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East Kent Railway (heritage)

Dover DistrictHeritage railways in KentStandard gauge railways in KentUse British English from December 2013
EKR Eythorne
EKR Eythorne

The East Kent Railway (EKR) is a heritage railway in Kent, England. It is located at Shepherdswell station on the London and Chatham to Dover mainline. The line was constructed between 1911 and 1917 to serve the Kent Coalfields. See East Kent Light Railway for details of the original lines. The Kent Collieries were mostly a failure with only Tilmanstone on the line producing any viable commercial coal and commercial traffic over the line. The line is operated by heritage diesel locomotives. It is home to a collection of heritage diesel locomotives including a British Rail Class 08, DEMU and electric multiple units including an in service British Rail Class 404 built in the 1930s and a more modern British Rail Class 365, which is to be used as a restaurant and a major events venue. At Shepherdswell, there is a large cafe, a large 15-acre (6.1 ha) woodland area with walking routes, a 5 in (127 mm) gauge miniature railway, a 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge woodland miniature railway, a model railway and a small museum. Shepherdswell is where the railway undertakes it maintenance and overhaul works and is very much a working railway yard. At Eythorne, there is a Class 365 EMU that has been converted to a restaurant and bar. There is a General Utility Van built by BR that used to carry elephants which is in the process of being converted to a small holiday let. The old Selling Signal Box is also here with a history of the East Kent Railway both past and present inside along with the original Faversham signalling panel. Eythorne Station plays host to a variety of features on special event days. Eythorne is the picture of a pretty countryside station. The railway holds special events throughout the year, ranging from railway enthusiast events to beer festivals along with family fun weekends. On the line there is Golgotha Tunnel (situated between Shepherdswell and Eythorne), 477 yards (436 m) long, making it the eighth longest tunnel on a UK Heritage Railway in Preservation. The tunnel was built in typical Colonel Stephens style by building double track portals but only excavating a single track internally to save money.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article East Kent Railway (heritage) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

East Kent Railway (heritage)
Shepherdswell Road,

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.197222222222 ° E 1.2522222222222 °
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Shepherdswell Road

Shepherdswell Road
CT15 7PR
England, United Kingdom
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EKR Eythorne
EKR Eythorne
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Barfrestone
Barfrestone

Barfrestone is a village and (as Barfreston) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Eythorne, in the Dover district, in east Kent, England. It is between Shepherdswell, Eythorne and Nonington, close to the former pit villages of Elvington and Snowdown. In 1931 the parish had a population of 91. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Eythorne.Alternative spellings are Barfreston and Barfreystone. The old pronunciation was "Barson" (before 1800) and the ancient name, "Barfriston".At the time of the Domesday Book, when the name was written 'Berfrestone', the manor was owned by Odo, Earl of Kent (as the Bishop of Bayeux). But after his trial (for fraud) in 1076, his assets were re-apportioned, including Barfrestone. The lands were then granted to Hugh de Port (an English feudal barony) for the defence of Dover Castle. The lands passed through the hands of many other owners including Sir Thomas Browne (during the reign of Henry VI of England).Landmarks include the Grade I listed Norman church, which contains significant carvings of human and animal figures on both the exterior and interior of the church, as well as a very early post-Roman example of the Greek key motif carved on the inside coving. Also of note is the church bell set in a yew tree adjacent to the church and "Little Ewell", a converted rectory which, until 2013, was the location of the centre (house, offices and workshops) of the L'Arche Kent Community which has since moved to Canterbury, though a L'Arche house remains in the nearby village of Eythorne. Another listed building in the village is Grade II listed Barfrestone Court,The village is on the Miner's Way Trail which links the coalfield parishes of East Kent.