or the wheels to watch them go past right in front of me. Truly one of the best parts of my childhood.
Great cab ride Will ! Thanks for uploading. There should be 3 of us taking our first ever trip to your railway on about May this year. Just hope we pick a nice day like the one in the video.
If you do, try to get onto the end carriage : refreshments car (sometimes). Remember to (1) take out any dentures (or they will be ejected at some time), (2) remove any hats to avoid contact with roof, (3) have something to sit on to reduce numbness, and (4) ignore the locals, who will delight in waving as you go past, and laughing as you try to look dignified with your knees under your chin. It's great fun!
Fantastic video. Intermediate stop at Dymchurch 17:40 with level crossing & happy kids on the platform. Note the stretch of poor track the Diesel is traversing causing it to rock alarmingly 18:55. Only small complaint is that we never got a view of the carriages.
I was asking because I import Welsh coal into New Zealand and Australia and had a request from a small gauge railway like RH&DR in Australia. I think you use to use Polish coals and they were not so good. Now your back on Welsh it should be fine. Brilliant footplate video. Thank you so much.
How often do you rake the fire? Guess it is to remove the clinker, even out the firebed. What fuel and size do you use? Cracking pace there, certainly difficult to drink a cup of tea. Brilliant.
Hayden Brown each driver rakes the fire when they feel like it is needed to be attended to. On that day the only time that the fire was raked was nearing the end of the day. The fuel is a welsh coal I believe
Jay Ritch yeah it is fast. I work on a 7.25 inch miniature railway in the South Devon Railway (South Devon Miniature Railway) and our track speed is only 5mph! Certainly feels fast on our tight corners and steep gradients but it is nothing compared to this!
Jay Ritch yep - all railways, regardless of scale (well perhaps anything greater than gauge 1), are dangerous places. They are no place to be mucking about and those rules are there for a reason. Our locomotives can still weigh 300kg or more and that makes for a deadly force if abused. Locomotives on the RHDR must be weighing around a tonne at least but they are just as dangerous as our locomotives. 20 mph is definitely fast for a miniature railway but then so is 5 mph for our track. It's all about safety!
"....and so we cross the seemingly endless plains of the Romney marsh..." Just to give some perspective : by road, the entire journey from Hythe to New Romney takes about 12 mins AND at 06:50 this passes the end of my road.
A very nice and interesting video. What was the young gent's job? The driver also did the fireman's job. The driver did a great job of keeping his engine running spot-on.
The 'young man' is having his first ride on a steam loco (as explained at the Dymchurch stop) probably owner of the go pro. The driver usually travels alone and does all the tasks.
Well... I nice view of running one of those engines. However i am alarmed by the osillation of the engine on those rails. I know they're only going 25 MPH or so. I wonder of the ride in the coaches is better--i would hope so.
What a fun ride thanks. Everything on this railway is spotlessly clean, even the engineers hats. Even more fun is when you get to New Romney station you can visit this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xrDXBDaGrlY.html
looks like ya'll could use some track repair to smoothen out the ride a bit. Riding in that engine could give you kidney damage from all the bouncing around.
Engine springing is a lot stiffer than the carriages because of the weight.Driver gets a better ride sitting in the tender. The engine is 20 odd tonnes! Track is notoriously labour intensive to keep in good repair but is fine for the speeds concerned. 20mph max
The hats are called greasetops, they are cinder- and water-proof, and are the traditional British headgear for steam loco work. When it rains you have a choice of how wet you want to get (although at least the hat is waterproof!). RHDR locos are single-manned the driver does both firing and driving. Yes, it is hard work.
