Kent & East Sussex Railway

'Behind the Scenes at the K&ESR' Gift Voucher

An exclusive opportunity for railway enthusiasts to spend a day with a knowledgeable guide behind the scenes at England's finest rural light railway.

Upon arrival at Tenterden Station you'll meet up to five like-minded enthusiasts and your guide for the day. Starting with introductions and a safety briefing, Hi-Viz vests will be issued for appropriate use during the day. Following this, there's a visit to the Tenterden-based Carriage and Wagon workshop. Here you'll see craftsmen at work on the current restoration projects together with regular maintenance and ongoing repairs.

The first train departure of the day will take you to Rolvenden station, home to the railway's locomotive engineering facility. Here you'll get up close and personal with our fleet of locomotives and have unique access to see staff working with heavy engineering that keeps the railways loco's rolling. A tour of the Rolvenden site includes the loco yard and a visit to the signal box and culminates in a timely fashion to enable you to watch from track level the watering of the 11:42 ex Bodiam steam service. Then it's all aboard this train back to Tenterden for a visit to the Colonel Stephen's museum then onto lunch in our restaurant.

Following lunch we take you on the 2:20pm departure from Tenterden to experience the whole 21-mile round trip.

Arriving back at Tenterden at 4:15pm there's time for questions and a de-briefing over a cup of tea or coffee before the day ends at approximately 4:45pm.

There are no age restrictions for this experience however children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

• 09.30 Meet at Tenterden buffet for introductions, safety briefing and beverages.
• 10.00 – 10.30 Visit to C&W shed.
• 10.35 Board 10.40 ex Tenterden. Detrain at Rolvenden.
• 10.50 – 12.15
  • Visit Rolvenden box once train has departed.
  • Visit loco shed.
  • Tour Rolvenden site.
  • Watch arrival and watering of 11.42 ex Bodiam from Rolvenden yard.
• 12.21 Board 11.42 ex Bodiam. Detrain at Tenterden.
• 12.35 – 13.05 Visit Museum
• 13.15 Lunch in Tenterden restaurant
• 14.15 Board 14.20 ex Tenterden for full line train ride.
• 16.15 Arrive Tenterden. To restaurant for beverages and review.
• 16.45ish Course ends.

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