Words & pictures by Kenny Felstead
NOT too far away from the Kent and East Sussex Railway is a little gem of a railway situated in a back garden. The Richmond Light Railway in Headcorn is a privately-owned railway that comes across as a big garden railway with its model railway-like perfectly kept grass and ballast.
Having seen photos of the set-up, I was intrigued to see what it was like myself so when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join him in attending the Vintage Fair on August 18, I jumped at the chance. I knew very little about the railway, so I was going in with an open mind and boy, I wasn’t disappointed.
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The whole story for Richmond began in 2007 when Richmond Farm, previously used as a pig farm, was purchased. After renovation work to the house, plans were drawn up for a railway to show off the collection of locomotives and rolling stock acquired from across the world.
After demolishing a couple of the outbuildings on site, the engine shed was built in December 2010, with the first items of rolling stock arriving in April 2011. By the end of 2012 the mainline had been completed, with the addition of the passing loop in 2013, the main Richmond Station area, ash pit and water tower finished in 2014 and the southern extension to New Barn Halt in 2015.
Read more and view more images in Issue 246 of HR – on sale now!
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